Lower Leg Swelling. What would you do?

[ElisLove]

You go to the barn and notice your horse has a warm swelling on it’s lower leg. You poke and prod at it and the horse is a touch sensitive about it but is no where near saying ‘ouch!’ about it. Horse can’t be lunged.

What would you do?

A. Hand walk for a few days until swelling goes away. You will have no idea if the horse was sore on it till you try it after your hand walking days.
B. Trot it in a straight line in hand to check soundness. You will have no idea if it’s lame on a circle. If it is sound in straight line or even if you trot it in hand in a circle and it’s sound do you ride it or wait till all the swelling gies away and never know if you slight weight sitting on it would have showed some lameness.
C. Would you sit on the horse for 10-15 mins of walk with some trot to check for any even tiny amount of lameness that can only be felt and not seen and to see if swelling goes down after a bit if movement. Of course you only ride for 10-15 minutes if horse feels completely sound. If horse feels lame at any point you would stop.
D. Leave the horse alone completely till swelling goes away and really have ni idea if that horse was even sound in a straight line in hand
E. Other. Explain.

[whbar158]

Sometimes it depends on the horse. My first step would be to jog for soundness, if 100% I would consider riding. I know my horse often will swell with a cut or a scratch and is prone to stocking up (he is in his 20’s after all) and often some movement will help. If horse shows any soreness trotting/poking then I would cold hose and maybe bute (depending on amount of lameness). If it persists a call to the vet would happen, of course if it goes away but comes back several times (including lameness) vet will be called, but if it goes away in a day or 2 and never comes back then I usually just consider it one of those things that happens sometimes and move on.

[doublesstable]

Well if it’s only one leg I would assume it’s some sort of injury.

1. I would look to make sure there was no cut.
2. I would clean the hoof to make sure there is nothing inside the hoof or it wasn’t an abcess etc.
3. palpate to see if it’s sore
4. Walk and trot in hand to see if horse was off.

If it’s just swelling with no lameness I would:

1. Walk horse, or turn out to get blood flowing
2. Again if horse wasn’t lame, I would ride if it was a riding day but watch the leg to make sure swelling didnt’ worsen and probably would ride lighter than normal.
3. Put an ice wrap on it or cold hose.

If still swollen:

1. take photos with my phone to send to vet
2. after icing I would put numotiozine and wrap with pillow wraps

If the swelling didn’t go away in three days I would call the vet. More than likely run an allergy panel… I have had horses react to fly spray etc. with a swollen leg… or use hoof testers to see if it’s an abcess

If the horse was off I would:

1. ice leg
2. numotiozine
3. wrap with pillow wraps
4. 2 grams bute

Call vet in three days if swelling didn’t go down with icing and wraping.

[alterhorse]

“Warm swelling on it’s lower leg” is ambiguous, what is the range that the swelling effects the limb?

Under what circumstances was this condition first noticed? In field, in stall, after riding, what?

Which leg is the effected limb?

What is the age, body condition, size and type of the horse?

Is the horse’s TPR normal?

Is the horse stabled or outdoors 24/7 ? If it’s a stabled horse how much turnout does the horse receive? Is the horse turned out with other horses that might kick? Is the horse prone to excessive running/bucking while turned out? If the condition was noticed in the stall, when was the horse last turned out before the condition was noticed?

Are there any signs of injury, punctures, scratches, scabs on the leg? Are there scabs (even a tiny one) on the area of the back of the pastern or heal bulbs? Is the fur of the leg with the effected area white or dark?

Does the skin seem sensitive to a light touch compared to the other legs, does the skin have a rash or any abnormal discoloration?

Is the horse lame at the walk?

Are joints involved? which ones?

Is there pitting or non-pitting edema?

Palpitation reveals sensitivity where… over the entire swollen area? Are specific areas more sensitive than others?

Is there an increased digital pulse?

Can the leg be lifted and gently flexed without causing the horse to object?

Are there any obvious abnormalities of the hoof? Cracks, punctures, thrush? If the horse is shod is the shoe on tight, are all of the clinched nail ends visible?

Does the horse have a history of proneness hoof abscesses, mud fever/scratches/due poisoning? Previous injuries to that leg? Stocking up?

Does the horse have any known kicking behaviors?

[ElisLove]

@alterhorse;6024449

“Warm swelling on it’s lower leg” is ambiguous, what is the range that the swelling effects the limb?
I don’t need this to be about a specific horse, but lets say in front of back tendon and behind the cannon bone

Under what circumstances was this condition first noticed? In field, in stall, after riding, what?
Pulled horse out of stall

Which leg is the effected limb?
Lets say, hind leg

What is the age, body condition, size and type of the horse?
Lets just say, average for your hunter jumper type, maybe not quite as good of shape as could be
Is the horse’s TPR normal?
Yes
Is the horse stabled or outdoors 24/7 ? If it’s a stabled horse how much turnout does the horse receive? Is the horse turned out with other horses that might kick? Is the horse prone to excessive running/bucking while turned out? If the condition was noticed in the stall, when was the horse last turned out before the condition was noticed?
Horse is stabled with lets say 4 hours of turnout. Horse was turned out that day but did not play around. Horse was brought in lets say 2 hours before swelling was noticed

Are there any signs of injury, punctures, scratches, scabs on the leg? Are there scabs (even a tiny one) on the area of the back of the pastern or heal bulbs? Is the fur of the leg with the effected area white or dark?
No scabs or sores at all, lets say horse has hind socks

Does the skin seem sensitive to a light touch compared to the other legs, does the skin have a rash or any abnormal discoloration?
No rash or skin irritation just swelling
Is the horse lame at the walk?
Lets say horse is fully sound at walk and trot (obviously one may not canter a horse with swelling so that is unknown)
Are joints involved? which ones?
No
Is there pitting or non-pitting edema?
No
Palpitation reveals sensitivity where… over the entire swollen area? Are specific areas more sensitive than others?
Swollen area is sensitive (though horse is also very quick and willing to pick up his leg to have it picked out and such so poking may not actually be causing discomfort, horse may just be trying to be good)
Is there an increased digital pulse?
no

Can the leg be lifted and gently flexed without causing the horse to object?
(Leg can be lifted with out any reaction

Are there any obvious abnormalities of the hoof? Cracks, punctures, thrush? If the horse is shod is the shoe on tight, are all of the clinched nail ends visible?
No, horse is in middle of shoeing cycle and shoe/hoof looks normal

Does the horse have a history of proneness hoof abscesses, mud fever/scratches/due poisoning? Previous injuries to that leg? Stocking up?
No

Does the horse have any known kicking behaviors?
No, though horse has new neighbour that tends to play/fight through bars. Swollen leg is on the side that is closest to new neighbour.

Don’t need this to be about a specific horse, just what would you do with unexplained swelling of the lower leg? And to add to that horse is completely sound and shows zero discomfort while moving, what would you do?

[buck22]

Unexplained swelling of the lower leg not resulting in a lameness on one of my horses… I would call my vet for advice, and I am not a person who is quick to call the vet. Just a phone consult unless she decides she wants to see him. My vet is amazing like that and is very happy to phone consult if not a dire emergency.

Waiting to hear from my vet I personally would be taking vitals, if only temp, and getting ice bandages ready and then BOT wraps. I take temp at the drop of a hat.

I personally haven’t been around the block enough times with lower leg injuries (thank goodness, touch wood) to feel comfortable taking a wait n see without at least a heads up to my vet. Just me.

[Appsolute]

If it were my horse (and I have come to the barn to discover a swollen leg w/out lameness) I would:

First examine the leg VERY closely for the source of the swelling. (Once, the culprit was a tiny puncture wound on the pastern which quickly became infected and needed intensive care). This includes examining the skin for wounds and abrasions, locating all sources of heat, and examining each tendon individually (picking up the foot, and locating and palpating each tendon).

This first step should give you an idea of what is going on.

Second, I would first walk, then trot the horse on a straight line, on solid ground to check for lameness.

Third, I would apply cold therapy to the leg to encourage the swelling to decrease. I would follow with a standing wrap to further discourage swelling. If sound, or very close to sound when trotted I would hand walk the horse.

I would call the vet if:
Horse reacted to tendon palpitation
Infection – from a wound of some sort
Horse was more than slightly “off” when trotted

I would not call the vet if:
No heat or reaction to tendon palpitation
No lameness
No infection

I would not ride a horse with a swollen leg of unknown origin, but I would hand walk one. If nothing wrong can be found through the above exam, I would expect to find the swelling gone the next day with wrapping and hosing. If swelling persist, I would have the vet out (and I am not quick to call a vet!)

[alterhorse]

[QUOTE=ElisLove;6025235]
Don’t need this to be about a specific horse, just what would you do with unexplained swelling of the lower leg? And to add to that horse is completely sound and shows zero discomfort while moving, what would you do?[/QUOTE]

But, but, but… with those symptoms it makes it sound like a soft tissue injury involving connective tissue. :no:

Jingles for the hypothetical horse!

Maybe he kicked at his annoying neighbor and bumped his leg on the wall??

I think my answer to that question is to basically to assess the severity of the injury, and the possible cause of the swelling to the best of my ability, and then make a judgment of what to do based on my findings.

I also think that Appsolute’s post gives a good guideline for the steps in the process of figuring out what to do.

So to complete your hypothetical question I need to hypothetically believe I’m dealing with a horse that bumped the back side of it’s leg, is not lame, and only has some minor “filling” of the tendon area of that leg.

So hypothetically, what I want to do, is to give him a gram of bute, cold hose him, wrap both hind legs in standing bandages, put him back in his stall, and then come back in a few hours to unwrap his bad leg, and make sure that it is not getting any worse to the point that I think I need to call the vet.

If the injury seems stabilized, I’ll rewrap it, then check it one more time at the end of the day, unwrap both legs, cold hose again, and hand walk once before his bedtime, take his temp, take another close look at the leg, call the vet if I think I need to, or rewrap for overnight, put him back in his stall, and then see how he looks in the AM.

If the leg has not improved at all after 24 hours, I would then call the vet to come out and take a look.

Care to share the purpose of your hypothetical question?

[alterhorse]

[QUOTE=Appsolute;6025288]
If it were my horse (and I have come to the barn to discover a swollen leg w/out lameness) I would:

First examine the leg VERY closely for the source of the swelling. (Once, the culprit was a tiny puncture wound on the pastern which quickly became infected and needed intensive care). This includes examining the skin for wounds and abrasions, locating all sources of heat, and examining each tendon individually (picking up the foot, and locating and palpating each tendon).

This first step should give you an idea of what is going on.

Second, I would first walk, then trot the horse on a straight line, on solid ground to check for lameness.

Third, I would apply cold therapy to the leg to encourage the swelling to decrease. I would follow with a standing wrap to further discourage swelling. If sound, or very close to sound when trotted I would hand walk the horse.

I would call the vet if:
Horse reacted to tendon palpitation
Infection – from a wound of some sort
Horse was more than slightly “off” when trotted

I would not call the vet if:
No heat or reaction to tendon palpitation
No lameness
No infection

I would not ride a horse with a swollen leg of unknown origin, but I would hand walk one. If nothing wrong can be found through the above exam, I would expect to find the swelling gone the next day with wrapping and hosing. If swelling persist, I would have the vet out (and I am not quick to call a vet!)[/QUOTE]

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