Miniature horse with a swollen pastern and lower leg

[Magnolia_dream]

I went out to feed my horses the other day and noticed my mini was limping slightly on her right hind leg. I went inside the pen and felt the leg, it is slightly swollen but it is squishy. I really can't tell if it is hot because she has so much hair but i don't think it was. It has been very cold icy icy here all winter and in the morning the ground is reallllyyyy hard, it seems to get better after i come home from school and the ground has softened some. The only thing i can think of is that she slipped on ice and injured it that way. There isn't an cut or any oozing on her leg. I'm getting ready to go out and soak her leg in a bucket of water. It is so cold here i'm afraid to use cold water, i don't want to chill her. So what you you guys suggest? I was thinking soaking her leg in some nice warm salt water and wrapping it in a warm compress. Should i put a poultice on it? If so how do you make one?Also shouls i lock her in a large stall or let her roam the paddock? Could Lymphangitis be the problem she hasn't been excercised in moths because of winter

 

[MiLo Minis]

There are so many reasons why a horses leg could be swollen and painful and it is too hard to guess here on the forum without being able to see her. I would suggest that if your horse is limping on it then she is in pain and should be looked at by a vet if you can't diagnose her injury yourself. Treating it in any way without knowing the problem could cause further trouble.

 

[Erica]

I'd check the hoof for an abcess, if the lower leg is "squishy" (if you are meaning lower leg is swollen and squishy) and she is limping.......but that would just be my hunch.

In that case where I think it might be an abcess, I have on my only horse I've dealt with a pinhole abcess; soak the hoof/leg in a warm epsom salt mixture, clean the hoof really well, take the pick and see if you can find abcess or see where it might have abcessed, once you find it cram a bunch of itchmaol in that area, plug with some cotton, paint the hoof with (brand is not coming to mind..white and purple bottle, black stuff) then vetwrap (not to tight around the hairline) and then duct tape the vetwrap.

On same horse above, before I knew for sure it was an abcess; I soaked the leg, then put DSMO on the leg, wrapped in scran-wrap, then cotton, then vetwrap to sweat the leg down..........in my case (this was late, late one night in the barn on the phone to my vet and not sure of the problem, as it was on a show horse) I had maybe thought sprained or bruised or.....so she sweated that night before I could get her over to the vet. This part pulled the abcess out as her leg was back down to normal size and she had almost quit limpling (then we went back to the top part to treat the pin hole abcess) for two weeks kept the hoof packed and wrapped, and just on light turnout in a dry area.

 

[Fred]

If you don't know CALL THE VET! Soaking will not hurt it [first 24 hours warm after 24 hours cool] but it could be something you don't want to mess with without a vet.