any vets in? puffy leg advice needed

[treacle_beastie]

Hi, I will try and keep this short.

My horse has been barefoot for a month now, both forelegs initially went puffy and warm but resolved within a week. Wasnt worried.

However, one of her legs has continued to puff up - it goes down when shes turned out but comes back up about 10 mins after I have brought her in. It is also slightly warmer than the other. No difference in digital pulse. No different in heat of hooves. By morning both front legs appear the same and go down as soon as I turn her out.

I am talking minimal puffiness - a couple of mm but enough to notice when you feel her legs - you cant really see it but compared to the other leg its definitely puffy!

I noticed she was 1/10 lame on tues, farrier came out thurs and found a small bruise and affected hoof sole was softer. She flinched on hoof testing this leg. Quickly lunged after and she was barely lame if at all. Spoke to vet who said could be possible bruising causing swelling (vet has not seen horse yet).

My question is - would a small bruise cause the swelling? or is she more likely to have a tendon/ligament injury? The puffiness starts below the knee on the inside of the foreleg and is more prominent below the knee and above the fetlock behind the cannon bone and the ridge behind it (is the ridge a tendon/ligament?) it infills that gap.

Really not sure what to do but its bugging me and I am wondering if I should just get the vet out on monday to scan the liagments/tendons.

Thanks for your help

 

[Ella19]

The bruising could make her lame or walk with an altered gait, this in turn may mean she's using her tendons differently and caused the swelling or puffyness. I wouldn't worry too much yet but do keep an eye, if the bruising is causing a strain on tendons you don't want her to over do it. You know your horse, if you are at all concerned I always feel it's better to pay to have the vet out than risk a potential injry.

 

[china]

when mine first went bare his hind legs went very puffy. he still gets puffy now (12 weeks on) but thats more down to his lack of moving around. its unlikely to be tendons ect. i would imagine its linked to going bare. in time it will settle.

 

[treacle_beastie]

but why only one leg? I wasnt worried when it was both! Last year she injured the opposite leg and would have been using this one more to compensate for that injury - wondering if its just weaker as a result and going bare has thrown up the weakness now she is using her muscles etc differently???

The only thing that has made me doubt any tendon/ligament strain and veer more towards odema type puffiness is the fact it goes down as soon as she moves around.

 

[china]

maybe if one foot is bruised they are bearing slightly more weight on the other to compensate.

 

[treacle_beastie]

ok so today it was a bit different - took a lot longer to puff up once she was brought in - a good hour but now her hoof of affected leg is hot compared to the other again. This seems to be a bit random. Wonder if it is just an abcess brewing but over 4 weeks??

anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Andalucian]

What work have you done since he's been deshod? (I'm hoping the answer is nothing by the way). When I remove shoes from horses and trim, I always advise the owner what state the feet are in and whether they are fit to work at all and if so, how much and on what surface.

It might be bruising from the feet being recently deshod and quite delicate, but without knowing them personally its impossible to say. What does your farrier say?

 

[treacle_beastie]

What work have you done since he's been deshod? (I'm hoping the answer is nothing by the way). When I remove shoes from horses and trim, I always advise the owner what state the feet are in and whether they are fit to work at all and if so, how much and on what surface.

It might be bruising from the feet being recently deshod and quite delicate, but without knowing them personally its impossible to say. What does your farrier say?

ahh well I think this may have been the problem. I gave her a couple of days off and worked her gently in a sand school and she seemed fine. I hand walked her up the drive and as she coped I hacked her out a couple of times a week and again she seemed fine. Her feet seemed to be getting harder each day - less ouchy on the stones on the track to the field (I am not intentionally walking her across these - trying to avoid them like the plague and walk on grass as much as possible but there is a patch i cant avoid unless I dont turn her out). You are going to shoot me down in flames for this and I now know it was a big mistake but I did a few small jumps on her one day as everything seemed ok but she wasnt happy with it and I realised it was too soon.

She has been sound up until now, just footy over those pesky stones. I dont know if shes lame right now - havent checked since thursday but thought I would leave it until tomorrow/tuesday.

The puffiness seemed to coincide with the wet conditions - we hard a few mornings of hard ground followed by a thaw so not the best conditions for soft soles. Her feet are quite flat at the moment.

I have obviously done far too much too soon but as she seemed to be coping in the school and hacking on tarmac and verges then I didint think there would be a problem.

Farrier is happy with her feet - says the small bruise would not cause lameness and the affected hoof has a softer sole than the other but just to carry on if shes not lame, avoid stones and hack out in boots.

Really at my wits end, think I should maybe just get the vet out if shes still lame tomorrow, though now her hoof has gone hot, i'm kind of convinced its in the hoof.