How worried should I be?

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emmad96

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Be honest, don't sugar coat anything.

My mare has had a fat/puffy leg for about a week and half/two weeks now. I'm not 100% sure what has caused it but she's never been sore on it at all, in fact she got through a lesson with no soreness, and that was almost two weeks ago. The swelling starts just behind her knee, and extends about halfway down the cannon bone on the tendons.

Before anyone asks, she was seen by a vet, my farrier and my instructor, and they all said the same thing: if she's not sore then just take it easy and keep cold hosing it. She's had two nights of tuff rock clay on it, so I am thinking that possibly that has just started drawing whatever going on out and she's finally come up sore. I talked to the vet this morning and she's advised to give her the week off and keep hosing/icing/clay-ing to try and keep the swelling down. If she's no better or gets worse in the next day or two I'll get the vet out again.

Anyone who has experienced similar issues please fire away with ideas/tell me I'm worrying over nothing/tell me I'm screwed ect! Cookies and vodka for all!
 
She may have cellulitis or lymphangitis- my friend's mare had that back in the summer. She needed antibiotics. Might be an idea to ask your vet to come out again, I don't know how it's diagnosed.
 
We had one at work with a very similar sounding swelling, again never lame.
He had a week off first. Vets scanned and confirmed the tendon was fine. Said ok to work. Few weeks easy work. No change in the swelling so the vet came out again but still couldn't find anything.
He's back in full work and doing fine it's almost completely back to normal but don't think we ever quite got to the cause of it.
Hope yours is something non sinister too X
 
I would not be happy until the vet was back and it was scanned, to ensure there was no tendon damage.

It is not that expensive and could stop you working the horse and making it worse.
 
skint1 said:
She may have cellulitis or lymphangitis- my friend's mare had that back in the summer. She needed antibiotics. Might be an idea to ask your vet to come out again, I don't know how it's diagnosed.
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Was going to suggest the same. My horse must have got the tiniest cut in his hoof to get the infection but he went lame first and I had him kept in with the yard keeping an eye on him and letting me know of any changes. From one check to another of about a 2 hour gap his leg had ballooned up to the knee. Spoke to the vet on the phone and they diagnosed it over the phone but went out to see him still to check but she was right. He got antibiotics. So glad i made the yard keep him in as they weren't going to and said not to worry about it.

It could be tendon though if the lameness has only just arrived but i would have thought a tendon injury would show up lameness quicker.

By this point I would even be tempted to try another vet but that may not be an option for you if you have no others nearby.
 
The old TB had cellulitis in April and he was very lame and in a lot of pain. He came in this Tuesday evening, not lame but not "right" so vet came out and confirmed he was running a temp and probably brewing another bout of cellulitis. IMO I doubt that your horse has cellulitis. I had a horse with a very small amount of damage to his suspensory, he was never lame on it but there was a little heat and a small lump but his leg didn't swell up. Does the swelling increase with exercise or decrease? If horse is in, does the swelling get worse? TBH I think I'd want the vet in and wouldn't be riding or turning out until I knew what the problem was, especially if the horse is "sore".
 
Going through similar at the moment. Alf has had a swelling that runs down the back of one hindleg for a few weeks. Vet scanned the leg, and found no tears/damage. I'm still working him, as he's sound - lots of walking on the road to build sufficient muscle to support himself, rather than his tendons working overtime - which we suspect to be the cause of the swelling.
 
Thank you all for your replies. She's out 24/7, no option of bringing in but is in a fairly small paddock as she gets mental in the spring grass that's coming through. The swelling was decreasing with excersise, and she's now not being ridden or lunged or anything other than being brought to the tie ups for grooming/change of tuffrock and hosing ect. Talked to a very experienced friend tonight and have decided to call the vet that saw her last to have a chat, and to see if it's worth him coming (he's an hour away) out to examine/scan it. I'm quite keen to get on top of it if it is serious.
 
Please be careful. I know of two horses recently who have presented with swellings around tendon areas but no sign of lameness and the owners have kept riding them. Later scans have revealed tendon damage to almost irreparable levels, one horse has now had to have his future jumping career written off and will only ever be suitable as a light hack.
 
Does she have a fever/ high temperature? If it is an infection they will generally have a higher temperature and vet might give antibiotics.
 
I would be getting the tendon and check ligament scanned. Not all horses go lame with tendon or ligament damage. Ice 3-4 times a day if possible. Given that this is nearly 2 weeks on from when the problem first presented itself it is the optimum time to scan. You don't see much in the first 10 days.
 
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