Tamarillo on road to full recovery

William Fox-Pitt’s ride, Tamarillo, is on the road to recovery following surgery to remove the bone chip from his stifle joint last Monday.

Vet Ian Wright, from Greenwood Ellis & Partners in Newmarket, operated on the bay Anglo Arab, and when H&H spoke to William Fox-Pitt this week, Tamarillo had come round from his anaesthetic and was up on his feet.

“He’s due home on Friday (today) and, barring unforeseen circumstances – which you can never bar – he’ll be walking for six weeks, then have a holiday in the field before starting work with all the others at Christmas,” says William.

“The prognosis is good, surgery went according to plan, and Ian Wright feels very positive after seeing the joint.

“There’s no ligament damage, so there’s no reason why he shouldn’t come back to full form.

“He’s been sound since the show jumping day on only a small amount of anti-inflammatories, so Ian is very optimistic.

William admits that Tamarillo may not be the easiest of patients:

“He’s never been injured like this, so we have yet to find out what kind of patient he is – he’ll be irritated about not being in his field.

• This article first appeared in H&H (26 August)

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