Splint??

[Charem]

Evening all,

My friend asked me earlier to have a look at her horses leg as she was jumping him earlier and said that although he was very good, he didn't quite feel right; wasn't taking her in to the fences as forward as he usualy does.

So pootle of to field to have a look and feel his legs. On his near-fore he has a small, hard pea sized lump, just above the fetlock joint that is fairly hot. To me it feels like a splint but im not sure if the splint bone goes that low so am basically asking, is it a splint and if not what else could be? Also, she wanted to go to a hunter trial tommorow but asked whether she should. I said personally I wouldn't risk it and to cold hose the leg a couple times a day. What do you guys think? I sort of feel i'm being over cautious as my two boys are both broken atm but at the same time I wouldn't want to say go ahead and then him to break as well.

ps: thanks for brilliant advice for horse with punctured sole, infection has almost cleared and he's no longer hopping lame

 

[katrid16]

No sure if what you describe is a splint but in anycase I wouldn't do the hunter trail until you find out what it is

 

[ImogenBurrows]

You can easily feel the "button" at the end of the splint bone on the outside or inside of any of the other legs to compare. As a rule of thumb though, imagine you are dividing the leg into thirds and the splint bone ends at the top of the bottom third so to speak.

If the lump is hot and painful to press on, then maybe try some cold water hosing/ice packing and maybe ring the vets for further advice as not uncommonly fractures of the splint bone can occur and I certainly would advice against hunter trialling!!!

Most splints will settle in time, but they are worth getting checked if associated with a lameness.

Hope that helps,
Imogen