weird lumps on legs

[serena2005]

my cob has always had itchy back feet, but recently these lumps have come up on the sides of his heals,, they are about an inch big and quite hard, and also on the front of his back legs (oppisit the hock) if that makes sense!

feels a bit like a draining board, its like ridges going down his leg, they have recently got bigger and scabby.

Mum is not too worried as some lumps came up on his back a few years ago and vert said nothing to worry about, we could have them cut out but nothings to say they wont grow back!

any ideas to what may be causing them?

 

[scrat]

As he is a cob it could be "mallanders and sallanders" not sure of spelling. This is the name old horsemen give to the hard scaly skin often found on the backs of the knees and front of the hocks of heavy horses and cob types. It does'nt usually cause a problem unless you try to pick at it to get rid when it can become sore and inflamed and quite painful. I believe somone on the forum had major complications through this but I can't recall who. As for the lumps around the heels again it is common in heavy breeds. If he has been itching for some time then the skin can thicken and can actually form hard nodules over time. You may find that he has folds in the fetlock. We have a cob and heavy horse (clyde) and they get itchy but it is not mites and I think it is just in thier nature to itch! We use sulpher and pig oil in the feathers to prevent grease and condition the skin. I'm not sure this is the problem but I hope that helps.

 

[serena2005]

that does make sense in a way, thanks for the idea of pig oil, ill give it a go!