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Discussion on Sores on ankles
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New Member:
fanaras
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Posted on Monday, Jul 23, 2007 - 2:34 pm:
One of my horses has started developing sores on the front of both front leg ankles. I have owned this horse his entire life of 13 years (still have his mom) and he has never had these sores before. I leased him to a friend over this past winter, at her facility, and this is when the sores started happening. At first I thought it was occurring because the matts in the stall he was in appeared rather hard and very rough which may have caused the sores when he would get up and down in the stall. She put "bed sore boots" on him in the evening and told me that the sores were gone. I have since brought him home (and did not think to look for the sores when I picked him up) and after a couple of weeks at home these sores started to reappear. I started thinking he must be getting up and down differently to cause these sores and started protecting his legs in the stall at night. I also clipped all the hair away from the sores so they are easier to keep clean and keep an eye on. Yesterday bringing him in I noticed the sores to be bloody again when they had been fine in the a.m. when I put him out so it must be happening when he is rolling too. This event has made me start wondering if there isn't something else going on with this horse. I read some posts on narcolepsy and no other symptoms related to this condition have appeared yet (thank god) but I am wondering if there is some other condition I am not aware of that may be causing these sores. Does anyone have any ideas...Dr O' any ideas?
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Member:
sunny66
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Posted on Monday, Jul 23, 2007 - 3:29 pm:
Welcome Marlene! My horse has started having these sores off and on as well, so I'll be very interested to hear the responses. 
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jul 23, 2007 - 4:54 pm:
Hi Marlene, my old mare started getting sores on her fetlock also this winter, I figured she was rubbing them when laying down...I still don't know what caused them. I started wrapping her fetlock with a little vet wrap and cortisone cream and they finally went away after a month. If I didn't keep them wrapped they would open up again, so she had vet rap on almost 24/7 . I let it dry up daily and reapplied the ointment. She had them in Jan. here is a pic of it in June, after I started rapping it and now they are gone....and haven't re appeared since healing.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - 7:40 am:
Welcome Marlene,
Unfortunately your description is not enough for us to be much help other than wild guesses. Would it be possible to post some images of the sores? If not perhaps a more complete description of location and how they start and now appear would help.
DrO
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New Member:
fanaras
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - 9:38 am:
Yes, I will send images for you to view when I get home from work. Thanks for the suggestion.
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New Member:
fanaras
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 25, 2007 - 10:03 pm:
Here is the images of the sores. My concern is not how to heal the sores since the healing is going o.k. as long as they are covered. My true concern is why they are occurring. My first question is what other part of his body, if any, may be experiencing problems for him to be cutting this area when he lays down and gets back up.
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New Member:
fanaras
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 25, 2007 - 10:20 pm:
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2007 - 8:40 am:
Marlene did you clip the hair from around these sores or is the horse wearing away that hair? If you are not clipping this hair, those are rub marks and I agree that one explanation is that as the horse lies sternally with the feet folded up under him he is rubbing these areas.
DrO
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Member:
mysi
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2007 - 9:19 am:
I have simular sores on my horse more in the area of Diane's horse, kind of on the sides. He also gets them on his elbows. They are from rubbing when he lays down. Mine never had them until I put mats in his stall and no matter how thick the shavings, when he goes to lay down his big heavy feet move most of the shavings right where his ankles and elbows meet the ground. Once he started to get them, he's seems to be prone to get them back on and off. They never get fleshy or bleed, more so a thick flaky skin with no hair. I treat them for about a week using Equus Mega Tek rebuilder and they go away, the hair grows back, but the always seem to come back. This summer my horse began getting something simular on a larger scale on his thigh. I added super fluffy pine shavings to his pine chip shavings and it has stopped the problem. I tried straw for a week which was good, but was a mess to clean and seemed to get gross with our hot humid moist weather here.
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New Member:
fanaras
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2007 - 9:20 am:
I did clip the hair so I could keep them clean and keep an eye on them more easily. I also believe it is happening when he lies down and gets up. My concern, and question, is why after 13 years of lying down and getting up is this only happening now? What other part, if any, within his body is having trouble that maybe I should be looking to (muscle, etc) that may be causing the change in the the way he lies down and gets up? Any suggestions?
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Member:
fanaras
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2007 - 9:28 am:
He has lived in the same stall at my house for 13 years, with the same matts, same type bedding, etc. The exception to these 13 years was this winter when he was leased out for 6 months and the problem 1st occurred. I started searching this site for possible answers when he rubbed the sores raw from rolling outside. The rolling event made me start to think the matts cannot be the only problem, or can they?
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Member:
christel
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2007 - 9:38 am:
hi Marlene, I am probably way off base here, but noticed in the pic that his heels seem rather long. Has he always had such long heels?
Just throwing that out there- Im baffled too.
Chris
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Member:
fanaras
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2007 - 11:44 am:
Hi Chris, To answer your question about his heels; this horse has had front feet issues since he has been 3. It is a very long story but we have had his feet issues under control for the past 7 or so year. The configuration you are viewing in the picture is what has worked best for him and kept him sound, odd as they may look!
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Member:
lilo
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2007 - 6:07 pm:
My mare has sores on the front of her fetlocks (more centered). In her case, she kneels down to stick her face under the bottom rail of the fence to get at grass or weeds outside the fence - I think that causes it. (Dr O says only donkeys do that - but, I have seen her do it). However - it could also be from lying down - I do not know what she does at night. I hate it - they come and go and I have to put Swat on it in the summer to keep the flies away.
Lilo
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 7:52 am:
Lilo, I went and did a search on donkey and kneeling and cannot find such a statement. I have seen ponies do this and have seen stallions kneel when fighting in an attempt to get lower. I remember commenting to someone that their horse stood like a cow (this is how cows get up and down normally). So I went looking and cannot find the reference and if I said it I must not have had my coffee yet that day.
DrO
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Member:
lilo
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Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 10:44 am:
DR O - it was a long, long time ago. Actually - I think before this was a paid website. And I am going from memory here. My original question had to do with my vet telling me that my mare had to be narcoleptic, because of the sores on the fronts of her fetlock. Your answer stated that that was not a given - there could be other reasons for the sores.
I am sometimes tempted to install a remote camera out there, so I can figure out how she injures herself. She also has a crack on the side of a front hoof (had it when I bought her at age 6, supposedly from an injury when she was younger). Sometimes she re-injures the coronary band just above that crack - which makes me think of pawing or digging under the fence.
Anyway - no money for that remote camera. I do see telltale signs of digging along the fence line of her paddock.
Lilo
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Member:
juliem
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Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 1:57 pm:
The paint in my profile, 14.3, does it. Stretches one leg way out in front, hyper-extended, kneels on the other and can put his whole head, sideways under the bottom rail of the panel. Looks painful, but I guess a mouthful of green grass when they're in a dry lot is worth it. If Dr. O said that, I missed it.
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Member:
leilani
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Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 3:22 pm:
Both my mares have healed/new cuts in the same areas. I know it's from rolling as I have seen them do it. Lolos seem to pick the areas with the most rocks.
My younger mare, through trial and error, gets her head through the rails, enjoys the grass and gets it back inside without smacking her head. It took her a few times of hitting her head, but she figured it out.
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Member:
sunny66
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 28, 2007 - 12:46 pm:
I don't know... Brave rolls in the same place every day, some days he opens the sores, some days he doesn't. I really do have to wonder if it has to do with bony changes. Some suggest it may be changing the way they get up and down to compensate for any pain. It was suggested to me that I try the conquer gel. If I give him 10 ccs daily he doesn't get the sores, if I give him 5 ccs he does. :::: shrugs ::::
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 10, 2009 - 8:38 pm:
I'm glad I found this old discussion. My mare frequently rubs both front ankles, often breaks the skin and bleeds a bit and I have been at a loss why. I have seen her do what Julie's horse did and it was rocky and that could make the sores. Perhaps more bedding is needed on the rubber mats. I too considered a camera wondering about narcolepsy...I have seen her stand over at the knee once in a while while dozing and buckle somewhat but not completely knuckle over...but I wondered if she has gone completely over at some point? Hmmm. It is always something with this mare...
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 10, 2009 - 10:53 pm:
The only time I've had this happen is when there isn't enough bedding, or they are laying down on sand.
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