There's something wrong with Andy!?!

Kokopelli

Kokopelli

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Well I think so anyway!
Basically a couple of weeks ago I took his stable rug off and on his shoulder he had a wet patch which was very strange, I thought it was sweat at first but it was only on this one patch about 10cm x 5cm.

It never showed up again until yesterday this patch of hair was a slightly different colour and he kept twitching near it as if he had a fly on that bit of him. The twitching got worse and he kept going round to scratch it but he wouldn't actually touch it. He stopped so I lunged him and he worked lovely no twitching, no lameness he was fine.

Today he was a lot worse. I took him out on a quiet hack and he kept head shaking which isn't like him at all as I've known him 6 years. I then decided to take him back home as something wasn't right and when I got him back he was obviously very annnoyed by whatever it is and was headshaking whilst eating his tea aswell. He wasn't lame at all.

I tolf my friend who is very experienced and she felt down where the sweat patch was and he flinched and shot to the back of stable. After this where the patch was there is a raised boney lump about 10cm long (almost like a pencil under his skin) and he kept head shaking and looked un-comfy whilst eating. Friend thinks it could be a knock from something and possibly a trapped nerve.

I am totally stumped? I have absolutly no idea what it could be and have a lesson tomorrow so will get my RI to have a look at it then possibly ring the vet and see what he says.

Any explanations would be brilliant, I have a photo and will upload it.
 
A friend of mine had a horse that displayed these symptoms, he had suffered an abcess after an injection, sadly the symptoms never did go away but neither did they cause him any real problems, it may be worth making a phone call to your vet just for his opinion.
 
He hasn't had an injection for a couple of months and has only just started acting like this so I don't see how it could be this.
I will definatly give the vet a ring tomorrow as he isn't very comfortable, bless him.
 
TBH, if you're worried, I'd get the vet before your instructor.
Without seeing it, it sounds to me more like a fungal infection or similar, rather than a knock but your vet is definitely the best person to diagnose.
 
Is it anywhere near his saddle, or on a muscle that runs from that area?
As he has been steadily putting on weight and developing muscle it could have been enough to affect the fit of his saddle enough to cause a sore muscle? Leaping about in the field, or a ill considered roll in the stable would be enough to knock something out too. They are such fragile souls sometimes!!! I would have your vet check him over first of all - then consister saddle fitter/back person perhaps.
 
Didn't think of an infection, thank you.
Well she is coming up tomorrow anyway to feed her horse so I'll get her to have a look aswell, two minds are better then one :)

No where near saddle or muscle, its on a bony bit of his shoulder.
Definatly no foreign body, I had a good look at it.

Could there be something in his ear which is causing the headshaking?
 
Odd! My niece's pony had something sort of similar on his neck and it turned out to be an ingrown hair that had got infected and caused a kind of abscess in his neck! I'd get it checked out just in case :) Especially if you've got a lesson booked, it won't be much fun if Andy's head shaking and upset about it :D

J&C

ETA: It wasn't AN ingrown hair, I just remembered. On clipping the area and having a poke, it was a ball of ingrown hairs the width of a cigar :eek:!
 
if it was summer time i would have said a horsefly bite or a tick as they get under the skin and leave a lump, awful little b****rs but since its not i would give the vet a shout, just to be on the safe side, could really be anything :(
 
If horse is painful and distressed call the vet now rather than waiting (I appreciate it will now be ooh, so guessing first thing tomorrow morning would be best). Could be a nerve damage. Could be some form of abscess (what type of wetness?? Any heat?)Could try clipping it to see if any wound but if it's that painful then probably not going to be able to.
don't understand why you left it?
 
if he is in distress with the head shaking id be tempted to get a vet out asap. could be a pinched nerve and its caused to muscle to balloon up a bit
 
He is clipped in the area affected.
When it was wet it wasn't hot, there is no heat there now and isn't swollen just raised a bit.

He isn't distressed atm! I wouldn't have left him if I thought he was in an awful state and currently watching on web cams set up and he only shakes every now and again. I think it can wait until morning, he is still bright eyed ears pricked and eating.
 
How do you get anything done with a webcam in your horses stable?! :eek: I would be watching constantly! lol *wants a webcam in stable!*
 
The sweat patch was why I thought nerve damage, but it wasn't sweaty today or yesterday.

Never heard of sweeney shoulder will google it now.

Lol- as for the webcam its brilliant! I love it and comes in handy on nights like this when your not to sure about them! If it wasn't for the webcam we probably would have lost a horse to colic a couple of years ago! They are brilliant
 
:eek: just google sweeney shoulder and sounds awful! I really hope it isn't that! He isn't lame at all though.

The pics aren't very clear, it was too dark and you can hardly make it out, will try and take better ones tomorrow with good camera.
 
Sweeney shoulder can be very mild with no lameness or very severe. The worse cases are usually caued by trauma to the shulder, but milder cases can be caused by something as insignificant as the horse stretching and trapping the nerve.
 
Ah okay will definatly mention that when I ring the vet.

Here is a pic from a couple of weeks ago (a day after finding it sweaty) you can see the affected area and even the you can see a slight raised bit:

 
I have no experience of sweeny shoulder (don't even know what it is, although I have heard of it). Was the wet patch actually sweat? My immediate thought would be that something has got into the shoulder (thorn, wood splinter, ingrowing hair etc) and the wet was fluid/pus. I would have thought that was a more likely explanation but then as i said I have no experience of sweeny shoulder so have no idea how that would present itself. I would maybe try bathing the area with some warm salty water and see if you can see anything that would indicate anything's got under the skin.

If in doubt though and the symptoms persist I would get a vet out to put your mind at rest.
 
Well I thought it couldn't be pus as the whole area (the circle in picture above) was wet, I thought maybe a leak got in his rug. It did seem like sweat though, dried the same way sweat does. Unless there could be that much pus?


Will have a good look at it tomorrow in the light.
 
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