Finns Mum
Well-Known Member
I wonder if I can have people's opinion on my dilemna 
My horse has been getting a puffy hind leg overnight for a few months, it tends to be the back half of the leg and it goes down after turnout but comes back quite quickly once in.
Vet was out for someone thing else few weeks ago, and mentioned it to him hoping he would dismiss it
But he felt it was slight inflamation of the tendon sheath
Lameness exam showed him very slighly "off" on that hind (though his hip is dodgey on that side so not 100% that comes from lower leg) and he didn't really react to a harsh flexion test.
Vet gave me some lotion to bandage on at night to bring swelling down. He felt it was most likely a tendon sheath problem as not lame or reactive enough on flexion tests to indicate a tendon problem, and is working so well at the moment. He said to keep his work level the same, as we have other problems with him that are controlled by keeping him fit and in work.
On Sunday I wasn't well and a friend put him to bed and I said not to worry about bandaging, the next morning the back of the leg was notably swollen, in the evening when I arrived he had been in for a bit and the leg was slightly up, after I rode it was back to 99% normal.
My dressage trainer can see no indication in the way he is working that would say its an issue.
My problem is do I get the tendon scanned or continue to bandage at night to reduce swelling and see how he goes? Part of me thinks scanning is just looking for problems when he isn't showing any signs of it bothering him, but then I worry that it might be something that if not sorted now will blow up in the future.
Being fit and in work is so important to his wellbeing, if the scans shows something that is actually not causing a problem (i have never had his legs scanned before so wouldn't know of any significant changes) and he ends up box rest and off work I could end up will lots of other problems, but if it is a serious tendon issue then we will obviously do whatever needs to be done.
What would you do?
I will be speaking to my vet in the next few days but just want to get some thoughts first
My horse has been getting a puffy hind leg overnight for a few months, it tends to be the back half of the leg and it goes down after turnout but comes back quite quickly once in.
Vet was out for someone thing else few weeks ago, and mentioned it to him hoping he would dismiss it
But he felt it was slight inflamation of the tendon sheathLameness exam showed him very slighly "off" on that hind (though his hip is dodgey on that side so not 100% that comes from lower leg) and he didn't really react to a harsh flexion test.
Vet gave me some lotion to bandage on at night to bring swelling down. He felt it was most likely a tendon sheath problem as not lame or reactive enough on flexion tests to indicate a tendon problem, and is working so well at the moment. He said to keep his work level the same, as we have other problems with him that are controlled by keeping him fit and in work.
On Sunday I wasn't well and a friend put him to bed and I said not to worry about bandaging, the next morning the back of the leg was notably swollen, in the evening when I arrived he had been in for a bit and the leg was slightly up, after I rode it was back to 99% normal.
My dressage trainer can see no indication in the way he is working that would say its an issue.
My problem is do I get the tendon scanned or continue to bandage at night to reduce swelling and see how he goes? Part of me thinks scanning is just looking for problems when he isn't showing any signs of it bothering him, but then I worry that it might be something that if not sorted now will blow up in the future.
Being fit and in work is so important to his wellbeing, if the scans shows something that is actually not causing a problem (i have never had his legs scanned before so wouldn't know of any significant changes) and he ends up box rest and off work I could end up will lots of other problems, but if it is a serious tendon issue then we will obviously do whatever needs to be done.
What would you do?
I will be speaking to my vet in the next few days but just want to get some thoughts first
