# A lump on my horse's girth area : not sure what it is



## jody111 (May 14, 2008)

My girl had one of these - just turned up one day - didnt bother her at all so I rode on it... for like a year or so ... then one day it swelled up and became huge! so I took her to the vet and they lanced it - turned out it was a foreign body and her body had decided it was time to go... took about a week for the swelling to go completely


this is a pic - the day it as lanced - reduced in size dramatically over night... was quite ouchy when it swelled up for her so was on bute... it did start off like you had though...


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## jody111 (May 14, 2008)

IM guessing that it may be trying to get rid of whatevers in there now as its draining...


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## Thunder Struck (Apr 25, 2012)

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## Thunder Struck (Apr 25, 2012)

Yes, thank you for the reply, and see, mine is super close to where his girth sit, and I noticed the one day I tried to saddle up is that when I tightened the cinch, he groaned a little and put his head down, so clearly it was uncomfortable for him, but once I was done tightening, he was fine, was ready to go as ever. ? I walked him, it seemed to have made no impact on the way he moved under saddle. so do I wait, and let it try to deal with itself, perhaps it will abcess and flush out itself? I looked at it again this morning, and whatever it was that was on top of it,like the tuff of hair/ scab was not ther, and it appeared to be just a patch of raw skin. But a bump still remained underneath as far as I could tell, no hole or anything though, rather odd.
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## jody111 (May 14, 2008)

Id try flush it out but if you can - You may be able to draw it out with a poultice - but otherwise Id keep an eye on it... you can see the smaller lump on the big one - that was how it started (ANd that was straight under the girth...) Id get it looked at however if it flairs up OR gets sore


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## mnl764 (Apr 8, 2012)

where exactly is this on his body? I know you said next to the girth but it would help to have a reference point. If it is in close to his elbow do you think it could be a shoe boil? 

More pics please!


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## Thunder Struck (Apr 25, 2012)

my mother found a simple recipe where you mix some natural honey with ground turmeric and the honey contains anti-bacterial properties and the turmeric supposedly helps draw out anything, whether it be an infection or perhaps bug larvae. so i applied that to it yesterday, and no results. ive been watching it closely, as it has been there just over a week now, it has not grown at all, which is good and it doesnt seem to concern him too much at all. although when i tried squeezing it a bit, to see if maybe it was a simple boil that might pop or something, he did not flinch , but noticed and stepped aside, so i left him be. he can still ride while carrying a saddle, but he does show a little displeasure at the tightening of the girth which has never been a problem until this lump came along so i have been riding bareback to save him from wearing a cinch. but yes tomorrow i will go out and take some more pictures to give you a better idea of where it is.
by the way thank you for your help by replying


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## Thunder Struck (Apr 25, 2012)

now here is a photo i took today, you can see precisely where the bump is located with the yellow drawing ointment. generally, arent shoeboils located on the elbow though? and this one is reasonably small, and hard, and doesnt appear to be growing at all.


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## Thunder Struck (Apr 25, 2012)

i felt a round, there seems to be another, smaller bump that i must not have noticed before and its just abouve the original bump. it is the same, but just a bit smaller. aha, and i ran into a slight problem with the drawing ointment and that is that my goat loves to eat it!i observed her as she proceeded to lick away all the ointment on his belly :0,and thunder of course did not mind in the least. xD so ill probably have to end up separating them to ensure the ointment can stay on long enough for it to do its job lol.


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## clippityclop (Jul 12, 2012)

LOL! I have goats (ABGA breeder) and a few of my 'pet goats' do the craziest things so that made me laugh because I can relate!

I keep thinking that maybe it is a foreign body of some sort - if it was my horse and I felt and knew for sure there was a knot there (you can move it around under the skin) I'd lance it and take it out and then keep the wound clean and draining with betadine solution until it heals from the inside out (no riding until then). If it was a cuterebra (fly larvae) then you have to be more careful since lancing those has a nasty potential to cause a nasty histamine response.

Or wait and see if the lump is still hard and is still there in two weeks, and you know for sure that it is a foreign body and not just a swelling/inflammation tissue response to something else, then it is time to get it out because it obviously will just sit there and cause issues.

You can still flush with betadine even now, and just keep it clear from flies. Pigeon Fever is rampaging here right now - the vetschool is seeing several cases a day - all due to flies finding an open wound....BLAH!!

good luck! No fun dealing with boo boos - especially on the girth/saddle area when it keeps you from riding!


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## mnl764 (Apr 8, 2012)

*yep, they are right by the elbow*



Thunder Struck said:


> now here is a photo i took today, you can see precisely where the bump is located with the yellow drawing ointment. generally, arent shoeboils located on the elbow though? and this one is reasonably small, and hard, and doesnt appear to be growing at all.



Now that I can see where it is it I don't think its a shoe boil. I personally am a picker and probably wouldn't be able to resist poking around with my finger to see if something is in there or if there is a pocket of infection or something.

Haha, your goat...how funny


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I also wonder if perhaps he got a foreign body in there somewhere. My horse had one of those, about pea sized, come up in the same location as Jodi's horse did. I noticed it one day when the farrier was there. I felt around on it and squeezed a bit and Dobe wasn't too bothered so I went ahead and squeezed on it a little harder. Sure enough, it popped like a pimple and there was a barb off of a sticker mixed in with what came out. I squeezed out everything I could get, much like you would do with a pimple, and it went away and never came back.

If you do that, though, you'll want to make sure and clean the area very well afterward with alcohol and/or antibacterial soap.


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