Could anyone help with what this could be please?

[Benieta]

My young mare came in from the field on Wednesday last week and i noticed her leg was a little puffy. She is sound and i have been cold hosing it twice a day. She is turned out day and night as it seems to fill when shes stood but once moving it disappears. It doesn't seem to be causing her any discomfort.
I rode her tonight for the first time in a week as it had been down. We only did 10 mins very light work in the arena but she seemed very uncomfortable and generally not wanting to move. Her back was arched, tossing her hear and swishing her tail etc ( could be because shes in season? Her first season with me so i dont know whats normal for her yet or the fact shes had a week off on grass? )

I have attached a photo. It isn't puffy anywhere else on her leg, just this one little bubble?? It has been completely gone the last two days then back up today?!

I just wondered if anybody had any ideas before i get the vet out? I'm really paranoid..!!

When it was down yesterday



The lump at its largest

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Ar first reading I was thinking wingalls

Wind Galls are soft "spongy" swellings around the back, front and or side of the fetlock joint. The inflamed joint capsule distends with additional synovial fluid in an effort to protect against injury.
Caused by: joint concussion, excessive work while horse is young & joints are still developing, stress & fatigue due to intense work load on the joints.

Though could also be tendon related

Sprained Suspensory Ligament
Which is inflammation and strain of the suspensory ligament the runs down from the knee and wraps around the fetlock joint.
Caused by: stress and trauma to the ligament from over extension and fatigue.

If your insured you will need to note down the day they started swelling and also notify your vet as delay in treatment could mean difficulty in healing or insurance wondering why there was a delay. Had this with sarcoids)

 

[Orca]

I also thought widgall or possibly tendon. I would assume from her reaction to being ridden that it is causing discomfort. I would have a vet out asap.

 

[Benieta]

It feels just like a windgall but i thought it was far too high.
Would a tendon injury go down when she exercises it?
It was up last night but i cold hosed for 10 minutes and walked her down the field and it had completely gone again?

 

[Scatterbrain]

I'd advise you to get it checked by an equine vet. There can be significant damage without lameness at this stage. If it is a sprain of a tendon or ligament, you need to detect and treat it now before it gets any worse.

 

[applecart14]

It feels just like a windgall but i thought it was far too high.
Would a tendon injury go down when she exercises it?
It was up last night but i cold hosed for 10 minutes and walked her down the field and it had completely gone again?

A suspensory branch injury can mimic this pattern, however its too high for this. It is in the region of the inferior check ligament, so I would suspect it may be either the suspensory ligament or check ligament but I wouldn't have thought she would have displayed the level of discomfort you describe with either of these problems, unless she is overcompensating in other areas and has become sore, or she is super sensitive.

You really need to get the vet out as guessing will never work and will lead to more problems if you guess wrong. He will ask you to walk and trot the horse in hand, will examine the legs and feet and use pincers on the feet if he suspects its a foot problem. He will feel for heat and may ask you to lunge the horse in the school on both reins in walk and trot to reach a diagnosis. Once you have a diagnosis he will suggest either box rest and anti-inflammatories or limited turnout depending on what the injury is.

 

[Goldenstar]

That might also be a sprained check ligament .
They often don't cause visible lameness at first .
If she where mine I would hose and or ice it and call the vet .
Don't give any cold therapy just the vet comes it better for them to see it puffy
Keep the horse calm and restrict movement until the vet sees her .
Obviously don't ride the horse until you know that's it ok to do so.

 

[Benieta]

Just bought her in and its completely gone. No heat, no swelling. Trotted her up and shes sound. No good getting a vet if its not up today :/

 

[Benieta]

Could it be a vein? Her veins are huge and when its up it has a pulse. And it only seems to be up when its warmer so far

 

[ycbm]

A suspensory branch injury can mimic this pattern, however its too high for this. It is in the region of the inferior check ligament, so I would suspect it may be either the suspensory ligament or check ligament but I wouldn't have thought she would have displayed the level of discomfort you describe with either of these problems, unless she is overcompensating in other areas and has become sore, or she is super sensitive.

.

Sorry to contradict you applecart, but it's far lower than any check ligament injury I've ever seen and it's exactly the height where my horse had a suspensory branch injury and on the photo you can see the suspensory branch immediately in front of the thumb.

My horse was significantly lame with the suspensory and two friends' horses were the same with check ligament injuries.

OP I think you need a vet for an ultrasound scan.

 

[Goldenstar]

The check can defiantly be that low in some horses it's position can vary considerably from horse to horse .
I have seen a check that low in one of my own.

 

[ycbm]

The check can defiantly be that low in some horses it's position can vary considerably from horse to horse .
I have seen a check that low in one of my own.

OK, thanks, I've only seen four, all much higher. The horse needs a scan, though, doesn't it?

 

[Goldenstar]

OK, thanks, I've only seen four, all much higher. The horse needs a scan, though, doesn't it?

Yes It defiantly needs a vet to see what's what's on palpation and then it all likely hood a scan .

 

[Orca]

It feels just like a windgall but i thought it was far too high.
Would a tendon injury go down when she exercises it?
It was up last night but i cold hosed for 10 minutes and walked her down the field and it had completely gone again?

Just bought her in and its completely gone. No heat, no swelling. Trotted her up and shes sound. No good getting a vet if its not up today :/

I would still have a vet out. You have the photo's and if fluctuation is part of the condition, although it's ideal if it's up (which it might well be after a day in, if she's in?), I'd say it's safer to have her checked over either way. She's young and I wouldn't hold off on having it assessed.

 

[Benieta]

Does anyone know how much a scan costs roughly?
Shes not covered by insurance for another week

 

[Benieta]

Would a ligament injury normally swell constantly and not fluctuate? I spoke to my vet on the phone and he said the fact its going down is a good sign as he'd expect tendon or ligament damage to be hot and swollen all the time

 

[applecart14]

Sorry to contradict you applecart, but it's far lower than any check ligament injury I've ever seen and it's exactly the height where my horse had a suspensory branch injury and on the photo you can see the suspensory branch immediately in front of the thumb.

My horse was significantly lame with the suspensory and two friends' horses were the same with check ligament injuries.

OP I think you need a vet for an ultrasound scan.

If you look at this diagram http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...&thid=OIP.M786b2e9afcd540b7425afce3ee0b88cbH0 you will see that the suspensory branch actually branches out a lot lower. The inferior check ligament from what I remember from my own horse starts behind the knee area and goes down the leg a considerable distance before attaching to the DDFT, but you may be right in saying that it does not go down as far as the op is indicating in the photo.

 

[ycbm]

Does anyone know how much a scan costs roughly?
Shes not covered by insurance for another week

With callout I would expect to pay between£100 and £150

If she is sound and it is down and cool I would wait before calling the vet. It sounds like she has knocked herself and caused a temporary bruise in the tendon sheath. But I agree there's no point calling a vet at this stage to a sound horse, especially as you are in pine contact with them.

 

[applecart14]

Would a ligament injury normally swell constantly and not fluctuate? I spoke to my vet on the phone and he said the fact its going down is a good sign as he'd expect tendon or ligament damage to be hot and swollen all the time

In my experience a swelling will reduce with cold therapy and sometimes exercise but will reappear almost straight away once those things have ceased. This is a good indication of how well your horse is healing. If you take the ice boot off and there is no swelling then you know that the area is healing.

With my youngsters check ligament injury (around 1998 so a long time ago) I would bring him in the from the field and it would be reduced. I would think 'brilliant' and ride. Of course I didn't know that check ligaments do vary and swelling can fluctuate.

 

[Benieta]

I will see how she goes today as she has to be in today as the farmer is fertilising the fields. I cold hosed for 20 mins and then bandaged her front legs while shes in. I'll hose another 2/3 times throughout today even if its down and see what shes like.
As soon as it puffs up again i will contact the vet for a scan x

 

[fatpiggy]

Its possible she just gave her leg a tweak. I'd be concerned though that there is some underlying weakness, so I'd discuss it with the vet and suggest a scan. I'd far rather have a relatively small bill now then a potential whopper and a laid-up horse in a few weeks time, plus of course a claim on the insurance will lead to a bar on all the tendons and ligaments in that leg, and possible the one on the other side too.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

If it goes up again I would definitely call the vet as it could go pear shaped if it is an already compromised injury.

 

[Scatterbrain]

I've had one with a strain to the SDFT in the exact same spot as your pic shows. Very slight swelling, was barely detectable and wasn't initially lame at all. I ignored the early warning signs and the horse did eventually go lame. A scan later revealed the damage. Had I had the knowledge to scan it earlier, he wouldn't have had to endure months of box rest. Hard lesson learned and I always err on the side of caution now.

 

[PorkChop]

If you can, ice it instead of cold hosing - it is so much more effective.

I use a tubigrip doubled up with crushed ice between the two layers.

Hope it turns out to be nothing

 

[applecart14]

Its possible she just gave her leg a tweak. I'd be concerned though that there is some underlying weakness, so I'd discuss it with the vet and suggest a scan. I'd far rather have a relatively small bill now then a potential whopper and a laid-up horse in a few weeks time, plus of course a claim on the insurance will lead to a bar on all the tendons and ligaments in that leg, and possible the one on the other side too.

Fatpiggy is right.

I just wish I'd known my horse had tweaked his leg when he went mental on the lunge and ran on a half twisted shoe before I stopped him. The symptoms are sometimes so minimal of this type of injury and he was totally sound (in his case the leg didn't swell until the day of the vets visit!). It was only after he did a whopper of a shy at the dressage competition after my test that the weakness that had been hidden and that he'd obviously had since the lunging incident ended up becoming a sprain. Its always easier to be wise afterwards though and at the time I was more concerned about the nail bind, (the nail of the shoe had gone through his sole) When I called the vet out I expected him to say it was an abcess even though it had been poulticed and nothing had come out. It was a total shock to find it was the branch. He saw the video of the dressage test and said he was completely sound, so I knew the shy after the test had been the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak

 

[BlackVelvet]

If the horse is still uncomfortable then the vet needs to come and have a look. It does look the same as my horses check ligament injury and the vet told me not to bandage so be careful if you are bandaging etc. Mine was on box rest and bute for a week with cold hosing 3x times a day then reassessed and he went back into very very light exercise as he was no longer lame and slowly built it up.

 

[applecart14]

If the horse is still uncomfortable then the vet needs to come and have a look. It does look the same as my horses check ligament injury and the vet told me not to bandage so be careful if you are bandaging etc. Mine was on box rest and bute for a week with cold hosing 3x times a day then reassessed and he went back into very very light exercise as he was no longer lame and slowly built it up.

HI Black Velvet, bandaging is very unreliable and can cause more problems than its worth as you have correctly stated. It can also over heat the tendons, so its not recommended in some situations. I bandage Bails front legs when I ride in the school for support but if I ride for a long time i.e. fun ride I put the boots with the air holes in so they allow the tendons to breathe.

Bandaging is good for offering support to the opposite leg so can be useful in some situations.

 

[Benieta]

Just an update.

I had the vet come to visit on thursday afternoon. She inspected her leg, trotted her up and did a flexion test and shes 100% sound.
She told me to continue as i was and she was going to speak to the orthapedic surgeon and decide if a scan is necessary as it isnt her tendoms or ligaments.

Just had a call and been told not to worry the surgeon has seen it another horse before who showed exact same symptoms. Shes basically tweaked it in the field and torn a hole in her tendon sheath. As long as she isnt lame and the lump doesnt get any bigger then its going to be purely cosmetic.

I'm so relieved!!!