Swelling but no lamness?

[keeleyl]

last night my horse had a slight fluidy swelling on his front leg around the tendon area just below the knee. i troted him up and he was fine i then rode him knowing that i would feel any lamness and there was none at all. tonight the swelling has hardend more and i think dropped lower. a lady at the yard said it could be number of things
1. he has just knocked it
2. he has thrown a spllint we think it is a bit far back on the leg but maybe possible (he has splints)
3. possibly done something to a tendon
3. hurt his check ligament
there is still no lamness i am keeping him in and cold hosing and seeing if the swelling goes down

has anybody any thoughts on this!!! it is a bit of a puzzle

 

[mrdarcy]

I had the same thing with one of mine about three months ago. Swelling/inflammation just below knee on inside near fore. He wasn't lame at all but definite swelling. In cases like these I always assume the worst, so I immediately box rested him, cold hosed for 20 minutes twice a day and bandaged. After ten days the swelling had reduced but not disappeared completely - still no lameness. I got the vet to scan the tendon and he found no damage and told me I could start working him again but to build up slowly. He couldn't say exactly what caused the swelling but his best guess was the inflammation was due to slight damage to the tendon sheath rather than the tendon/ligament itself (the covering of the tendon) i.e. a minor tweak.

I walked in hand for a week before commencing walking ridden work and did four weeks of that before introducing trot. I've had some odd problems with the same leg since - so I'm not totally convinced the problem has gone away though the new niggles are in the hoof not the tendon area.

So my advice is to proceed with extreme caution - assume the worst and if the swelling is still present in 7-10 days time get your vet to scan just in case.

 

[cellie]

I had the same with no lamenes but with swelling.Had scans and he had a 10% tear in the tendon which completely healed after 12 weeks .I would get it scanned.If you pick them up early enough it can save a lot of heartache.The vet told me if we hadnt caught it at that stage he could have easily made it a lot worse anything over 30% tendon tear is major damage .
I hope its something minor .You are treating it right with cold hosing but I wouldnt ride him until you are 100% certain its not tendon.Does it look a bit bowed in that area.

 

[Ani]

I had a horse with the same once, he had torn the check ligament, remember the check ligament is there to stop the flexor tendon over stretching, so is usually the first thing to go. I would get it looked at to be on the safe side. sorry to be a bore

 

[keeleyl]

thanks everyone going up to see what it looks like 2night and then keep him in over the weekend. i am thinking it is a splint at the monment but will be likley to get a vet up next week to confirm