windgall advice please

L

lavery834

Active Member
Joined
1 May 2010
Messages
47
Visit site
hi,im looking for some veterinary advice.went to view a horse today and dealer stated that it passed a five stage vetting 3 weeks ago.i am not very knowledgable but noticed at once two lumps like marbles under the skin,above the fetlock on back leg, which felt fairly soft to the touch and i am sure i could feel slight fluid in the fetlock joint.i asked the dealer what they were and he told me they were only windgalls.can anyone give me any advice.could he have passed a vet with them or developed them since.ps. i love the horse and would vet him before purchase but wondering if anyone can give me any prior advice.
 
Take care hun if you've been told the horse passed a 5-stage vetting 3 weeks ago. It's a bit like the MOT on your car. You could get a new certificate for a year on Monday, have a horrendous prang on Tuesday and write the car off, and you'd STILL have a valid MOT on it. Windgalls as you probably know are synovial fluid (joint fluid) that has escaped from the joint capsule. It's not the windgalls that cause lameness, it's the underlying problem in the joint that gives rise to the wingalls that could be a problem. Windgalls are a very clear indication that something isn't right in the joint. It could be ok for ages but do remember that it is a symptom of joint damage of some kind and you could find yourself a year or so down the road with huge vets bills, difficulty insuring the horse and even an unrideable horse. Saying all that, if the horse is eg in his teens windgalls aren't uncommon - just be careful you don't end up regretting anything. The horse may easily "fail" a 5* vetting on windgalls so it might pay you to give your vets a ring beforehand and ask if they would.
 
thanks for your advice.went to see another horse today and she is lovely and legs etc.totally fine.she is being delivered tommorow.thanks for your reply
 
we bought our horse as a 5 year old, he has always had windgalls since we had him, but as he wasnt going showing but hunting instead we didnt mind. he is now 18 and never been lame in his life, bar a corn when we first had him.
 
My horse has a windgall, he failed a 3 stage on it???

Basically the vet explained not too worry if the windgall is present in both matching joints (ie- both back legs) as this can just mean they were caused by hard ground etc but she failed mine due to the fact thats its one large one on one fetlock, this means it could be a sign of previous tendon damage.

However i bought the horse and his windgall has been the very least of our problems!
 
Mine have windgalls on all four legs, I bred them and mother had then two.

In mind case a fault of quite upright confirmation, they have never had any 'leg' problems, and if I want to show I can use compression bandages to squish the fluid out prior to the class!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top