swollen lower leg

Equitating

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Mar 28, 2002
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Washington State USA
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AAAgghhh!!!

my baby has never had anything wrong before. This morning her front knee and the leg down to and including her ankle are swollen and hot. Her hoof and pastern are fine but there is obviously fluid on her knee and ankle....even jiggles when she walks. No limping but she is walking carefully. I called the vet and they said to hose it off and on and call in eight hours if it hasn't reduced in size. .....

What on earth could have happened??!! She is penned at night.
 
Hi,
Well if you cant find any external injuries like a cut or puncture wound, it may be pus in the foot or she could have banged her knee or fetlock overnight whilst penned.
Is there any possibility of a tendon strain maybe ...its very hard to suggest anything when you cant see the leg.
If your horse has a temperature then its possible its a infection of some sort.
Me ...i'd carry on with the cold hosing and maybe support the other front leg with a stable bandage, and if theres no marked improvement in the next few hours I would insist the vet came out .

Hope everything is ok !!

Ally
 
Sounds suspiciously like an infection with that much swelling and not really lame. Look for any scratches or punctures, often don't find any though. One of my pupil's horse had a leg that was just persistently swollen but would go down a bit with exercise and he was never lame. I saw him last week after it had been going on for a few days and suggested she get the vet as it looked like lymphangitis (infection with lots of swelling), saw her yesterday and the vet confirmed that it was infection so he's now on antibiotics hosing and exercise. They don't often have a temperature with lymphangitis so noraml rectal temp will not rule it out. If the swelling doesn't go down dramatically it sounds like you need a vet visit.
 
It does sound like she's either knocked it or been kicked in the field.

My horse sometimes comes in ok, but the next morning has swelling somewhere on his legs - normally due to high jinks and playing in the field!

Just keep hosing for 20 minutes at a time to try and reduce the swelling - which could just be bruising - but as the others have said, if the swelling has been caused by a puncture wound (for example, a thorn or something), it could be an infection, which is why it would be advisable to call the vet if the swelling doesnt go down with hosing or excercise (i.e. walking her in hand/after being in the field for the day etc).

Good luck!
 
Well, the vet came out and was perplexed as well. There was a teeny scrape on her knee from a week or so ago that I hadn't thought twice about....looked like hair was just removed from a thumbnail size spot! Vet thought it must have got an infection in there....bute and sulpha and more cold water. She already is much much better.

Scary to see swelling like that!
 
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