Hock Swelling/Inflammation?

Question

I went to look at an Arabian and the owners showed me her left hock which they think had been kicked by a mare with a foal. Her hock is Swelled up and is maybe a little bigger than a golfball but she shows no sign of lameness or soreness.. She walks/trots just fine. She acts perfectly normal and walks normal. The injury happened last december so its been officially a year. They say the hock injury has gone down in size a lot. My question is, - is it normal that her hock has been swollen for about a year? Is this a permanent blemish or will it completely heal over time? I would like the swelling to go down completely but am not sure if it will... how long does this kind of injury normally take to go down to normal size and heal?

Answer 1

If you are interested in buying the horse, you need to have it evaluated by a vet--not just the hock, but certainly paying extra attention to it in the course of full prepurchase exam. Nobody can tell you on this site what the problem is by a vague description, and a prepurchase may show up some other problem that would be a deal-breaker. Not everyone includes full x-rays in PPEs, but if you were seriously thinking about this horse, and she really was sound after a real lameness exam (flexions, hard surface, lunging both directions), I'd still take rads of any areas of concern just to make sure (unless there was something else that made you decide not to go any farther with the PPE, like a lameness)

Answer 2

A vet is not always right! No, I do not think it will go down any more. It is called a capped hock and is fluid under the skin of a bony joint (in this case the hock) after a hard blow to that joint, or a kick or the horse lying on insufficient bedding on hard ground - knees, hocks and elbows are the most vulnerable parts. It is possible to get them drained by the vet but really the prognosis is not good and the swelling will soon return.



This is classed as a blemish and you would lose points for it at shows, but if it is not interfering with the way she goes she will be fine jumping or on trails or even dressage.

Answer 3

Hi



it sounds like a capped hock which is cosmetic and does not cause long term lameness. Capped hocks can be caused by a knock to the bursae sac or repetitive trauma. The sac is lined by a synovial membrane which contains fluid to protect the bony prominences and facilitate the movement of tendons or muscles over the bony protrusions. After a year what is left of the swelling will remain. Removing fluid from the bursa is usually only temporary. As long as there was no underlying damage to the bone, the capped hock should not be a problem so its all down to whether you want a horse with a blemish. If you want to show her then its a no. But for general riding she should be fine.



Avis



Coach & Trainer

Answer 4

the swelling is not from a kick from another horse. i would not suggest you buy this horse. the people are trying to get rid of the horse because it is costing to much in medical bills to have the swollen hock fixed. it is a re-occurring health issue with this horse that most likely not go away. i worked with race horses and one of them had the same issue in both hocks right down his cannons. it would go away for a short time but then flare up again just as fast. he didn't have any problems walking or trotting or running though. don't get the horse if you were looking to buy it from them, they are lying to you about it.

Answer 5

Selling for over a year is not normal. It's good that your horse has no lameness, but I still don't think it should be swollen. Is there any heat? You can try cold hosing (running cold water on it for 15-20 minutes) and see if it brings the swelling down any more. If not, it wouldn't hurt to have a vet check it out the next time he comes out for a visit.

Answer 6

The swelling should have gone down my now if it was just a kick, was it checked out my a vet when it happened? There's no way to tell if it will be permanent or not, it might be a splinter of bone that has just set out of place, however if a vet saw it at the time, it might want checking out again, just to check all is well.