Last week Coco came in from turnout with this GIANT welt on her side.

Giant welt Day 1

There was a bit of a bald spot on the right tip of it and it was squishy. She was covered in hives just a few weeks ago, so I initially attributed this to a sting or something similar. I didn’t really do anything about it on Day 1.

Then, Day 2.

The welt has gotten longer and the swelling has spread down.

Day 2. It is still squishy, but you can definitely see the bald spot. I gave her Banamine on Day 2 just to give her some relief in case it was a kick injury and it hurt. She wasn’t sensitive to having it rubbed and messed with, which in and of itself is unusual because when I groom her barrel she usually tries to kick me.

Welt Day 3. So. Weird.

Day 3. By Day 3 it has gone from a squishy long swelling to a long and hard welt. She still doesn’t care if it gets touched and pushed on. The Banamine has done nothing to change it, or at least nothing to make it go away. There is still significant swelling below the weird welt. What on earth did she do to herself?!

By Day 6 most of the swelling is gone and the long hard line and bald spot remain.

Day 6. The swelling has moved down more, but the long hard welt remains. I’ve never seen anything like it. I talked to the vet and sent photos and they suspect a foreign body. I haven’t ridden her in over 2 weeks. I’m beginning to suspect she has ulterior motives to get out of work (she also hurt her right hock over the weekend, but icing has made that injury look OK). She goes to the vet today to get an ultrasound to figure this out. Any guesses?