01 September 2008 15:54
I have a 15-year-old, 16.2hh Thoroughbred who has got a couple of lumps in between his front legs on the nearside. When I first noticed them, about a year ago, they were just smaller then a pea and looked like a fly bite. But now they are about the size of a 50p coin. They are hard and round and don’t seem to be attached to anything, just under the skin. Can you shed some light on what they might be?
Answer
By Your Horse
Vet Gil Riley replies:
These lumps sound very interesting and there are a variety of possible causes. The most common reason for slowly-growing lumps between the front legs are sarcoids. These are a benign skin growth, caused by a virus spread by flies.
If these lumps are sarcoids, I would expect you to find some other lumps on your horse’s body, most commonly on the inside of the hindlegs near the groin (be careful when you check!) or possibly around the ears or eyes. Sarcoids can vary in appearance – some look like warts, others look like smooth hairless swellings while some resemble ringworm (ie a hairless flat area). There are a variety of treatments for sarcoids that your vet can advise on, so I think it would definitely be worth asking them to have a look – if the lumps continue to grow between the forelegs, they can start to rub against the moving body, breaking the skin and attracting flies which is an added problem.