swelling above fetlock

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WoodysMum

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My boy has a mysterious swelling above his left hind fetlock, and the back of his fetlock is warmer and puffier than normal. It is squishy, no hard lumps. He is not lame as such on it, but is reluctant to step under himself with that leg when turned on a tight circle but is fine on the other leg. Very 'pottery', if that makes sense?

He's still perfectly happy, is eating etc etc, but is a bit flinchy with that leg when you fiddle with it.

Any ideas of what it is, and how to treat it? I put like-ice on it last night but it was still swollen this morning (although probably because he was in his stable last night.) I dont know whether to put his bioflows on, or to bandage his back legs, or what to do!

Putting some arnica on it during the day but i think with all this rain it is getting washed off!
 
Treat heat and swelling with cold water hosing twice a day and support bandages.I would call the vet out or at least ring him .
 
thanks
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i cold hosed this morning and will do again tonight...so should i bandage with gamgee and stable bandages tonight then?


eta // i have some tubigrip too if that is better.
 
It sounds like windgalls! it may be worth you reading a previous post on here titled windgalls & suspensory ligament damage.
 
ditto above that it sounds like windgalls, however i'd be a bit concerned that he is unhappy about you touching it, that in mind i;d get the vet to check it just in case there is any infection there, too close to tendon sheaths to risk leaving imo
 
Windgalls can appear above the fetlock or below, inside, outside and back around the lower part of the tendon area. A windgall is a sack of fluid that comes up to protect a problem that is occuring and causing pain. Usually windgalls are not painful themselves but the problem they are protecting is! If they become hard and painful to squeeze then they are working overtime doing their job. They should remain squidgy to squeeze. A very common reason for them coming up is to protect an over stretched ligament (usually suspensory) this is due to the pedal bone being too horizontal with low heels. Sometimes the feet can be to the naked eye in very good shape but when you x-ray you 9/10 times find the pedal bones to be too flat (they should be no less than 5°) it is worth getting the feet x-rayed to see the pedal situation if your horse is prone to windgalls. Its not a case of treating the windgalls, its a case of sorting the problem they are protecting. As you said in your reply to my thread your horse already has windgalls I, for this reason would have foot x-rays done. Hope this helps
 
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sorry the picture is big, here is the leg and lump in question.


heat has gone down and he is stepping under himself more with that leg. lump is still there though!


do you think rest, cold hosing and getting the vet out is the best option?
 
The lump is in the same place as the little mare on my livery that my husband is treating! I would certainly get the Vet to look and if it were mine I would have x-rays done of the feet, as the lump is up the back of the tendon it may be wise to scan for soft tissue swelling/damage too as you are probably aware xrays only show up bone. Cold hosing wont harm, dont box rest as it can make it fill more but just gentle walking, no hard concussion work on roads until your Vet has seen the lump. Good luck
 
just an update - the vet is coming out tomorrow at 2pm. i think im really fussing over nothing! i had a vet. nurse look at the lump today and she thought it was a windgall, but then surely that is protecting damage going on underneath?


hmm...feel like im such a worrying mum!
 
Deffinately, and for this reason I would want to find out what exactly the windgalls are protecting just in case you up the work load and he cant cope with it as it may be too late then if he has a ligament injury. keep us posted as to what he thinks. Good Luck
 
Thats really not good enough!! I have just asked my husband (as I mentioned he is a Vet) he said, basically your horse has Tenosinovitis of the tendon sheath which means the inflammation has come up due to strain on the tendon! Yes you can ignore it but something has caused the inflammation of the tendon and so it ought to be treated ie with anti inflammatories and reduced work to just walking, if it were one of his cases he would be concerned as to why there is a tendon strain and if it did not reduce dramatically he would be investigating the situation. Hope this is of help to you!
 
I'd agree with Dressage_Babe - question further, I wish I had! I had the vet out to my mare September last year after she got a larger than usual "windgall" and just seemed a bit below par. He trotted her up/flexion tested and nothing, she was fine, so I stopped worrying. We put her "below par" attitude down to a very very slight recurrence of her breathing problems and to be fair she did pick up again after treatment for this and was really good.

However, November she came in lame from the field - well not lame precisely, but reluctant to step under with that leg (just as you say OP) and moving "differently" on it.

Same vet came out and suspected suspensory. We are now 7 months later and she is still on paddock rest and not due back to the vets till August (9 months after the injury)!!!!

Turns out she had injured her annular ligament and also the DDFT! Now my vet is "sure" it is an impact injury which occured in November in the field, but I can't quite rid myself of the thought that maybe something was brewing in September with the Windgall and we both missed it.

She also had flat pedal bones (not negative), just flatter than normal when x-rayed - so again fits in with D-B's advice.

My advice, definitely question and insist on a scan - may sound extreme, but I'm now facing the possibility of my mare never returning to her previous work level and everything I have read about annular ligament injuries, indicates that the earlier the diagnosis and rest given, the better the outcome and less likelihood of injury to the DDFT.
 
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