Lame pony - advice please.

[seeker]

Dd's pony trotted up a bit lame on Saturday - off hind fetlock slightly swollen and warm. Hosed it off and turned her out -she can't be boxed - goes completely ballistic and would make it worse if we tried.

No better today - hosed 3 times. Yard owner says we should rest and hose for the next few days and she will probably be OK - if not call the vet. Do you agree? Or should we get the vet sooner? Or what? I'm a bit worried because it's her fetlock - I know that fetlock injuries can be serious, but the yard owner doesn't seem worried. Am I over reacting?

Well, I think I would probably wait, sounds like you are doing the right thing with the hosing. What is the case history? when was she last ridden, what did dd do on her? Dont forget the ground is really hard at the moment, she could easily have jarred it. Is there somewhere soft she could be turned out? like a menage or sand yard? I dont think a sprain or pull will come to much harm if you just keep your eye on it for a couple of days, and it may start to improve on its own. If you think she is sore try bute x or no bute. I am cautiously penny pinching, I wont have the vet unless it is absolutely necessary!

Dd rode her for pony club on Thursday - then she was turned out all Friday. Then on Saturday morning she noticed the problem, so she must have done it in the field on the Friday. She doesn't seem to be in much pain, trots willingly when asked, doesn't make a fuss when it's touched - she just carries the leg a little bit, and you can feel the warmth and swelling. She's an old lady - 15ish - but does't behave like it.

She could go in the school, but she hates being on her own, so it would mean depriving one of her friends of grass to keep her company.

Well I suppose the PC might have been a little heavy going for her on the hard ground maybe, or she may have just hurt it messing in the field. I would carry on as you are for a few days, it will probably resolve itself! Fifteen isnt a bad age, my friend just had her old boy put down, he was 33 and still being ridden until a few months ago! All 3 of mine are about 15 and I am hoping to get years out of them still!

Thank you - just what I needed to hear! PC was in the sand school, so no hard ground, but the field does have hard bits. We'll do watchful waiting. There's a show on the 13th - watch this space!

How long are you cold hosing for - to be effective it needs to be quite a long time as far as I can remember - at least 15 mins I think I was told.....very boring! I used to read a book!

Just been up there listening to my Ipod - would have mumsnetted but there was no connection! She was so funny - trying to get her other legs in the cool water too!

I'm absolutely in the "wait and see" camp - I'm either a hippy or a wicked mummy - but seriously, what can the vet do unless it's colic or needing stitches? For almost all things it's "wait and see" and maybe painkillers/antibiotics.

I'm also a huge fan of letting them walk it off - worst thing we could do as humans on a twisted ankle for example is put our foot on a pouffe and wait for 5 days!

Well, the vet was up today to do her teeth, so she looked at the leg (and her bald patches, but that's another story!) for free (!) and said to wait and see - if no improvement by Saturday week to call her. So no real news.

Something for free from the vet - that's amazing! Hopefully she'll be sound soon, has it improved at all?

It's so hard to tell - I couldn't feel any heat this morning and she seemed to be walking sound, but you can still see a swelling.

We're going to have a proper look tomorrow with the yard lady.

Hope she's sound soon - apart from anything else we'll have to start paying full livery not working sometime soon!

Right - she was sound. No heat, but still a very slight swelling - but no more than you can expect in a old lady like her. That was on Tuesday. Dd lunged her, and again on Wednesday.

Today she is still sound, but has heat in her hoof. No pain when picked out, no sign of damage - but definite heat. Farrier will have a look tomorrow - but any ideas?

hopeful bump.

Abcess? Very, very common.

You can chuck a few capfulls of apple cider vinegar in a bucket of water and let her soak her hoof for a while. If there's any poison in there it should help draw it out and at the same time cleanse the wound.

If it is an abcess don't put vinegar directly on it (it'll sting!) - but a vinegar or salt bath will help.

Do NOT let a vet gouge chunks of sole out - if you suspect it is this, let your trimmer take a look.

I thought that - but wouldn't it be sore when I tapped the sole of her foot?

Farrier coing this afternoon - hopefully all will be revealed!

Not necessarily - but the heat in the hoof might be an indication. I hope your farrier can get to the bottom of it - if anyone knows feet and lower legs it'll be him!

Once he's pared a bit of sole away you'll be able to see if the pony has had problems. It'll look like a little black spider on the sole of the hoof - look before it's muddy again!

What happens if you press the sole hard - does she pull back at all?

It may be worth trying a poultice for a bit to draw anything out....

Hope she's ok.

I agree, our farrier found pus a couple of times while trimming and the ponies had been completely sound so we hadn't spotted it. When my old pony retired and had his shoes taken off our farrier offered to show me how to rasp his feet and sell me one of his old rasps (he was travelling a long distance just to see us by then as he no longer did our area) but I said no simply because things like this are so common and I wasn't confident of spotting in the early stages.

Any news seeker?

No - bloody farrier's car broke down! She's much the same - quite happy, only very slightly lame if lame at all (she has an odd gait behind anyway so it's hard to tell) but her hoof is still heated.

No tenderness anywhere. I think we'll poultice it tomorrow and see what happens.

She's a pony that loves to work, so she is getting very bored. Dd went for a hack on a friend's pony today and ours was gazing over the gate after her as she went. Very sad!

Right. Farrier came today and says it's a windgall. No sign of any sort of serious damage - hoof's fine, just the swelling on the fetlock. He recommends exercise every day in straight lines (!) - no lunging. So I'm going to be spending the week taking her for walks like a dog - I'm too heavy to ride her and dd's back at school. Oh joy.

Great news - windgalls really are "nothing" - I'd be surprised if there's a pony in the land over 8 who's not got them.

Just to be sure, it's kind of a quail egg sized bump just above the fetlock either side of the cannon bone?

If it is indeed a windgall, it'll never disappear completely - it'll always be a little bit raised but it's just like scar tissue - it's nothing more serious than that!

I googles and the pictures look like what she's got. So cautiously very pleased! Do you agree with the no lunging but lots of walking? Farrier says that she needs to work but to turn as few corners as possible to avoid putting strain on that leg. He also said that dd ought to hack her out walk and trot- but she's not really a walk and trot sort of pony when she's out!

Tbh, not had a pony with windgalls for 23 years! (showing my age!), but what we did back then was hose the fetlock down, she was turned out with the herd and worked lightly the following weekend and back to normal the weekend after that.

I don't remember the whole "straight line" thing - but I can certainly see that it would make sense not to lunge right now.

It's such a shame she's a wee bit big for you to get on. Because gentle hacking would be fine I'm sure.