Horse with allergies?

About a year ago I posted about a lump, the size and shape of a golfball, under my horse's chin. Wedged up in the tight spot between her cheeks. The vet checked it, attempted to drain it, but it was not full of anything, it was a solid mass. He declared it an angry lymph gland and put her on a coarse of antibiotics. By end of drugs the lump had reduced in size. But it has never gone completely away.

Two more times after that initial treatment the lump flared up, swelled, burst and oozed.

Second time I thought great, strangles. But no. Even vet said no. The horse has no fever and shows no signs of illness in any way. And no other horses around her have gotten sick. Not strangles.

When it flared third time I thought it was an injury she got sticking her head through a fence. Maybe a thorn or stick was stuck in it. So I soaked that lump with hot water and tried to squeeze out whatever foreign object might be in there. Nothing ever came out and nothing comes out when you squeeze, although it just slowly drains out goo. It does not stink.

Today I felt the lump and it has doubled in size and has a fleshy nob which I'm betting will burst open soon and begin to drain. This will be the 4th time around with this stupid lump! It is very painful and horse does NOT like to have it handled. So once again I'm thinking, what the heck...?

These are the only different things that stand out as possible contributors. The mosquitoes are fierce and both horses get chewed. But this horse gets huge welts instead of small bumps like the other horse. She seems super sensitive to bites and bugs.

Also they recently got some moldy hay. They don't eat it, hey kick it all over the place. But there is one plant that seems to show up in this batch of hay and they refuse this plant, I find it kicked out all the time.

So is this a bug allrgy? A mold or plant allergy? If it is allergic in nature, antibiotics are not the thing. I wish I knew. Can horses have allergies?

I knew a horse at college that had a sweat allergy, drove itself crazy rubbing all over.
Some kind of benign growth?
very strange indeed.

Two years ago pigion fever was rampant in Okanagan. It usually runs it's course and finishes once the fly season is over as they are the vectors. But I had heard they don't usually get it the following season. Also being in the same place over and over is strange. I would ask for a culture and a biopsy incase it sone kind of cyst or mass.

Horses can definitely have allergies. Has the vet suggested an X-ray to see if she has an issue with her teeth? I had a mare who has a recurring abscess which is what this sounds like under her eye my vet suggested an X-ray and we found she had a tooth that had busted within her jaw and once we pulled the tooth and a round of antibiotics to clear up the infection she never absessed again and was much easier to deal with.

Did your vet test her for strangles? If your other horses had ever been in contact they would not get sick. She could be a carrier who has very minor outbreaks

The other thing it could be is one of the bug bites which she a scratched on something dirty which caused infection. My twh had that happen last summer. Something you can do for your horses for the bugs is take vegetable or canola oil all over them. Do rhis daily for the first week and then after that when ever you see the bugs starting to bother them. We just rub them down with the oil soaked rag. Much cheaper then the chemical bug sprays and works awesome!

Smoky, the very first time this happened I was sure it was dental. The vet sedated the horse and looked at her teeth, her tongue, under her tongue, down her throat. He went over her with a fine tooth comb. Her teeth are floated regularly so her dental work is up to date.

When the horse had a second swell and burst, she was in a stable. No other horses got sick. This is not strangles. It is like a cyst that keeps coming back.

Have not considered x-rays, but at this point looks like it's next on the list. That or try antihistamines, if horses take such a thing?

Horse heads are not easy to xray. Too dense for good detail. Plus if u are dealing with soft tissue ( which u are) u are not going to see anything so it will be a waste of money. Culture and biopsy thevtissue will tell you what you need to know.

Biopsy will tell you if an allergic reaction as well.

A biopsy would be best to do first. X-rays are very hard to do, but they did show the tooth issue, you could not see that the tooth on my horse had been broken you could see nothing that had indicated the tooth could be causing the grief from the outside.

I would also try the vegetable oil trick all you are out is the 7.00 for a hug of oil.
Good luck with finding the problem

Smoky, we did have a horse here once with a broken tooth and I noticed something was up when the smell of her breath changed. I know that sounds stupid, but horse breath has a smell and then suddenly, WOW! what is THAT? I called the vet and yup, a tooth was broken below the gum line. He removed it. Her breath smell cleared up.

I now regularly make sure I know what all my horse's breath smells like. It is just one more way to notice a problem. Overall they have lousy dental hygiene. I can't get any of them to floss!