I've checked and re-checked her back and no new bumps presented after her twenty mile ride this weekend. The two original bumps remain, but are not sensitve to touch.
Some post-ride issues have arisen since our weekend long ride. She is moving sound, but there is some puffiness and filling between the tendons of her hind legs (I must have been psychic buying gel packs ...in a bad way). I'm unclear if it is related to our long hilly ride this weekend, or if the flies that have just now erupted with a vengence have been chewing on her legs and caused the little thumb nail sized round puffy circles between the tendons above the pastern joint? I cold hosed her legs last night, and then put gel packs on over socks, and vet wrapped them in place. They looked really nice and secure...except she took her teeth and ripped them off the little turd! One of the gel packs was destroyed in the process :( So Doug rubbed her hinds down really good with olive oil/ arnica poltice and she looked 50% better this morning. I'm not going to ride between now and Thursday, and then I'll have to make a judgment call on should I go to TOR? Or should we wait ....AGAIN. I was feeling very guilty at first over this, but in truth she is six years old, has over a thousand long slow distance miles, and she needed to learn to canter sometime in her life. Our average speed overall for the long ride was 5.5 mph. We did canter the flats which are very short, we trotted the hills (which we always do) and walked the downhills so I don't feel that I rode her past her ability, and her pulse down attests to not being over ridden. But none-the-less we have puffiness. I'm going to check her again tonight, cold hose her again, reapply arnica poltice, and cross my fingers for bumps to be gone by tomorrow. ~E.G.
From the description your mare has wind puffs which are pretty much permanent and aesthetic. IF they are wind puffs there should be no lameness or heat, just fluid filled "bumps" in the area you describe. ~ Amanda
ReplyDeleteEG-
ReplyDeleteDon't panic, it sounds like your girl has a mild case of windpuffs. Jasper gets the same thing in his hind legs, and it can be brought on by a tough workout or just too much standing around. He had them pretty bad the day before our 60 a few weeks ago (and he'd been out in the pasture for the week before) and after the first loop they were completely gone.
Since wrapping legs is a sort of art form (and can cause damage if done too loose or too tight), it's usually best to leave them alone. The only "cure" is moving around. Windpuffs are essentially fluid buildup in the little pouches around the tendons and ligaments, and fluid buildup can only really be fixed by Phebes moving around and working that fluid back out of her legs.
Of course, don't force exercise on her if it's not part of her program, which will only lead to additional stress. Just keep an eye on them, and I promise you'll start to notice a trend. Hard workout followed by standing? Windpuffs. Active in the pasture? No windpuffs.
Good luck!
Elly
Thank you Elly! I've been rolling around in emotional misery over this. She has done mostly nothing since Sunday and I was afraid to move her around yesterday after seeing these little puffy things. It freaked me out!
ReplyDeleteThere is hope....EUREKA! ~ E.G.