Update on rescued horse in PA

[Garysmom]

Well, I had the vet out today to see the rescue horse with the bad rundown (I asked for help in an old post). The horse's name is Busted Trust and he's won large amounts of money for his old owners and trainers. The vet informed me that he has an infection in the tendon sheath and he recommends euthanasia. I just got him (after waiting for 4 years), so I'm not ready to give up just now. I'm taking him tomorrow to NJ Equine. They said they may be able to save him if they flush it for a couple days and give him strong drugs. I'm going to give it a try. They said I should know which way it will go in a couple of days. I'm assuming I'll figure out the money thing later, (since I'm not one of the former owners that made over $150k on him).

Anyway, wish us luck and keep him in your prayers. He's all heart, so I know he'll do his part. Thanks

[BJ]

Well, I had the vet out today to see the rescue horse with the bad rundown (I asked for help in an old post). The horse's name is Busted Trust and he's won large amounts of money for his old owners and trainers. The vet informed me that he has an infection in the tendon sheath and he recommends euthanasia. I just got him (after waiting for 4 years), so I'm not ready to give up just now. I'm taking him tomorrow to NJ Equine. They said they may be able to save him if they flush it for a couple days and give him strong drugs. I'm going to give it a try. They said I should know which way it will go in a couple of days. I'm assuming I'll figure out the money thing later, (since I'm not one of the former owners that made over $150k on him).

Anyway, wish us luck and keep him in your prayers. He's all heart, so I know he'll do his part. Thanks

Most definitely wish you and Busted Trust the special luck to overcome this... especially since he seems to now be in the hands of someone who cares about him. He is blessed to have you now.

I know nothing about that type of injury/ailment. I wish I could offer some "words" of wisdom on how to help him. Only know all things are connected to the immune system to aid in healing and overcome infection, so anything that will stimulate immune system and good, healing circulation to the area, would SEEM to make sense.

[majxmom]

Good luck to you and Busted Trust. If they recommend IV antibiotics and a catheter, don't be afraid of that. It's actually easier to maintain the catheter than to stab the horse several times a day, as long as the horse doesn't rub the catheter out. Please keep us updated!

[nferro9925]

Good luck to you both!
I hope with both finegrs crossed that he comes through this
with flying colors!!!

[certifiedgirl]

Good luck to you and Busted Trust! I'm hoping for a smooth and speedy recovery.

[Bondama]

May his heart be as big as yours. Best of luck to you both.

B.

[Arctic Cielo]

Best wishes to both of you and keep us updated!

[Garysmom]

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and your good wishes. It really meant a lot to me, especially the quote by Arthur Hancock from majxmom. I wrote it down and took it with me today to the clinic to remind myself that the money is less important in the long run than the spirit of that horse is.

I took Busted Trust to NJ Equine today and Dr. Smith operated. She said she thinks she got it cleaned out really well, but time will tell if we can heal it up with no trapped infection. She said that the wound was actually older than the past two weeks, and he has a lot of adhesions in that area already from repeated trauma, which means he has had this injury before and they didn't let it heal properly before they ran him again. She is more worried about the adhesions because it could mean possible constant pain and limited movement. We won't know that until he recovers, but apparently he's been running and winning with all sorts of things going on, so I have to assume he has a high pain threshold. She said his career as an athlete is over, but he should be pasture sound and possibly even pleasure/trail riding sound in the future. I consider that good news! So the next two weeks are critical to see if the infection is gone and stays gone.

And even though his last trainer clearly didn't care about his well-being, his first trainer/owner has been great. He gave me a place to lay him up and he called a vet for a second opinion after my vet said to forget saving him. So I guess some of the racehorse trainers have a heart. I just wish they all did.

Thanks again everyone, and I'll keep you posted.

[Rococoms]

So glad to hear that things are looking up, and that you're getting help. Those tendon infections are tough, but fixable. That's great that your vet operated, and (hopefully) scooped out a lot of the infected tissue- it's those adhesions and fibrin that get in there and keep all the infection in. Sometimes it takes a few flushings, or at least a few reigonal limb perfusions (they put a tourniquet above the affected sight, and inject strong antibiotic-laced fluids directly into the artery/vein so and keep it on there for 20-30 minutes, so that the drugs are kept circulating exactly where the problem is. These can work wonders! Don't give up- it WILL be a long haul, but this boy obviously has the heart, and you've got the will- so I do truly hope it will work out for you. Please keep us posted!

[BJ]

I took Busted Trust to NJ Equine today and Dr. Smith operated. She said she thinks she got it cleaned out really well, but time will tell if we can heal it up with no trapped infection. She said that the wound was actually older than the past two weeks, and he has a lot of adhesions in that area already from repeated trauma, which means he has had this injury before and they didn't let it heal properly before they ran him again. She is more worried about the adhesions because it could mean possible constant pain and limited movement. We won't know that until he recovers, but apparently he's been running and winning with all sorts of things going on, so I have to assume he has a high pain threshold. She said his career as an athlete is over, but he should be pasture sound and possibly even pleasure/trail riding sound in the future. I consider that good news! So the next two weeks are critical to see if the infection is gone and stays gone.

And even though his last trainer clearly didn't care about his well-being, his first trainer/owner has been great. He gave me a place to lay him up and he called a vet for a second opinion after my vet said to forget saving him. So I guess some of the racehorse trainers have a heart. I just wish they all did.

Thanks again everyone, and I'll keep you posted.

I don't know how long this horse has been off the track, but often lots of "things" show up in the first 30 days off the track, when all the drugs leave the system and methods to hold them together are no longer being used.

Get him through this...There are wonderful things out there to help him, once he's over the main infection...natural.

How wonderful of his first trainer. Sounds like this horse has a way of gathering good people around him.

Best wishes to all of you! Seems he is in the RIGHT hands now.

BJ

[skeenan]

Keeping my fingers crossed for both of you!
You are giving him the chance that not many others would... I hope he heals well. Keep us posted!

[geowarrior]

I'm really hoping for your sake and for the sake of the nice life he might have, that Busted Trust pulls through. I look forward to hearing good news.

[camohn]

We had a mare with this....got a tiny puncture wound that got infected. Even with good care here vet said it was easy for the tiny puncture wound under winter hair to go unseen. She had to be at the vets on IV antibiotics for several days and have the wound debrided but she made a full recovery with lots of wound dressing and care at home. Basically he said chance of recovery was good if it had not gotten to be a bone infection/poor if it made to a bone infection so they did an US before surgical debridement to see if she had a bone infection. She did not and all ended well for her though they did have to clean out a big tract of infection in the muscle and tendon/she has a long scar.

[Garysmom]

Thanks for the success story. My vet seems to like to tell me about worst case scenarios. But I got good news today. Dr. Smith at NJ Equine called to say Busted Trust is doing great, better than she expected. The tendon is starting to heal and there is no sign of discomfort on his part, which means the infection could be gone. She also said that the area of adhesions and granulated tissue that she debrided looks better than she thought it would and is also healing nicely. She told me we would know better by the end of the week and if it looks this good at the end of the week, I could probably take him home early!

I'm really excited about this news, especially after hearing about poor Barbaro yesterday. So keep your fingers crossed and thank you all for the good wishes.

[geowarrior]

Great! Thanks for the update Garysmom.