Puffy Fetlocks - anyone had this before?

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mischamoo

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I noticed my horse last night had slightly puffy and warm hind fetlocks. I trotted him up on a hard surface, sound as anything and quite content in his field charging about and eating well, bright eyed etc.

As it was so unusual to see his legs like that I popped a quick call to my vet who suggested cold hosing and keep him turned out so he’s moving about which will help with the swelling.

If he had been lame it was recommended to bring him in and bandage and he would come out today to see him. As he was sound, vet didn’t seem to think it could be tendon problems, I don’t think it’s windgalls as he’s not in a lot of work, just light hacking at the moment. The vet did say it could possibly be the onset of a virus which can often start with symptoms of swelling in joints, in my boy’s case his fetlocks.

It was suggested I keep an eye on him (I saw him this morning and still puffy but legs weren’t as warm) and if he goes lame or deteoriates or I’m concerned they’re still bad in a few days’ time, they’ll pop out and examine him and do a blood test on him.

I have the vet out anyway on Friday to give jabs to my other one so can get him checked out if I'm still not happy but would want him to come out sooner should this be anything of a cause for concern.

Has any ever come across this with any of their neddies before?
 
FfionWinnie said:
My mare only needs to have a pin head sized patch of mudfever and her legs swell up.
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I didn't think of mudfever......... I have extremely limited knowledge of this having never had a horse with it before, so any advice you can give me as to what to look out for and I'll have another check of his legs.

He's never had this since I've had him (3 years), he's currently out 24/7 but my grazing is fairly dry. From the inital reviews of his legs there's no wounds/cuts or apparent irritations to his skin.
 
Its usually the first sign of it with my horses too. There doesn't always have to be mud either, wet dew in long grass can start it off with mine sometimes. My mare had a mudrash flare up at the end of August, despite the temperatures being high and the ground being dry, not sure why!

Look for any tiny tiny scabs or bumps on the legs. With ours, it usually shows when you bring them in - that's when you get the swelling most, they usually walk it off initially when turned out (when I say initially I mean for the first few days/week until it gets more established..) So I am not sure if yours will be mudrash if he is still swelling while out.

Personally I would keep a close eye, keep examining his legs for anything every day, and hopefully he will be ok until Friday.
 
Puffy fetlocks are the first sign of too much grass for Henry. It starts in the hinds, then the fronts. It's my cue to restrict his grazing in some way and supplement with hay instead. Check also his coronet bands (and compare with the fronts) to make sure they aren't spongy. Or, if you have a muzzle, put it on or put him somewhere with only soaked hay for a few hours. If the legs go down, it's grass. Mine isn't exactly knee high and they're in a restricted paddock, but I'm having to muzzle my mare again and monitor Henry, so the grass is definitely flushing.
 
Fransurrey said:
Puffy fetlocks are the first sign of too much grass for Henry. It starts in the hinds, then the fronts. It's my cue to restrict his grazing in some way and supplement with hay instead. Check also his coronet bands (and compare with the fronts) to make sure they aren't spongy. Or, if you have a muzzle, put it on or put him somewhere with only soaked hay for a few hours. If the legs go down, it's grass. Mine isn't exactly knee high and they're in a restricted paddock, but I'm having to muzzle my mare again and monitor Henry, so the grass is definitely flushing.
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This could actually be a possibility for the cause thinking about it as he has walk through access to a paddock which does seem to be growing through quite well and although not flush with grass, whats growing through is quite green. I think I'll move him to one of the other smaller restricted paddocks where there's not much grass and just provide soaked hay and see if his legs go down. Thank you for all the replies! I'll see how the restricted grazing goes as I definitely think this could be a possible cause.
 
my retired TB always gets puffy fetlocks on a regular basis. vet cant find anything wrong and he isnt lame and not really much heat. my vet seems to think it was caused by an old injury that we wernt aware of in his racing days. they swell up one day and the next day they are fine. he had been fired over 9 years ago before i got him so they are bigger than normal anyway. he is retired through another injury but his puffy legs never interfered with his riding carrer, we just had to keep an eye on it. if it is mud fever then you could try the turnout chaps though these cant be kept on 24/7. as an owner of another horse with 4 white legs and prone to mud fever i couldnt live without these but he does come in at night so most he has them on is 8/9 hours a day.
 
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