Database Record Viewer | Horse Side Vet Guide

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Hard Bump on Inside of Lower Hock

Summary

The hock is an anatomically complicated area. Defined, discrete swellings in particular areas provide clues to various conditions of the hock.

In most cases, a hard bump located low on the inside of a horse's hock is a sign of advanced arthritis of the lower hock joints (a/k/a Bone Spavin). However, swellings in this area can result from other causes, including direct blunt trauma, infection, tumor, or may be associated with other structures in this area.

Code Orange

Call Your Vet at Their First Available Office Hours
- If lameness is noticeable at the walk.
Code Yellow

Contact Your Vet at Your Convenience for an Appointment
- Even if the horse does not appear to be lame to you.
- If you are considering purchase, be sure to have a purchase exam performed.
- Your vet can rule out common lameness conditions and recommend treatment or management.

You also might be observing

Very Common

Less Common

Rare

Hypersensitive to Touch on Back or Topline

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your role

What To Do

Evaluate this area for swelling, especially in performance horses, and most commonly in western performance horses. If you notice a bump here, assess the area for heat and a pain response to pressure. Is the swelling bone hard or can it be deformed by gentle pressure? Assess the horse for lameness at the walk and trot. Always compare any swelling to the same area on the opposite limb and to the same area on your other horses.

Share your findings and concerns with your veterinarian.

Skills you may need

Procedures that you may need to perform on your horse.

Very Common

Less Common

Assess Back

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your vet's role

A veterinary exam is required to understand the significance of a swelling here. They will assess the area and likely perform a lameness exam. Your vet knows the anatomy of the hock region and can determine whether this bump is truly indicative of hock arthritis, or not.

Not all horses with swellings here are lame. Some horses with a bump in this location will already have fused lower hock joints and no lameness. If the horse is lame, it is not necessarily the result of a swelling here.

In order to define bone involvement and the degree of hock arthritis, radiography is necessary.

Questions Your Vet Might Ask: