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  Discussion on Hot and Tender Gaskin
Author Message
New Member:
booey

Posted on Sunday, Oct 3, 2010 - 11:47 am:

When I went to the barn to meet the farrier this morning, my mare was favoring her left hind. At first i thought this was a latent infection of a cut on her inside left pastern area she sustained about 4 weeks ago. The farrier thought she had an occult abscess on the mid outer coronet area of the hoof because she wanted to draw away when he pressed that area. However, he was able to flex the fetlock and trim the hoof without her drawing away. She did favor the left hind to weight when he trimmed the right hind.

After he left I noticed her gaskin area on the left hind was rather hot to touch and seemed tender to palpation. She can walk on the leg without excessive favoring, but at rest she will rest the leg on the point of the toe.

I was last at the barn on Friday afternoon and she was fine, trotted and cantered with no problems. Cleaned her feet with no pulling away or favoring the left when i cleaned the right.

Of note, the pastern laceration she sustained 4 weeks ago never caused any lameness. It was kept clean and covered with topical antibiotics until it healed over. She had some local fetlock swelling initially (a few days) but then no swelling other than a firm 'bump' in the local area of the laceration, which continues now but is nontender and not fluctuant.

I am new to this forum and appreciate any suggestions. Thanks so much.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Oct 3, 2010 - 10:47 pm:

Welcome, Margaret.

I don't quite know what to make of your mare's situation.

Is there any swelling in the gaskin area?

It certainly sounds as though there is some inflammation present.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Oct 4, 2010 - 6:25 pm:

Welcome Margaret,
It the gaskin is really hot and tender it certainly sounds like inflammation is present and your next step should be to take the horses rectal temperature and if elevated, suggesting infection within the leg, call the vet. If not elevated perhaps just a call and discuss the possibility of rest and NSAID's, it really depends on your resources and goals.

I sometimes find such subjective observations by my clients to be over interpretated particularly the tender part: many horses become reactive when you start to poke around areas that you do not normally poke around especially if the leg hurts anywhere. How much hotter is it that the opposite gaskin?

So what you really need is a good localization of the painful area and once localized in can be diagnosed. For more on this see HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Localizing Lameness in the Horse.
DrO
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