Rubs behind the elbow?

[Remi]

I brought my mare in this morning to find that she has small (thumbnail sized) bald patches behind her elbows. There doesn't appear to be any soreness. The skin looks normal, just without any hair!
I tacked her up and no, as I'd thought, the girth sits a good few inches back from where the bald patch is. For good measure I put on my sheepskin sleeve and went out for a hack, mainly in walk.

On the way home, I decided to hop off and run alongside her whilst she trotted to have a look. The girth was still way back from the rub, however, she has a lot of shoulder movement and I'm wondering if its possible that her own folds of skin is rubbing itself?

She doesn't appear distressed by it however, I'm hoping to compete in an small endurance competition next month and so it's quite worrying.



Has anyone got any advise? Or have dealt with anything like this before?




I ride with one of those obsolete Wintec girths with the elastic running all the way through.

ETA: Just a side note, my mare is no way near as fat now as she was in the sig below, taken last summer! She now has a different saddle, bridle and girth too

 

[Ella19]

sounds a bit bizarre! Could it be rug circingles? or even your feet behind her elbows when you ride? my mare is quite sensitive to sweat, if she isn't washed off properly she has had some minor hair loss before, could it be that?

 

[Marydoll]

Does she lie down in her stable or outside ?
Could it be from where she tucks her feet up underneath herself

 

[DoesDressage]

My mare has the same so will be interesting to see the responses to this thread.

 

[BlackRider]

Yes my arab had these, I think it was from the girth, so I got a really long sheepskin girth guard which seemed to do the trick.

 

[littlescallywag]

My boy has the same,
It isn't the girth rubbing or anything ,isn't ever sore. Just abit baffling but not a problem.
Was thinking Maybe its sweat related .

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Is she shod? I suspect she is rubbing when lying down/getting up.

 

[Marydoll]

Is she shod? I suspect she is rubbing when lying down/getting up.

Agree

 

[BlackRider]

My guy wasn't shod, I'm fairly certain it was rubbing from the girth, as the very long sheepskin sleeve sorted it.

 

[EstherYoung]

Harry gets this when he's in full work. He has quite a big ribcage and it is his skin flaps rubbing on themselves when they get sweaty. It was generally solved by keeping the area really clean and sticking a bit of vaseline under his elbows. Spud is slightly different conformationally in front (narrower with elbows set a bit wider) and he doesn't get rubs there at all.

 

[Noodlebug]

My horse had this on one side. Still there even after I clipped him and it would not go away. His was sore and only went when I put Betnovate on it. It was like mud fever in his armpit!!

 

[JennBags]

Yes, it just sounds like a bit of dermatitis, quite common I think.

A vet I spoke to recommended just hibi-scrubbing it twice a day.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Is it capped elbow???

This is when horses lie down allot in a stable with a concrete base with not enough bedding .

some horses get it when they lie down and their shoes rub their shoe rubs their elbow due to not enough bedding

it can happen in the field also like bed sores . sometimes there is swelling also.

The medical term for capped elbow is olecranon bursitis. It's basically just a swelling on the point of the elbow -- soft and flabby when new, sometimes hard and fibrous when old. It's usually due to trauma, either from a shoe or hoof hitting the elbow. This can happe when a horse lies down for a nap while wearing caulked or weighted shoes, causing the shoe to come into contact with the horse's elbow. Capped hocks, on the other hand, tend to occur when a horse (shod or unshod) lies down in a stall with insufficient bedding. I've seen a few of these that happened when owners put rubber mats into the stalls and mistakenly thought that they no longer needed to use bedding!

A capped elbow or hock is considered a blemish, not an unsoundness -- it should not be painful, and it should not cause any lameness. The exception would be if there were some sort of infection involved, but in a case like that, the vet would notice the heat and pain (and lameness) immediately.

Caps can often be removed. The first treatment, of course, is to deal with the cause. If the horse's hooves or shoes need to be altered, that should be done immediately, Your vet may recommend a "shoe boil boot" or "doughnut roll", which is a thick, soft, padded tube that fastens around the fetlock like a bracelet. This keeps the hoof from touching the elbow when the horse lies down.

If a cap is recent, your vet may be able to drain the fluid and medicate the area; if the cap is old, your vet may suggest surgical removal of the hard, fibrous tissue. He may feel that a corticosteroid injection, or a series of them, will reduce the cap -- or he may suggest leaving it alone!