Milli on the Mend
Milli first came to us back in 2016 with a foal at foot. She has an incredibly sweet nature and is very gentle. She was rehomed through our Sanctuary at Home scheme and was looked after by her carers until 2021 when her lameness became a concern.
The vet was called and her condition monitored. The lameness continued and x-rays taken. Milli had severe arthritis. It was clear that pain relief and medication would not be enough. Following the vet’s advice, we chose surgery to fuse the affected joint because it was the best option for Milli and had a good prognosis.
The surgery was performed at our Beech Trees vet and welfare facility in October 2021. Milli had her leg in a cast for several weeks and despite being on box rest for recovery, she coped well. Milli has stayed calm and content with the addition of lots of extra attention and enrichment. Horses can often find box rest difficult as it’s very unnatural to be confined in this way so it’s important to do everything we can to make it easier for them. Her cast was removed early as we could see it was starting to make her skin sore. This can be common and luckily Milli coped well without it.
Milli has begun the lengthy rehabilitation process and is slowly readjusting to life outside of the stable. We need to be very careful that she doesn’t do anything to damage her recovery, so her movement is carefully monitored and restricted while she heals. Milli has now been cleared by the vets to start going for in-hand walks and even some time in one of our smaller grazing paddocks. It is still early days, but the signs are good that Milli is on the mend.