Faro
...
About a month ago, I noticed windgalls had developed, immediately above the fetlock, both medially and laterally and on BOTH forelegs of one of my horses. He was in work (3 - 4 days a week for up to an hour a time). There was no heat, no lameness and no signs of pain, so, having other horses with windgalls which had never presented a problem, I have continued to work him at the same level as before (by the way - jumping is not involved as the horse has not been introduced to this yet). I put this all down to the hard ground we've had over the summer (don't have a surface to work on - only grass) and although I haven't decreased the time spent working, I have decreased the fast work because of the ground conditions.
All of this time the horse has shown no change in the (apparent) windgalls, and still no heat, pain or lameness has been apparent.
However, after riding last night (just half an hour at walk and trot - horse still perfectly sound), I noticed for the first time a very slight convexity of the tendon, for about 1/2 inch immediately above the fetlock on the near fore. The convexity is so slight that someone not knowing the horse well might not even notice it. And I stress that the horse still shows no sign of lameness or pain.
I am not certain if this is just a harmless windgall, or if there might be some underlying SDFT damage.
So, question is - how will I know and what should I do? I've decided to give him at least a week off work, because obviously if there is some underlying tendon sheath damage, then I don't want to make it any worse - but should I call the vet? Should I box rest?(The horse currently lives out 24/7 with my others) - box rest is possible, but very awkward because although I have two stables, one of them is currently full of hay (nowhere else to put it at the moment) so it would mean that the horse would have to be isolated also, because I can't bring another one in at the same time to keep him company - and I know that isolation wouldn't psychologically do this horse any favours. So if possible, I would rather keep him on turnout.
Feedwise, he's currently just on grass with a mineral and salt lick. Would it be worth me getting something like MSM to help?
Any ideas or advice would be appreciated.
All of this time the horse has shown no change in the (apparent) windgalls, and still no heat, pain or lameness has been apparent.
However, after riding last night (just half an hour at walk and trot - horse still perfectly sound), I noticed for the first time a very slight convexity of the tendon, for about 1/2 inch immediately above the fetlock on the near fore. The convexity is so slight that someone not knowing the horse well might not even notice it. And I stress that the horse still shows no sign of lameness or pain.
I am not certain if this is just a harmless windgall, or if there might be some underlying SDFT damage.
So, question is - how will I know and what should I do? I've decided to give him at least a week off work, because obviously if there is some underlying tendon sheath damage, then I don't want to make it any worse - but should I call the vet? Should I box rest?(The horse currently lives out 24/7 with my others) - box rest is possible, but very awkward because although I have two stables, one of them is currently full of hay (nowhere else to put it at the moment) so it would mean that the horse would have to be isolated also, because I can't bring another one in at the same time to keep him company - and I know that isolation wouldn't psychologically do this horse any favours. So if possible, I would rather keep him on turnout.
Feedwise, he's currently just on grass with a mineral and salt lick. Would it be worth me getting something like MSM to help?
Any ideas or advice would be appreciated.