Hi there- I don't have any past experience with splints as all of my past horses never had an issue with them. I got a chestnut TB mare, 16.2 hands in november. she just turned 6, and is in training to be a hunter. she was checked by a vet before purchase, but we didn't radiograph. he pointed out small splints in the medial interior of both her front legs but they where VERY small and not an issue with the flexions. she did race up until the age of 4 - and started 17 times. she is heavenly under saddle, super quite, never spooks, extremely scopey over fences, but i do not jump her higher than 2' - 2'3" once a week as i had a horse a few years ago that came to me with OCD, receive surgery, and permanently go lame, and i know how important it is to go slow with babies. my paddocks are immaculate, and she is turned out with my 30 year old ex-pony jumper whom she bosses around all day. she is extremely sensitive, though - when she rolls she sometimes gets "bed sores" on her ankles and that causes swelling, or will nick herself and have a tiny scratch and go off a bit for a day or two. basically, she is your classic, sensitive, chestnut thoroughbred mare. :-| she is shod 4 around, with leather pads in the front due to having poor quality feet. anyways- she came in from the paddock about a month ago with a gash across the inside of her cannon bone - right over the right side splint. the cut was deep, and the vet came out to check it out, and said to just wrap it, etc and keep it clean. it was quite swollen. the cut healed completely in about 2 weeks, and finally
some of the swelling tightened down. now her splint appears to have been "jostled" (maybe?) a bit back towards the tendons more. the vet said to keep an eye on it. she is fine under saddle maybe 60% of the time - we are just flatting for the time being. she often starts out a little sore and then works out. this is concerning for very apparent reasons. i plan on giving the vet a ring today and asking some questions/seeing what she thinks but she is one of those vets who enjoys x-raying everything - and although i want the best for my horses it is very difficult in these tight economic times to write another check for $600. :-( i wanted to try these boots:
http://www.smartpakequine.com/ProductClass.aspx?productclassid=5190 any ideas? suggestions? thanks! and sorry for the life story.