Swollen pasterns?

[Lace57]

Recently my horse has developed swollen pasterns in the morning? They go down once he has been worked and hes been out in the field all day. They are matching pairs and he is sound as a pound and behaving normally. Just wondered if anyone knew what it could be before I took him to the vet? May sound silly but I did wonder if it could have anything to do with the damp/mud in the field? Although he has no mud fever scabs etc just a thought as never come across it before! Also hes orange and v v sensitive to ANYTHING that touches him!
Also forgot to say its only his front pasterns! Thanks in advance!

 

[muff747]

Couple of thoughts, could he be equally lame on both feet? You wouldn't see him "nod" if that's the case.
And mud fever can be easily missed if you are not experienced at finding it. The scabs are not always big lumpy things that are easily felt. You need to really get your finger ends right down to the hair roots, especially under the crease of the fetlock.
My gelding sometimes gets some scabs on the front of his pasterns so feel just under the fetlock joint.
If you can't find anything, I would get the vet to check it out, just to be safe.

 

[moorman]

9 time out of 10 if a leg swells when a horse is in, it is a circulation problem.
If it is trying to pull blood to a specific area then you can often see the problem on the surface, if not then I would always look at the efficiency of the natural pumping system, THE FOOT.
If for any reason the foot is not working 100% and in that I mean expansion, contraction, tissue production, shock absorption, and hoof balance then you will find the result will often show itself in the legs filling when not in use i.e. when the horse is in.
Surface sensitivity will also be one of the tell tale signs of a circulation problem.
Last but by not means least, look at the diet, if that is not right, then the healing process will take much longer to kick in if at all.

 

[Wagtail]

Recently my horse has developed swollen pasterns in the morning? They go down once he has been worked and hes been out in the field all day. They are matching pairs and he is sound as a pound and behaving normally. Just wondered if anyone knew what it could be before I took him to the vet? May sound silly but I did wonder if it could have anything to do with the damp/mud in the field? Although he has no mud fever scabs etc just a thought as never come across it before! Also hes orange and v v sensitive to ANYTHING that touches him!
Also forgot to say its only his front pasterns! Thanks in advance!

If it is hinds only then I would suspect hock arthritis (bone spavin). This is a frequent cause of filled pasterns/fetlocks.