Can horses get splints on the BACK of their front legs?

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Princess P

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Hi

Has anyone seen a splint on the back of a front leg?

My 4 year old has 2 large splints on the insides of his front leg (1 on each) - vet wasn't concerned about them in the vetting but said obviously he may get more being only young and to rest if he became lame on them.

This evening I noticed a small hard lump the size of a pea on the back of one of his front legs. He was sound trotting up on concrete but not lunging on a surface. Last time I lunged was yesterday am and he was totally fine.

If the lump were on the side of the leg I would be happy that is was another splint forming, but I have never seen them on the backs of front legs...

Has anyone got experience of this?

He is in v light work as he is only 4, I was also away over the weekend so Monday's lunging was his first 'work' since the previous Wednesday, however while I was away someone brought nearby horses in and left him on his own causing him to charge about. (He was fine Monday though).

Thanks to anyone who has read this ramble and can offer any advice? (apart from call the vet which I will when they open!)
 
NOpe, they can't. Splints are when they break the reminants of the the bones left over from their toes (their index and 4th fingers). They run down the side of the legs and are well stuck to the main cannon bone (the 'middle' finger). When they break they calcify and you get a big boney lump: a splint.

Down the back of the leg is tendons only so no splint bones to break. Any hard lump is therefore either in the skin (probably not serious) or in the tendon (really not good news!)
 
The back of the leg is tendon not bone so it cannot be a splint, he may have knocked himself or pulled it, any damage to a tendon really needs to be checked by the vet.
 
Kallibear said:
NOpe, they can't. Splints are when they break the reminants of the the bones left over from their toes (their index and 4th fingers). They run down the side of the legs and are well stuck to the main cannon bone (the 'middle' finger). When they break they calcify and you get a big boney lump: a splint.

Down the back of the leg is tendons only so no splint bones to break. Any hard lump is therefore either in the skin (probably not serious) or in the tendon (really not good news!)
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Not strictly correct. A fractured splint bone is a fractured splint bone. A splint is damage to the the periosteum, or the interosseus ligament which result in calcium deposits forming (splints)
 
Nitpicking ;) :p A splint is when they bang the stupid thing (or over exert themselves too much) enough to damage it. Not nessesarily always broken true enough. It's not weight bearing in anyways though so the only real difference if how long it take to heal up.

The kind of foolish thing big gangly idiots like Roo do :rolleyes: It may be coincidence but I've always thought orange horses were over-represented in the splint owners club???
 
Thanks for replies so far!

No heat, no other swelling. He's not that fussed about me poking and prodding either.

Have had another good feel this morning and it is visible and easy to feel when he is standing, but when you pick his leg up it is really difficult to feel it.

I have only had him a week and a half, surely I can't have broken him already?!
:(
 
Splintbones are the Equines un-used toes when they used to be on more than one toe, they shrunk back over the years and attached the the main bone like when they were
Hyracotherium .

They developed onto the one remaining toe as they were quicker and faster which was needed to escape from predators.

So therefore now the splint bone is now just extra protection for the remaining main toe. This is often damaged or shattered when kicks from other equines happen.
 
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Kallibear said:
It may be coincidence but I've always thought orange horses were over-represented in the splint owners club???
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Interesting point and I've been wondering the same. My big orange girl has splints the size of tombstones on her front legs and has just thrown one on a hindleg too. It's not related to what I do with her, she just seems ridiculously prone.

OP - probably worth getting your horse checked out by a pro, as others have advised. Tendons can be a bit fragile!
 
rhino said:
Nope, being accurate ;) :p

Splints don't form on the dorsal aspect, as has been said. Is there any heat?
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If we wish to nit pick, it's not dorsal ;) Dorsal is the top of something ( the opposite of ventral). Since the tendon has no 'top' surface (the top of the leg would count as promixal as oppposed to distal), it can't be dorsal.

The back of the leg would be caudal (the opposite of cranial) Or possibly palmer since it's near the foot( as opposed to planter)
 
Are you sure you are not referring to the suspensory ligament which runs down the outside of the front leg and that feels like bone but is in fact ligament, and when relaxed i.e. leg is lifted up and contracted is threfore easy to palpate and feels soft? As soon as the leg touches the floor it gives the impression of being rock hard like bone. I always thought it was bone too so your not alone if it is that that you are referring too :) :)
 
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Kallibear said:
If we wish to nit pick, it's not dorsal ;) Dorsal is the top of something ( the opposite of ventral). Since the tendon has no 'top' surface (the top of the leg would count as promixal as oppposed to distal), it can't be dorsal.
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No you're quite right, and again where my human medical background shows through. Never understood the disparity in terminology between veterinary and human anatomy :D
 
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Kallibear said:
If we wish to nit pick, it's not dorsal ;) Dorsal is the top of something ( the opposite of ventral). Since the tendon has no 'top' surface (the top of the leg would count as promixal as oppposed to distal), it can't be dorsal.

The back of the leg would be caudal (the opposite of cranial) Or possibly palmer since it's near the foot( as opposed to planter)
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If we want to be really silly I think it's "palmar" and "plantar", no ;) ?



OP I have to say that sound REALLY odd. A bony feeling lump on the back of the leg where there is only a tendon? Only there when the leg is weightbearing? I can't even guess what it might be, can we have a photo?
 
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Grrr, just wrote a long post and then managed to delete it!

So, just in case anyone else finds this useful, the vet said the lump is just a fibrous lump, nothing to worry about, not connected to tendon, and will probably not go away but shouldn't cause any bother. Phew!

It is likely to have been caused by him knocking himself, we were away a couple of days before the lump appeared and his field neighbours got brought in, leaving him out on his own so he was charging about and jumping electric fences - we think this is probably the cause of it.

The lameness that I saw on the lunge was most probably one of his splints which is a bit sore some days - just coincidence they were on the same leg, and I saw a lump and panicked!
 
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