Boots, bandages or bare legs - advice please.

[shmoo]

G'day all.

When hacking (which is all she does really) my daughters ex-polo pony sometimes gets a little puffiness around her back fetlocks. It goes down within 24 hours, and only seems to inflame when its very dry/hard or she's done a lot of road work. TBH it's almost impossible not to where we are. Great hacking but lots of roads.

Is there anything I could do to prevent this? She never goes lame but I am super cautious and give her the next day off when it happens.

Would boots help? Or bandaging? She already has remedial shoes on her back (her steel toe caps) as she drags her toes a little. Polo is a hard game and she retired perfectly sound due to it being harder each year for her to come back into work after a long break over winter.

If boots, please recommend me a make. I had a quick look and the market is saturated with so many I honestly don't know where to begin.

Many thanks,

 

[MrsNorris]

Sounds like windgalls, especially as she's had a strenuous job previously. As long as there's no heat, pain etc and she's sound, they're nothing to worry about, just cosmetic.

You could try bandaging overnight if she's in, or exercise bandages for work which would probably reduce the swelling, its only excess fluid, so pressure should help reduce it.