Swelling in hock

[Live2Jump]

I noticed that one of our long yearlings had a swollen hock about a week ago. There was no heat and he wasn't lame, just had some filling/fluid around the joint. I decided not to panic since he wasn't looking to be in any pain, just to keep an eye on it for a few days and see if things would resolve.

After 4 days, it looked about the same. Still no heat or lameness, just puffy and 'squishy'. I brought him up to the barn and put a furizone sweat on his hock saturday and sunday, then today I'm leaving it alone. The swelling is definitely better after the sweats, but it is still there. I called the vet and am waiting to hear back from him now, but while I'm stuck obcessing about it in the meantime, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has had something similar happen?

TIA!

[Fharoah]

Good to get it checked to be sure it is not OCD. Best Wishes!

[Live2Jump]

Gosh I hope it's not. This guy is BIG, so I've tried to be very careful with his feeding program, have always given him 24/7 turnout, etc.

The vet just called back, he'll come out (and probably xray to see if it could be OCD) on thursday... :(

Anyone with any hopeful stories they can share??? Now I'm getting worried...

[Fharoah]

Hopefully not OCD, but on the unlikely chance having it removed surgically usually has a good prognoses, just follow up with a loading dose of adequan. Best Wishes!

[luckeys71]

I had the same thing happen with my 2, coming 3 year old. She even flexed perfectly sound for the vet. The x-rays showed 3 good size fragments in there. I took her to surgery and all three were successfully removed. She never seemed lame, even just post surgical. I, obviously, didn't trot her out, but she walked perfectly sound the day after surgery. I had the hock x-rayed about a year ago, as a 4 year old, and it looked perfectly fine. She has been jumping (still small) since spring. I have read the hock is the joint with the best prognosis after OCD surgery. If your horse isn't lame, I would think that would increase the chances of a favorable outcome, because the damage done is minimal. So, if you find out it is OCD, don't panic, but if a surgeon says do surgery, do it.