Swollen Fetlock

[NaughtyMagpie]

Hi, I've just brought my TB in & noticed that he is short in his front leg. On trotting up you could see he was lame (nodding head & a bit of a limp) & on inspecting his forelegs, there a slight spot of heat on the inner part of one front fetlock. There's a small (50p sized) raised bit which isn't tender to him when you handle it. There's also a small grey scab that I can't remove that's right on the heat spot - could it be a tick?

I've had a cold hose on the spot for 15 minutes & it deflated a bit but the heat is still there.

Is there anything else I could be doing to help my horse? He's in for the night now.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Jodies9154]

A tick, is more like a skin tag, and is about half a cm in length if it is filled with blood, if you just pull they are stuck in well, if it is a tick you want to twist it so that it releases and just comes away (tweezers good for this) otherwise you will leave the head in. If it really does seem like a flat scab then it probably isn't a tick. Perhaps your horse has just caught itself with its foot whilst cantering around the field which has now scabbed over and caused a bit of inflammation. I ould wait and see how it looks in the morning, whether the swelling has gone down and if the horse is still lame. Depending on if it has got worse or better I would call out the vet, you don't want anything getting infected.