Windpuffs with Lameness

[WildGooseChase]

UPDATE: Vet was out at 9am this morning to beat the heat! He was confident that this won’t be a long term issue. She passed all her flexion tests but did present “stabby” or choopy on that one leg at the trot and canter, much more so to the left than right. DMSO with Dex, cold hosing and another week of stall rest with controlled hand walking and she should be good to return to slow conditioning work undersaddle.

My just turned 5 year old Mustang mare has been off for a few days and did present with unilateral windpuffs, left rear fetlock. Right side seems fine, but did stock up for a day or two. There is heat in the back of the fetlock joint as well. Nothing incredible but a noticeable difference.

Everything I’m reading about it has me absolutely freaked out about tendon and joint injury. We are not sure how it happened. Vet will be out Wednesday morning, and has her on stall rest, with cold hosing/icing, and poultice.

If you’ve gone through this, especially with a young horse any words of wisdom? I have been in the industry for over 15 years and have escaped major tendon/joint injury for the most part. I have my special girl since October 2017 when I trailered her home from CO as a 4 month old. She is a huge part of my life and I want what’s best for her!

[candyappy]

I am sorry. My first horse had significant wind puffs on his back legs and never had an off day. I would think that maybe your horses wind puff is not related to her current lameness.

Here is hoping it is something minor and easily fixable.

[JB]

Wind puffs are from some sort of strain, so yes, she did something. Not all strain results in lameness, but ignoring a windpuff just because a horse isn’t lame, isn’t the right thing to do, it’s a sign that things need to be backed off - rest if he was in light work, maybe just walking if he was in harder work.

Windpuffs don’t make a horse lame. A horse can have old, set, cold windpuffs that simply never fully resolved after the original cause did resolve. But a strain of some sort did still cause them.

I had a horse who tore his flexor tendon sheath, which resulted in heat and swelling that didn’t go down, and “lameness” in the form of swinging the leg to the outside a little instead of straight forward He was a long 3yo so he just got the Winter off and he was fine.

What you’re doing is perfect, and hopefully the ultrasound will show it’s just mild, and maybe even the swelling itself is making her walk “lame”

[IPEsq]

All you know from what you describe is that the synovial structures are a bit pissed off and you have inflammation causing lameness. There are lots of possibilities from tears of different structures, to synovitis in the joint, to an acute strain. I’ve gone through a lot of things but until you have a diagnosis with some imaging, it’s impossible to speculate on timing and prognosis.

Wednesday is a while to wait on stall rest, so I would keep up with the cold hosing/icing, but poultice isn’t going to do a whole lot over the next several days. Compression (standing bandage, medical support bandage) would not hurt during this acute phase.

[WildGooseChase]

It’s the soonest I could get him out. He is very well respected and well liked! Meaning he can be hard to get out. He is great in emergencies though. He told me to do the stall rest, cold hosing and was fine with the poultice, but said no to wrapping. I didn’t ask him why, but he specifically said no to wraps. Oh well.

She came out looking pretty good today and was a dream for cold hosing. I think it felt good! She is stalled quite a bit so being on stall rest isn’t anything new. I have her on as much hay as she can eat, plenty of fresh water, salt licks, some toys and a GI supplement (Tribute Constant Comfort), so she will be fine in the stall.

[JB]

Weird that he said no to wrapping. It’s always a good idea to minimize swelling so the swelling itself doesn’t start to cause issues. But if the puffiness is minimal, it isn’t truly necessary.

[Martina]

Unilateral windpuff with heat, swelling and lameness could mean a more serious injury (vs. mild inflammation). I read an article, possibly in thehorse.com, where it is critical to address during the acute phase and not wait. So it’s good that the vet is coming out this week.

It could be a mild strain to the digital flexor tendon sheath, or it could something more serious involving the SDFT or the DDFT.

Good luck!

[WildGooseChase]

That’s pretty much what I’ve found too. I’ve been pretty aggressive with treatment. Daily cold hosing, Ice boots, poultice and stall rest. I’m hoping that it’s nothing incredible, but I can live with stall rest and rehab if needed! I am just hoping she is going to be sound enough to be comfortable. Not really sure I can afford a pasture puff, but I will make it work

[Martina]

I found the article: https://thehorse.com/185052/equine-digital-flexor-tendon-sheath-injuries/

"David concluded saying, “DFTS injuries should be treated with a clock in hand. Reaching a proper diagnosis can be tricky but is very important, as important as a staged treatment approach. Surgical exploration is strongly recommended if a sheath does not settle within four to six weeks from injury. Secondary lesions such as adhesions and constriction syndrome can develop rapidly in an angry DFTS, worsening the chance of your horse returning to soundness or full potential. DFTS injury should not be taken lightly.”

[WildGooseChase]

UPDATE: Vet was out at 9am this morning to beat the heat! He was confident that this won’t be a long term issue. She passed all her flexion tests but did present “stabby” or choopy on that one leg at the trot and canter, much more so to the left than right. DMSO with Dex, cold hosing and another week of stall rest with controlled hand walking and she should be good to return to slow conditioning work undersaddle.

[JB]

Did she say how long for hand walking? A stabby/choppy leg would have me walking for quite a while.