Heat in a Compensating Limb

An off-track Thoroughbred with a mild suspensory strain has heat in the opposing hock. Could this mean he’s compensating for the suspensory injury?
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

heat in a hock
Your veterinarian can perform a thorough exam to determine the cause of the heat and whether it's cause for concern. | Photo: Kevin Thompson/The Horse
Q. I have a 3-year-old off-track Thoroughbred I purchased with a mild suspensory strain. He seems quite sound on it; however his hock on the affected leg is always warm compared his other hock and knees. Could this mean he’s compensating for the suspensory injury?

Jody, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

A. It’s difficult to say whether the notable heat in your horse’s hock is related to the suspensory strain in his history. With injuries to the hind-suspensory ligament origin, a horse can have heat and swelling that is typically localized on the inside of the leg below the chestnut.

I would recommend having your veterinarian perform a thorough exam to determine the cause of the heat and whether it’s a reason for concern. Further diagnostics, such as an X ray or ultrasound exam, might be necessary

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Rachel Gottlieb, DVM, is an associate veterinarian at Northwest Equine Performance in Mulino, Oregon, a practice that focuses exclusively on lameness and performance horse issues. She’s also an associate team veterinarian for the United States Eventing Team. Gottlieb is a graduate of the University of California-Davis, where she also completed the Large Animal Ultrasound Fellowship. Gottlieb’s professional interests include sports medicine, musculoskeletal ultrasound, and regenerative therapy.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How much time do you usually spend grooming your horse?
437 votes · 437 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!