Swelling in front leg

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Aoibhinn

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Hi all,

I would really appreciate any opinions on this. I have a 14.1h 14 year old Connemara X Arab mare. She has never given any trouble in the 4 years I have owned her. She has hinted since a 2 year old and never shown any signs of lameness.

Sunday morning,took her hunting. I got up to ride her and noticed she was lame. It was very bad at first but gradually faded as I was told to trot her on the road for people to look at and decide if she was lame or not, which I knew she was. In the end it was barely detectable from the ground but I could feel it while riding her. So I refused to keep riding her, took her home, cold hosed the leg and put her on box rest.

What is weird about this though, is that there is no heat in the leg. It is swollen from the knee to the fetlock, and is obviously swollen when compared to the other leg, but it is stone cold. I have no idea what to do with it other than rest her.

I think this could have happened on Friday out hunting. Unfortunately I didn't spot it Saturday as I was busy and asked dad to look after the horses and on Sunday I had two to get ready for hunting (sister was at a friends house and meeting me at hunt to collect pony, underpaid groom here lol!) so I was rushing and did not check her over as thoroughly as I usually would have. Kicking myself for not noticing it.

She is not severely lame on it and there is no certain point where it is sore and she pulls away from the pressure. Does anybody know what to do with it? Dad saying to ride her but I have put my foot down on that one, no way am I injuring her further. Any help would be appreciated :) thank you!
 
By happy coincidence my farrier called out yesterday to shoe one of the other horses and had a look at her. He said that she probably just gave it a knock out hunting, to hose it, bandage it and keep her on box rest for a bit.

I got some cooling gel which I put on the leg last night, wrapped cling film around it & bandaged it. Must go over now and see if it's had any affect. Fingers crossed it has!
 
Animalinex is good, no riding.
Phone vet. It needs to be diagnosed, there is no point in trotting a horse up and down if you know she is lame and where. Ask vet to explain what he is doing as he examines her so you can at least get an idea of what you are doing.
 
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Always, always consider hoof abscess/gravel/bruise even though swelling is higher and these symptoms seem to indicate otherwise.
Ask vet to explain what he is doing ........usually he will palpate the tendon [strain = pain],
also ask him to show you how to bandage, which is a skill you should learn. I usually do both front legs to ensure both get a light support. Buy a good owners vet book, and a basic first aid kit for horses.
Usually a vet will use Danilon to reduce pain and swelling.
I dont think you dad is any good for advice as he missed the problem in the first instance and told you to ride!
Learn to feel the legs and pick feet every day as you groom, this will soon become second nature.
I always use wet animalitex as it is healing, soothing, and is drawing, examine for pus eg thorn.
 
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I have figured out at this stage that dad has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to the horses, he tends to treat them like cows. I point blank refused to ride the pony so he got a bit annoyed. Proceeded to bring out every book I own on horses, management etc. and highlighted the lameness pieces saying 'do not ride if swollen/injured in any way' so he admitted he was wrong.

The swelling has gone down thankfully. I have been hosing the leg for 20 minutes 4 times a day and then I put a cooling clay on at night and bandage it. Also bandaging the other front leg to prevent it from being put under extra strain.

I think that I will go on the advice of my farrier as he knows the pony well and is extremely reliable. Vet we would use is more a farm animal vet and is fine when it comes to any ailments the horses may have but I wouldn't trust him when it comes to their feet.
 
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