Q&A    Questions and Answers:

Hi, I really enjoyed some of your answers to peoples' questions. You sound like a really interesting and understanding person. I don't know if you will be able to help, but I have an 20 year old thoroughbred who is now retired due to navicular. He lives outside with other horses in about 12 aces with a run-in shelter. He is generally happy and healthy, but suddenly developed a strange lump on the inside of his back leg, on the bottom half of the tendon.

I have had two vets out and neither of them know for sure what it is. He is completely sound and it doesn't seem to bother him at all. The man who keeps his horses here mentioned that he had seen a few old rodeo horses with similar bumps and was told that it doesn't bother these horses either.

Do you have any idea what it might be?

By the way, I have always ridden English but am not riding at the moment because of young children and money restraint.

Thanks!

What you describe sounds like "splints." These are lumps that form on the side of a horse's leg below the knee and are usually caused by being hit by the opposite leg. Occasionally, a strain, mineral deficiency, or even improper shoeing can also trigger a splint. Sometimes a leg fracture will cause a similar bump, but you say the horse has no pain or difficulty moving, so that's doubtful. If you want to be certain, you could have an X-ray done on the leg.

If both vets say don't worry about it, I'll go along with their judgement. If your horse were just a few years old, you might see some lameness, but in older horses there's rarely a problem.

About the only treatment for splints is rest and possibly a calcium/phosphorus mineral supplement in the feed.

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