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  Discussion on Bump on cannon bone?
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New Member:
jcranger

Posted on Thursday, Feb 28, 2008 - 8:50 pm:

Hi, I am new here! This is going to be a bit large but I don't want to leave anything out just incase it could help figure out what is wrong. So, sorry about the length beforehand. Anyway, I have a 4yr paint gelding who has a weird small bump on his cannon bone on the left front leg. It does not seem to bother him though. He does not favor the leg when I ride him or when he is out running in pasture. He does not care if I mess touch it or anything. He is my gymkhana/barrel racing horse and his performance lately seems to have been great if not better.

I remember the day I noticed it was the day I rode him and while at the trot he tripped and fell to his knees. I am not sure if this could of been the cause for I am not sure if the bump was their before or after this incident.

The bump is small and soft and feels like a vein of some sort. I can feel his pulse if that means anything. It has been there for about a week. What got me was about 3 days ago in the morning when I was checking it to see how it was it was gone. I was so happy but either the next day or dinnertime (I can't remember) it was back again and has been their since. The only thing I can remember doing different was riding him than afterwards wrapping it with mag paste 2 days before. The next day I than took that off and rubbed the mag paste off with cold water and a soft sponge and then the next day it was gone for a bit. I have tried this again but it has not worked since. I have been hosing it with cold water just incase.

About 4 months he got an abscess in this leg and once that got better all that was left was a similar bump in the same spot. I still treated it as an abscess (soaking it in epson salt) but I also lunged him at a hard trot afterwards which I noticed made the bump usually disappear till the next day. It lasted 2 weeks with him doing nothing but this before finally disappearing.

Could it be an enlarged blood vessel or something? Here are some pictures of his leg. I circled where the bump is and hopefully you can see it. If more pictures are needed I can get some and if it would help to have a picture of the bump he had 4 months ago after his abscess I have some of those too. Thanks
Mirage's left front leg
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Feb 29, 2008 - 6:30 am:

Hello B.J.,
The bump you outline above is not on the cannon bone but represents a light swelling between the flexor tendons and suspensory. Do I understand your history correctly that there was an abscess at this location 4 months ago?
DrO
New Member:
jcranger

Posted on Friday, Feb 29, 2008 - 1:56 pm:

Yes, 4-5 months ago, back in October, he had an abscess in that leg and after it got better that bump remained for 2 extra weeks (disappearing with exercise and re-appearing later) before going away for 4 months and now it's back. Even though he does not seem to favor the leg when I ride him I wanted to know what it was to make sure it does not later become something worse.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Feb 29, 2008 - 7:39 pm:

Was the abscess at this location BJ?
DrO
New Member:
jcranger

Posted on Friday, Feb 29, 2008 - 9:44 pm:

No, the abscess was in the hoof and it broke out at the back of the hoof which I think is called the bulb. We think the abscess before was due to a bruise at the bottom of the hoof. The whole leg swelled up from the knee down. Sorry about that I was a bit confused.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Mar 1, 2008 - 8:23 am:

Got it. No I don't think this was related to the previous abscess BJ.

It may be innocuous from some sort of external bump or this could represent a mild sprain to the flexor, check ligament, suspensory ligament unit that underlies this area. There is a superficial vein and artery in this area that can sometimes be palpated. If your goal is to do all you can to prevent this from becoming a permanent swelling, continue wrapping with a poultice until it subsides is best. As long as there is no lameness with careful experienced examination on lunge, at a trot, in a small circle, both ways. I would say riding is probably safe but you might want to take it easy until the swelling subsides.
DrO
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