DuffyDuck: Now we know what wrong :(

Well, we all assumed a hoof absess with the way she was walking, so bathed the foot, poulticed etc. Yard was closed to owners yesterday as it was a holiday, horses were fed and left.

Turned up this morning and her leg looked like the elephant man. No warmth, just swelling. She wasn't happy about me touching it, mixed her hay in with her bedding (she normally eats every strand and its a bale she's eaten out of over the week) I saw it from the hoof downsort of thing, so phoned the vet immediately. She said she'd been an hour or so so mucked out the others, waitied for the vet and left Duffy in her box (didn't know what was wrong, so wasn't prepared to walk her incase I made it worse.) Vet turned up and took one look at it, peeled back her rug and it was her entire leg. I could have kicked myself, but good job the vet was called.

Took her temp, had a look to see if there was an absess with these pincer things, and said its an under skin infection- I don't know the translation so anyone who can think of it and let me know so I can do some research that would be great. She's had a shot of antibiotics, and pain killer, something called Naquadem and bute for the next two days and she's coming out on Wednesday to give her more antibiotics.

A few things that may help

She said that she mainly sees it in larger chesnut horses, and they can get it again once they've had it.. maybe once a year ( I am unaware if Duffy has had it before)

A hoof absess may still come through

Skin on the back of her heel was peeling, the skin is bright pink and sore looking- is this to do with the swelling?

If I had left it the swelling would have gone through her body and she would have looked like the elephant horse.

Any other questions I should ask my vet?

Thanks guys :(
Looks like Duffy has a week off riding- reckon she planned it... poor pony, she still worked beautifully on Friday, no wonder under saddle the day before she felt so lethargic and wrong.. I thought she was being a mare...

Sorry Duffy...I've not a clue what that is but I'm sending some healing thoughts to your girl.

There was a horse (a small grey ArabX) at our yard who had a similar problem, which his owner described as a sort of mud fever that had gotten under the skin. His leg was swollen for ages and the owner was washing it daily.

I'd be pretty unhappy about the yard being "closed to owners" for a day if I had a horse who seemed off in some way, but that's just me.

Thanks Jack&Dai... hoping it clears up soon.

Thesilverspear at the time we had no idea it was going to be this bad, my YO/trainer was aware of the situation and they'd call me or the vet then me if they thought it was serious but they looked in on her and she seemed fine, the swelling seems to be an over night thing.

I was just advised to walk her a bit on a lead rope as of tomorrow and apart from that box rest... vet is coming out Wednesday again so I could ask about bathing the foot.. she looks so miserable at the moment..

Aww, sorry to hear that Duffy. I agree that it sounds like mud fever/scratches though I'm not sure why horse color would have any bearing on that other than there are more sorrel/chestnuts than other colors in general thus there being more of them seen by the vet?

Hope your girl gets feeling better!

Thank you my dear! Its not the first time I've heard that chestnuts are weaklings and the sickly child of the colours lol :P

Can you get mud fever without being in mud... sorry to sound like such a muppet. She isn't turned out, and hasn't been this year since I got her bar one week as she didn't have the weight on her, as of Spring she's out there mind you, but all our fields are under water...

Yes, it can happen when they aren't in mud (though it's much more common in wet areas). Scratches/mud fever is a broad term and from what I've read there are several things that can cause it from bacteria to allergies to nutritional deficiencies. Search Scratches/mud fever/greasy heel and you'll find tons of info out there.

I wonder if she maybe didn't have a small nick or scrape that allowed bacteria in and caused a subdermal infection.

FWIW - the chestnuts aren't the weaklings - my only chestnut is 24 and never a sick day or lame step in her life ;) My problem child is a bay.

Will do now.. I have to say I'm pretty obsess with keeping bedding clean, and as dry as possible (obvioulsy its going to be damp at some point in the night) and her feet and heels kept clean and dry too, everytime before I ride, groomed and picked out hooves, then afterwards all the sand is brushed off for nice clean legs and heels... today there is a bit of skin peeling but I think that's because its peeled from the swelling, it looks super sore and bright pink, and the skin looks fresh (as in, not crusty and mucky from anything)... I'm running off to google now!

Washing a horse's legs repeatedly can create conditions which lead to mud fever, as repeated washing causes a breakdown of the epidermus and can let the bacteria into the skin. The catch-22 is that one of the treatments for it is in fact washing your horse's legs, often with an antiseptic solution.

Hmm.. I'll wait and see what the vet says then.. hopefully what she's given her will make her right for now, and the lucky sod doesn't have to work for a week. My heart just sank when I saw her leg though.. we'd gone from funny, to possible absess, to this.. and I have no idea what to look for, what it could be etc..