Wind Galls - tips and advice gladly received

CarolineandLouis

CarolineandLouis

Member
Joined
12 June 2019
Messages
14
Visit site
The last week Louis has been a bit 'off', not his normal forward self. While having my saddle checked on Saturday we noticed that he has wind galls (I'd noticed slight swelling before, but it had never been that bad), and he was particularly swollen on the offside. He recently had cellulitis in his nearside fore, and is a bit stiff in the rear, with a minor string halt in the nearside rear.
I bodged a cold compress together out of vetwrap loosely applied, with one of those instant ice packs for the foreleg. Sadly he really hates being hosed! I let him rest saturday and he was much more normal yesterday.
I think this has been exacerbated this time by travelling home after taking part in an XC and SJ lesson (3 hours-ish work, during which he was very forward and his normal self) at Keysoe, almost 2 hours travel, and the ground being a bit hard away and at home.

Has anyone got any tried and trusted methods to encourage the reduction in swelling, other than hosing? I was thinking of getting some cold water boots, but wondered if there was a cheaper way of achieving the same thing? As a first time owner it's easy to get blinded by the products available! Also, would it be worth me looking into tendon boots/support etc for when riding? I don't use travel boots as he travels more quietly without.
TIA!
 
Windgalls themselves are rarely a problem .... but sometimes they are symptomatic of something else, so you are wise to keep an eye.

In terms of cold therapy there are loads of things you can do cheaply, and just as effectively, as using fancy expensive boots.

One thing that works well are those ice cube bags - blue plastic that you buy in rolls from the supermarket and fill from the tap. Wet jay cloth, ice cube bag on, bandage/boot over the top. Others use wine cooler wraps, but I think the pure ice works best.

If he doesn’t bounce back quickly and is still under par it’s probably worth getting vet out, it would be a shame to exacerbate something underlying.
 
For cold therapy without hosing I used an old travel boot soaked in iced water then squeezed a sponge full of the iced water down the inside of it every couple of minutes.
 
Thanks for the advice. I am going to get the vet I think, but just can't take time off work right now, so will rest and cool rather than stick to my normal riding schedule.
Carrottom said:
For cold therapy without hosing I used an old travel boot soaked in iced water then squeezed a sponge full of the iced water down the inside of it every couple of minutes.
Click to expand...
I don't have any old travel boots!
ihatework said:
Windgalls themselves are rarely a problem .... but sometimes they are symptomatic of something else, so you are wise to keep an eye.

In terms of cold therapy there are loads of things you can do cheaply, and just as effectively, as using fancy expensive boots.

One thing that works well are those ice cube bags - blue plastic that you buy in rolls from the supermarket and fill from the tap. Wet jay cloth, ice cube bag on, bandage/boot over the top. Others use wine cooler wraps, but I think the pure ice works best.

If he doesn’t bounce back quickly and is still under par it’s probably worth getting vet out, it would be a shame to exacerbate something underlying.
Click to expand...
I'm on full livery, and don't have access to a freezer - it's 30 mins from home/work to the yard so I'm having to work with cold tap water really!
 
My boy had a windgall come up a few months ago on a hind leg. I got the vet out and she said that if he wasn't lame not to worry about it. She advised I did a week of just walking incase something else was going on and it might show up that week after the lump occurred. However all was fine and we just carried on. I'm very aware of it now and it seems to go up and down but hasn't affected his performance
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top