help!!! puffy legs after hunting....

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xxmariexx

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took my pony cubbing for the first time yesterday at 20 he's a true pro but hasnt been for 18 months, we ended up staying out a lot longer than expected and got back to the yard after dark, quickly bathed him with warm water and put to bed and today all his legs were really puffy, i expected this as when i got home realised i forgot to put his magnetic boots on, felt awfull and turned him out for 5 hours and got him in and still about 50% puffy, so hosed them and put arnica and witch hazel gel and put his mag boots on for the evening, other horse i went with also had puffy legs, so is this normal after hunting? or is it b'cos both havent been for a while? ground wasnt to hard and had a lot of grass covering and i dont feel we over did it just felt awfull today seeing his legs like that!
 
Sounds like windgalls because you overdid it yesterday- imagine how your legs would feel if you went out running from dawn to dusk having not done it for 18mths
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Your treatment is right and they should be down in a day or so but next time I'd take it a bit easier on your old chap
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I agree you have treated them absolutely right. I would just be careful that the skin doesn't get soggy having the gel on then boots on top. Might be better to bandage with Climatex liners or something similar?

Does sound like it was too hard a day for them though. Perhaps he is just not fit enough, probably he needs to be doing a lot less at his age. 18 months is a long break from such hard work IMO.

If you take him again, I would make sure you give yourself a cut off time and stick to it!

I'm sure there is no harm done. Just an early warning system for you to heed.
 
ahh forgot to mention we may have been back as darkness set in but it didnt start till 3 (newcomers cubbing meet) and it was very slow didnt really have a good run till right near the end! i wouldnt have kept him out longer than that and only was longer due to half the field getting lost for an hour near the end to avoid a horrble fence!! he's a great jumper but ive never took him b4 so wasnt overly confident at jumping something so extreme! hopefully legs will be down tommrro!!
 
sounds like you've done the right thing to me. maybe try to keep him out as much as you can for a few days, and cold hose a couple of times a day to help reduce the swelling go down.

he's a good age to still be hunting, you're obviously doing something right! Just goes to show that you don't need a 4yo to go hunting!

Think of it as lesson learnt! you probably won't forget to put his bandages on again!
 
lol no definately wont forget next time! its so true what u said about u dont need a four yr old although i sometimes think he should be four, no body could beleive his age! as far as im aware he was pretty unrideable untill he was about 12 so physically he's only eight lol!! hunting helped him out, he was such a pro! just preying his legs are ok!!
 
I hunt with an old guy on an old horse. the horse is RID and about 21, and the guy must be about 70. he's the nicest guy, always looking out for everyone else especially the nervous/little/lost ones. and the horse is as fresh as any of them at the start of the day, but he manages to do it in a really gentle sedate kind of way!
 
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