Possible Stringhalt? and weird, fast boney growth.

[fairazelle]

I am not even sure how to spell "boney" so please forgive if it is wrong.

So I had a very eventful morning at the barn...when I was hosing my mare off after our ride today I noticed that she had this "growth" on her left hind fetlock. It feels exactly like bone and is not hot, or painful as far as I can tell. She was completely sound on our ride and was sound after we got back, but it looks so weird! It's almost like something was disslocated, but there is no pain and she appears to flex fine. I would swear it wasn't there a week ago and I am absolutely positive it wasn't a month ago. So what on earth could it be? Should I be worried?

Next is my gelding. I brought him in this morning and fed him while I rode my mare, then I hosed him off too to clean him up a bit. Put him back in the stall for another hour to dry some, and then turned him out. Well, of course he wanted to roll right there in the dusty/sandy part of the paddock, so I started to shoo him down to the round bale, hoping that he would decide eating was better than rolling. While I was walking behind him, I noticed he seemed to be dragging his left hind a bit, and almost seemed a bit weak in the rear end (but that could just be my imagination), then he proceeded to climb into the round bale and started trying to lay in it/scratch all over it. He looked kind of desperate, like he was amazingly itchy and was practically throwing himself at anything that would scratch it. When he couldn't lay down in the bale he stumbled a few feet over and practically flopped onto the ground.

He rolled on his back and it looked like he got stuck. He started to thrash and kick so much I thought he might actually be colicking. He finally got over on one side and heaved himself up, then proceeded to hop around with his back end, like it wasn't working right. After walking around for a minute or so he was mostly normal and content to munch on the round bale, so I left him be.

I had heard from someone recently that horses with stringhalt have a hard time rolling and tend to almost get stuck. So I did a little research a few minutes ago and it sounds like it fits. There has been a drought here lately and the pastures are a bit weedy. I just moved him to this place 3 weeks ago.

I have also heard that lathyrism (sweet pea poisoning) can mimic stinghalt, but I have been unable to find out anything about it. He is getting fed a nice soft grass hay currently, but I have no idea if there are sweat peas in it, or even if that is what I'd see.

So anyway, I am worried about him and obviously I don't want let anything get worse if it is being caused by something he is eating. Are these symptoms permanent? Or will they go away once the diet is changed. I am extremely tight on money so if I really need to call the vet out I won't hesitate, but I'd like ot avoid it if at all possible. Anybody have any ideas? Sorry for the enormously long post, I guess I get wordy when I am worried.

[cutiepiepmu]

Ok - first, with the growth - how old is the mare? It sort of sounds like an epiphisytis(sp) area or possibly (unlikely if she is sound) ringbone??? This might be something I would have xrayed to see what is going on - you can also try to insert a needle if you feel confident enough to do this. Use a 22 guage 1 inch needle without syringe. clean the area then just put the needle into the center - see if the area has fluid in it and may possibly be an absess or bug bite. However, if you do not feel 100% sure on how to do this - DONT!

With your other kid - If this is a sudden thing I would be suspicious of food. I personally would remove him from the pasture where he is and not feed the hay/grain being provided. Bring in your own and see if there is a dry pasture without any weeds he can go in for a couple of weeks. If it is diet, all sypmtoms should go away after diet is changed and any issues are out of the system.

If that does not change anything I would be concerned for other issues. There are a variety of conditions that can cause stringhaults and muscle tie up. It could be as simple as dietary for something like EPSM(muscle disorder) or something more serious like EPM(nerologic issues) and there are a variety of other things in between.

A good start is to remove all current feeds and see if he improves. If he stays the same or gets worse, a vet needs to be called in.

Take care,
Sara in WA

[fairazelle]

He is 26 years old so would EPSM just now be showing up? (I don't know a whole lot about it) His grain is the same grain he has been on for about 2 years now, so I wouldn't think it would be that, possibly the hay though. I will talk to the BO and see what we can do as far as moving him. Maybe it might even be the round bale in the paddock he is in? That hay isn't as good of quality as the square bales she feeds when he's in. Do you know what I would need to be looking for in the hay if it was the "sweat pea" poisening?

The mare is 19 and does have windgall on both of her hind legs. This growth sprouted up right where one was. The growth itself feels like solid bone, so I can't imagine I would be able to get a needle in there, but I am willing to try. She did have a puncture wound in June about 6 inches above the current growth. The puncture itself nicked the bone and left a bump, but healed up fine with no issues that I or anyone else noticed.

The problem with both of these horses is that they are too tough for their own good. The gelding was completely sound at all three gaits with a fractured knee, and the mare was completely sound and galloped all over the pasture with a strained tendon. So, the fact that the mare is not lame, doesn't fill me with a huge amount of confidence. Sheesh.

Thanks so much Sara!

[cutiepiepmu]

Tough horses - Where do I find those?? If it looks CLOUDY outside mine are at the gate banging and wanting in their stalls!! LOL

With the stringhalt situation - if he has been on the same feed, then it may be the hay. The round bales can get mold and dust alot easier than the smaller bales. I would pull him off of that for sure. There are also a variety of bugs/beetles that can crawl into the hay and leave secretions that can be toxic for the horses - so you might also check for bugs out there.

Sweet pea is a vine with smallish round leaves and may have little pod heads on it.

With your mare - if it popped up where she had a previous injury then I would suspect that it may just be scar tissue forming. Ultrasound or possible xray could tell you more on that - The only topical thing I can recommend is to wash the area well and then apply DMSO gel in a moderate layer over the surface. Wrap and sweat the area and see if it does anything at all.

With the gelding though - I would definately pull him off of the round bale!!!

Take care,
Sara

[fairazelle]

Ok, my gelding Brit is now in another paddock with two other horses and gets hay put out for him every morning after he is turned out. How long does it usually take to get out of their system? I really think it was the weeds he was eating. He is the lowest horse in the pecking order, so he never had access to the round bale. As a result he was munching all of the weeds. So, I like him better where he is at now anyway. The BO does too since it is easier to bring him in in the evening without all of the other horses trying to kill him.

So far no change in the mare. I lunged her yesterday and watched her very closely to see if there were any hints that she was uncomfortable. She is perfectly sound. I am going to keep an eye on it for the next few days and see if it changes at all.

Thanks again!!

[cutiepiepmu]

Depending on what your kid was eating and how much he was eating it can take 30 days or more to get completely out of the system. One thing that can help speed things up somewhat(not a miracle worker!) is to go ahead and add some psyllium to the diet(sand clear, metimucill) The cheaper way to go is to hit Wal-Mart and get the BIG jugs of the generic metimucill(regular stuff) and put 1 cup per feeding in his feed and add some water. This won't pull the toxins out of the system per say, but there have been a few studies showing psyllium fiber will help move the gut a little faster - so if any of the plant parts are still in the gut, this should help scrape them out. Outside of that, mostly time.

Watch your girl - it may just be scar tissue - which is ugly but won't hurt anything. That, of course, is best case so we will hope for that for sure!!

Take care,
Sara