Woodside De Lago AKA Lyle has been with me for just over 3 years now, our journey started in February 2014, Lyle was a 4yo ottb with lots of potential but had lots to work on.
Lyle started his eventing career in march 2014 cruising around the newcomers, I knew at that point he was going to be a special horse, we continued our journey together working our way through the grades with a lot of ups and downs. Lyle finally started to mature and show how talented he was.
In February 2016 Lyle competed his first pre novice at the Wallaby Hill Extravaganza, he truly made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, jumping around like a seasoned pro! It had finally all come together, with big plans for Lyle in 2016 we focused on our next few events, he just kept getting better and better.
Unfortunately leading up to Equestriad I got a phone call on the morning of Friday 15th of April that Lyle had sustained a leg injury overnight in the paddock! Unsure of what was going on I rushed to be with him. Once I arrived we slowly walked him down to the wash bay, it was horrible to see him in such pain he could barely walk. Initially the vets and I thought he had just gotten cellulitis, so we started treating him for that. Including all the normal veterinary treatment, we also put him straight onto Rose-Hip Vital.
Once the swelling started to come down over next 3 days we could see something wasn’t right with his leg, immediately Lyle was taken into the clinic and had an ultrasound, the feeling that you get when you’re looking at the screen and not being able to tell where the tendon begins and ends is gut wrenching.
Images taken from the first scan
The prognosis wasn’t good at all. Lyle had managed to rupture and detach his tendon sheath and tear the extensor and flexor tendons. His future wasn’t looking bright, I had some of the best vets in the country agree his future was not going to be what we wanted, no jumping and they would be surprised if he became 100% sound again under saddle. We were going to do a follow up scan in 3 months and at least 6-12 months recovering in the yard. I was heart-broken.
So we took Lyle home put him in his yard and along with equine shock wave we had Lyle on a high dose of Rose-Hip Vital. 11 weeks after the initial scan we went back in to rescan and we could not have asked for a better result. He may return to light work walk and trot, we were all in utter shock! Not only was I told he may never come back into work or jump again but then to be told 11 weeks later that there is no reason why he shouldn’t be able to event again. It was such a sensational moment!
Before and after images
I believe Rose-Hip Vital was a large part of his recovery and I could not describe how important it is to believe in the strengths of today’s new treatment options. To know that yes it may look like it can all be over in such a short space of time but understand that with the most outstanding new treatment options you must never say never, don’t give up on your best friend because believe me they will surprise you in many ways.
Stay tuned for part 2 of Woodside De Lago’s journey, it definitely does not end there!
