front leg: sometimes swollen,sometimes not.

[Lynz]

Hi,

Wondering if anyone can help me.

I have a 7yr old Ex racehorse,i have had her for 3 yrs.After 5 months of owning her she went lame on her off fore.She had heat and swelling round her tendon,so did the usual,coldhosing,bandaging,box rest and she became sound again and after 3 months i started gently riding her again.

I decided to put her into foal and while she was in foal her off fore would swell and have heat in it and other times it wouldnt.But she was never lame,anyway the foal was born and i have now weaned the foal.

I want to start riding my horse again but if she has been stabled overnight her off fore has some heat and swelling in it and then when she has been turned out it goes down again.The thing that bothers me is that it has heat in it when it swells.She is never lame on it and the other leg doesnt swell. Would anyone suggest getting the leg x-rayed before riding her,and also does anyone know what may be causing it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[apkelly01]

My horse is a bit like this at the mo. She is 12 yrs old and 9 1/2 months in foal. I had to keep her in as the farrier was coming, but he never came and she had been staning in her stable for more the 36 hours. When I went up I noticed a swelling on the inside of her near fore just under the knee. She wasn't lame and there was a bit of heat. It was only on one leg. I did the usual as well, cold hosed etc. To cut a long story short the swelling goes down when she's been out to the field.

To be honest, I'm not too worried about it at the moment and I try a keep her out as much as possible. . Only if she's goes lame on it, will I worry

If you are still unsure, you could have a scan done to make sure it's all okay.

I'm sorry that this isn't much help, I hope your mare is feeling better soon

 

[Shilasdair]

I have a TB mare whose legs swell (with or without heat). Sometimes it's one leg...sometimes two...and sometimes all four. It can vary from mildly puffy to real tree trunks. Vets came out and diagnosed 'heart failure' (LOL)! That was about 10 years ago and she's still sound, with occasional swelling.
If you're really worried, get the tendons and ligaments scanned....if it was a bone problem it would probably be more consistently swollen IMHO.
Good luck
S