We are pleased to have a guest veterinarian provide an answer today. At SmartPak, we realize the importance of staying on top of the latest research, nutritional products and horse health issues, while helping to promote increased involvement of veterinarians in the nutritional management of horses. We have four distinguished members of our SmartPak Equine Veterinary Advisory Council and one of them is Dr. Jay Merriam, DVM. Dr. Merriam was kind enough to answer this entry for us.

I have a horse that had a severe infection in his left hind leg (hock to hoof) back in May, it was doubled in size, we thought we where going to have to put him down, but he pulled out of it. My issue that I have is his leg is still really big (hock to hoof), it does go down some when he is ridden, but it usually stays pretty big must of the time. My vet says it is because the skin stretched so much when it was swollen, so it will always be big from now on. I am just concerned that this is going to cause some issues latter on. Right now my horse is having the winter off, to have some down time, and it is bigger than ever. I was wondering if you have any suggestions or if you think I should have someone else look at it. EC, Vermont

Dear EC,
This sort of injury is a constant source of discomfort to the animal and must be managed in the early stages to prevent long term lameness. There are a lot of things you can do still, depending on a specific diagnosis and treatment plan.

First, think of exercise as "physical therapy" and set out a plan. I think that we need to minimize the scarring and increase the circulation to the area. The best way is a combination of regular exercise (other than turn out which is also good), therapeutic wrapping and support and, if available, Dynamic Compression. We often use and prescribe a Game Ready unit which is a therapeutic wrap with a compression/cold therapy bandage that operates with a pump and bandage system that has been adapted from human athletic therapy. We also in some cases use Regional Limb Perfusion to shrink the swelling and couple that with anti-inflammatories. Every case is different, but we encourage aggressive intervention early on to minimize long term scarring. Good Luck,

Jay Merriam, DVM
Massachusetts Equine Clinic