Bad News

Yesterday when I got on Brig to ride him I noticed that he was limping as soon as I asked him to trot. I got off and put him away. I couldn't find anything wrong so I didn't worry about it too much. A few weeks ago he was limping after getting kicked and he was fine after a day or too. I figured that the same thing had probably happened and that he'd be fine today or tomorrow. I was hoping that this would be the case as I've entered Brig in his first horse show this weekend. Today I got to the barn and planned on putting him in the ring to see if he was still sore. But I didn't make it that far. While I was brushing him I found the problem. His right front leg. He has a bowed tendon. This is not good news. It's really bad news. I was in denial at first. I knew what it was but convinced myself that I really had to see it outside in proper lighting. I turned on the hose, since I knew that I'd have to cold hose the leg, and took him outside to get a better look. As I was cold-hosing his leg it slowly became more of a reality and I was able to accept the fact that it really truly is a bowed tendon. Luckily my friend Jen's old horse had a bowed tendon many years ago and I was able to help her treat her mare. So, I have an idea of what needs to be done. This injury will likely affect my ability to sell Brig in the future and possibly could affect his potential as a competetive show horse. But it is far too soon to worry about those things. After cold-hosing Brig's leg I wrapped it with a bandage and covered the bandage with cayenne pepper so that he won't rip it off during the night. I plan to call a vet that I know out in Alberta tomorrow for an opinion and then possibly I may have one from here come look at him if the Alberta vet thinks that it is a good idea. I don't really like dealing with vets out here and they don't know me so that is why I'm calling one in AB. The vet there knows who I am and has a good idea of my knowledge of horses and injuries and what I'm capable of as far as treatment. So it will be much easier to get advice from her than from a stranger out here.
Brig will likely need his leg cold-hosed and wrapped twice a day for possibly a month or more, he will have to be on stall rest as well. He's going to hate it. Poor guy.
He probably hurt his leg while running out in the field. In fact, I'm quite sure that that is how it happened. But I made the choice long ago that I wanted my horse to be treated like a horse and allowed the freedom to run and be with friends whenever possible even if it meant that he may get injured. I wasn't expecting a bowed tendon or anything serious actually but I knew that something serious was a possibility. And even now after this I would still make the same decision. I don't believe in treating horses like glass so that they won't get hurt and 'break'. Of course now he will be treated very carefully so that he can heal but that really is necessary. It will take months before he will be allowed out to run again, possibly even as much as a year depending on how bad it actually is and how it heals.
I'm just going to take one day at a time right now. I think that it will be helpful to talk to a vet tomorrow.