unusual lump between horses cheeks (under jaw)

amy912

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 July 2011
Messages
50
Location
Poole
Visit site
me and my boyfriend have recently got an Irish sport horse and he got beat up by another horse in the field, getting many deep wounds around his face. these then got infected despite cleaning as we didn't see how deep they actually went. we have been flushing them everyday and the vet put him on antibiotics. while we were doing the cleaning last night my boyfriend somehow ended up stroking underneath his jaw and he felt a lump almost central between his cheek bones under that jaw. My boyfriend thought it was equivalent of an adams apple! but obviously not. it isn't noticeable through sight, you have to feel for it and it is fairly small. i know there are many glands in this area, so i don't know where it would have swollen because the body is fighting off infection ? it may have been there before, but Im not to sure. hes still himself and doesnt flinch when its touched. anyone know what it could be?
 
There are various soft tissues bits under the jaw and the lump might be one of them? Most people ( me included!) so rarely feel between the jawbones that it feeks weird when you do!

What does the lump feel like? There should be nothing hard there. Is it painful to touch? Compare to other horses too.

If you're at all worried about it, get a vet to check. If he's been kicked he may well have damaged a tooth, which is now abcessing downwards.
 
My horse has a lump under his jaw, I noticed it about 2 weeks after buying him (a little panic inducing since we were in the midst of strangles outbreak in the area), I got the vet to check it out when doing his vacc's and apparently it's quite common for horses to get growths on their thyroid. The vet told me not to worry about it, but if it ever changed or got bigger that it would be sensible to get a biopsy. It's never changed in the 2 years I have owned him.

Might be the same thing, or might be something connected to the cuts and scars. Keep an eye on it and check with your vet if you are worried.
 
It's most probably an abscess, and TBH the most common site of a strangles abscess, but if your vet has seen it I assume he would check that out if he thought so. Should go down on its own, if not it might need draining.
 
Yeah hes not in any pain with it, i just thought it could be a swollen gland while hes fighing off the infection hes got under his chin. Its not hard and can move. Yeah my mare doesnt have one but shes your typical hardy nf x cob. My orlther is a delicate flower haha xx
 
Yeah i thought that could be the other possiblility, we only noticed it after vet left the other day but we have the follow up appointment tommorow so just hoping its nothing serious
 
Thankyou :), yeah ill keep an eye on things it hasnt got any bigger since we noticed it, so hopefully nothing too serious. Had enough of vet bills this week hahaa. Always seems to be my loan horses that get ill aswell rather than my own
 
Top