Capped Hock

[Albus15]

Came down this morning to do my horses rehab following a check ligament injury, to find a fat ball on the back of his hock when picking his feet out. He's only gone and capped his hock and i'm 99% sure it's from where he's lying down and getting back up, as he does have small grazes on the backs of his hocks. He does have a thick shavings bed but almost digs himself holes to the concrete below. It's warm and squidgy but doesn't appear to be bothering him really.

I've already contacted my vet so waiting to hear back. Does anyone have any experience with treating these? Did they go away? I've had a brief read about them but not found much information.. any help greatly appreciated!

He's due to be introduced to turnout this weekend, which both he and I are desperate for as it's been a very long 4 months!

 

[Titchy Pony]

Little Madam capped a hock a few years ago while still on livery by banging the partition with a neighbour she didn't like. It never bothered her and I just cold hosed it and put some clay on it. It did take roughly two years to entirely disappear if I recall correctly.

 

[Time for Tea]

Yes, I bought a mare years ago who had been stabled a lot, without rubber matting. She had two capped hocks. They were mentioned at her vetting as a blemish but not a soundness concern. They did say her hock joints were weak, but I think that was irrelevant to the capped hocks. In fact we never had any trouble with her hocks, and once I got her home with plenty of turnout and rubber matting plus bedding when she was stabled, the capped hocks swelling began to shrink. It took a year or two for them to completely disappear, but completely disappear they did

 

[Albus15]

Thank you both for replying! Having also now spoken to my vet, it seems they are only a problem if they get infected and are purely cosmetic - what a relief!

 

[paddi22]

i found k-taping on the hocks worked really well. the practicioner said the ktape helped to drain fluids and help support the lymph nodes to keep fluids moving around

 

[Time for Tea]

I remember now, the vets doing my mare’s vetting said the capped hocks would be a permanent blemish. Famous practice too, near Lambourne. I thought at the time this was rubbish and so it proved. And they called her a cob. Just because she wasn’t a thoroughbred. She was actually an aristocratic looking Belgian trotter. Pretty head. I wasn’t too pleased with the vetting apart from the fact she passed, as you can probably tell!

 

[Sail_away]

My young mare did one of hers whilst travelling a few months back - I iced and cold hosed it obsessively, at least twice a day but up to 4 times if I could. Personally found the ice (inside an ice boot) made more of a visual difference than cold hosing, I think because there was some compression as well. She was out 24/7, movement helped too.
After two weeks it wasn’t capped but was slightly bigger, it’s probably 6 ish months on and it’s pretty much completely down. She was on Bute for a week too to get inflammation down.