Got to the yard this morning and found this.......

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Liesel

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Triangle is old cut (2 wks old).


A blinking swollen hock just as the Blonde (daughter) was entered for a BD qualifier. The Diva obviously didnt fancy a party and self harmed !

Bit of background to help you with your own experiences or veterinary expertise.

Roe (the Diva) was unblemished last night. She had been ridden on Thursday evening and turned out Friday and when we saw her that evening all was fine. Blonde groomed her etc but didnt ride. Arrived at yard this morning and saw the swollen hock. She wasnt in any discomfort, weight bearing and happily eating her hay. Had a poke and prod and looked for any puncture wounds etc. Nothing to be seen (although she has an old cut which she can only have done in the stable perhaps getting up knocking herself with her shoe. You will see mark in the pic - would this cut cause infection after 2 weeks after scabbing over and causing no issues at the time?.

Took her out and trotted her up a couple of times. Sound albeit short on that leg. Needless to say had to pull out of comp but there's always another day.

Asked a few knowledgeable friends for a 2nd opinion and we came to the conclusion as she wasnt in any discomfort or at least not showing any signs. I gave her 2 Danilon and turned out into play pen with hay, as we are on restricted grazing and she wont turnout on her own for more than 1 hour so. Hoolied and then settled quite happily after a good roll.

Brought her in and left Danilon for her. We are part livery so feed is made up and given.

I went back around 5.30 to check on her and she seemed her normal self but then again Danilon had obviously kicked in.

So do you think is it a vet visit tomorrow and all of its out of hours call out charges if still looking the same or do you wait until Monday - I have enough Danilon to keep any discomfort at bay until then. I have left a note in the yards diary to call me in the morning if looking worse and I will of course make that call.

Any advice appreciated. Sorry for the long post and thank you for getting this far !

A few more photos (dont know how to reduce them so rather large !)

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'Good' hock. Does look a little bulbous but it fine :-) oh and thats a poop dribble!

P1020058.jpg

Comparison of both hocks
 
I would get the vet as soon as possible. Looks to me like she has an infection and probably needs some antibiotics. Vet once said to me that the sooner the drugs are in the system the better, esp with hocks. If it gets too bad you may end up having to have the hock joint flushed which will cost much more than a visit out of hours. I wouldnt take any chances with this.
 
No problem, sometimes you just need someone to say "ring the vet". Hocks are funny things, my mare was kicked on hers and we caught it in time but she still had a course of antibiotics as a precaution. If I were you I would really closely inspect it and bathe it with very warm salty water. This will clean it well and remove any scabs that are lurking. You need to get any scabs off and see if there is any pus underneath. Do hope she is ok as the last thing you want is infection in the joint. Keep us posted how she is and what the vet says. Its ok giving Danilon but it can mask anything else thats going on.
 
i would also advise the vet. you cant be too careful with swollen joints. if left til monday and it is infected then it will be a harder job to get on top of the infection.
 
Thats one swollen hock. i wouldnt have thought it was infection as that cut looks to have healed well. It looks like she has given it a good wack. hocks are awkward as you cannot bandage it. When my mares hock was swollen, my vet told me to bandage the bottom of her leg to stop the swelling traveling down the leg. but mines was an infection from a fresh wound. Hopefully its nothing serious. personally i would ring the on call vet and get their opinion and if needs be send them a picture and they can tell you wether you need an out of hours call out or wether it can wait untill monday morning.
 
My old mare presented a similar hock a few weeks after a kick - seemed to have healed well but turned out there was a tiny bone chip loose in there somewhere. She was put on a high dose of antibiotics and was told it might work its way out, calcify without problem or require surgery. Luckily it took the second option and while she was always left with a tiny bump, you had to know it was there to find it.
 
Well I would wait til Monday!! Have a really good look to see if any thorn etc in there. If not then I would carry on with Danilon and give it a good dousing with warm/hot, not cold water. Hot water brings blood to the area to repair. As long as not getting any worse would give it a day or two and see how its goes.
 
Thank you for all your responses. Head says call vet out but nothing I can do now so will go up in the morning to see how she is and make a decision.

Really appreciate all your thoughts/comments and will keep you up to date x
 
If no new wounds or punctures found then I wuld say it could wait tilMonday. Unlikely to be joint infection so long after the wound. More likely to be cellulitis or a strain/chip. Ring the on call vet for advice but I would be saying bandage lower limbs, bute tomorrow moring (but not after if getting vet monday) and cold hose twice daily. Ask for her to be handwalked/handgrazed 15mins twice/3 times daily as opposed to turn-out.
 
Ditchjumper2 said:
Well I would wait til Monday!! Have a really good look to see if any thorn etc in there. If not then I would carry on with Danilon and give it a good dousing with warm/hot, not cold water. Hot water brings blood to the area to repair. As long as not getting any worse would give it a day or two and see how its goes.
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I'd wait too - but would advise COLD water hosing to bring swelling down (the blood will come back anyway and you don't want to encourage more swelling.)

I would guess she's got cast - and banged it. I picked one of my weanlings off the wall at late night check and I'll put money on HER having a big hock (or two) in the morning, she was jammed tight! Older horses are often smart enough to kick themselves free - instead of lying there looking pathetic like foals inevitably do - but they can give themselves a good whack in the process.
 
Just a bit of an update as you were all kind enough to offer advice.

Roe is doing well thank goodness. Swelling has reduced much more than I was expecting. Had a really good poke and prod again this evening and she didnt flinch.

It was then I noticed the marks on the wall (Im pretty sure they werent there before but it could just be coincidence) and Im starting to think she did get cast. She has done it before albeit 20 months ago only that time the stables were the traditional wooden type and she actually kicked the wall through. Pretty scary to see what a horse can actually do in panic. Luckily that only left her with just a slightly bruised hock and after seeing what kind of injuries they can do to themselves we got off very very lucky. We have since moved yards where they are in a brick barn type building so the walls arent so forgiving and Im thinking thats why she came off so badly this time.

Thank you all once again for your advice, experiences and thoughts. They were very much appreciated.
 
looks like a case of cellulitis probably caused by some minor graze or something. Yes, I too would advise a vet visit especially as it invoves a joint. keep up posted.
 
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