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  Discussion on Unexplained Stocking Up
Author Message
Member:
Canter

Posted on Monday, Jan 9, 2006 - 9:11 am:

DrO,
On Friday night, when I pulled my mare in from pasture to ride, I noticed she had significant stocking up of both rear legs (she had been out 12 - 14 hours). She's stocked up 2x in the past, but only when she was on stall rest for an injury. Just to be sure that it was stocking up, I put her on a lunge line and she moved fine, so I proceeded to groom, tack up & ride. She worked very well. When I was done with my ride, I unwrapped her legs and the swelling had reduced, but not gone down completely. She was stalled for the night and turned out again on Saturday (12 - 14 hours). She was still mildly stocked up when turned out Sat. am. On Sunday morning, I had a lesson so she was kept in (but I got to the barn early, about 7:30). She was still mildly stocked up in the rear and this time, she was also swollen on the LF. I had my lesson, my horse moved/worked beautifully and when I unwrapped her legs after work, they all had returned to about 95% of normal. She was then turned out for the rest of the day.

I'm wondering why she would have this sudden onset of stocking up and why it would not completely have gone away with work and turnout. She was kept in all day Thurs. due to bad weather, but normally her turnout is 12-14 hours. I ride 4x/week.

There are only 2 significant changes that I can thing of lately. 1. She's lost some weight. Always an easy keeper in the past but in mid-December, my trainer thought she had lost too much. She's not thin, by any means, but for her, seeing any hint of rib means lost weight. Her grub (Buckeye Supreme) was upped, she gets free choice, decent quality hay and I've been giving her an extra treat after riding where I give her a 1/3 coffee can of the Buckeye mixed with a handful of sweetfeed. I found out yesterday that the barn owner has also been mixing in some sweet feed with the Buckeye to make sure my horse finishes up her food before turnout.
2) She is now turned out with a 3 year old filly. They adore each other and I have witnessed my mare slamming around the pasture as if she was 3 vs 15.

So, why would this occur now? If the one day of being stalled caused this, why has it not gone away after turn-out & work? Should I be concerned due to her age and perhaps have the vet out to check her other systems (liver, kidneys, etc?). Could the addition of the sweet feed be a cause? Other than this, my mare is bright eyed, working brilliantly, great attitude...in short, she is the picture of health otherwise. I just want to be sure that this isn't caused by something that isn't immediately obvious.

Thank you,
Fran
Member:
Mariss

Posted on Monday, Jan 9, 2006 - 10:08 am:

My horse did a little hard pounding on the driveway once due to spooking and was a bit stocked up for about a day or two. Maybe her new excitement with her young friend made her pound around in a way that she is not conditioned to do. If it were my horse I'd cold hose and keep an eye on it.
Member:
Canter

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 - 8:12 am:

Thanks Mariss. I don't think this is due to pounding on hard ground as we've had unseasonably mild temps and a lot of rain. The pastures are all a bit swampy right now. I am definitely keeping an eye on her!

DrO? Any thoughts?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 - 1:03 pm:

Also being up for a whole day the day before she stocked up could have caused her to exercise herself aggressively, overworking the tendons and other supporting structures causing a bit of swelling. Another possibility with it being very wet mild superficial skin infections/irritation might be responsible. You might check to see if there is any skin redness or scabbing.
DrO
Member:
Canter

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 - 4:22 pm:

DrO,
If she had overworked the tendons via too hard playing, wouldn't I have felt some heat (I forgot to mention that there was none) and wouldn't she have been sore/lame when I rode her? I had expert eyes on the ground during both rides so even if I didn't feel anything, any soreness would have been noticed, particularly since we were all watching very carefully, given the swelling. Plus, if she strained something, how likely would it be that the swelling reduced substantially(altho didn't disappear) after work? Now I'm paranoid that I worked her when I shouldn't have, having assumed that it was stocking up.

What I didn't look closely for is any redness or scabbing so I will dig under her furry legs tonight and take a look for that. She is white so if I can get under the hair, that should be easy to see.

Thanks so much!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006 - 9:07 am:

Not necessarily Fran there is an edge between some swelling and obvious heat and swelling or lameness and your riding may not have done any further damage. Horses need very little excuse to stock up.
DrO
Member:
Canter

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006 - 1:37 pm:

Ok, DrO, if I understand you correctly, then she COULD have had swelling and no heat with a soft tissue injury, but it is unlikely due to the fact that she showed no lameness (just want to be clear in my own head for future reference). So, we are left with the unusual stocking up.

Her legs were back to normal last night - we deliberately left her outside at night for the previous 2 nights since we had some mild weather but she had to be left in last night. After riding, I dug under all the fuzz and found no signs of irritation or cuts. So...it will be interesting to see what I find tonight.

As always...thank you.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006 - 11:03 pm:

Not exactly Fran, because there is nothing unusual about this at all. But we still have the question in your case is which of the possibilities or other possibilities listed in the article did your horse have? Sometimes we don't know for sure but keeping a list in order of most likely keeps your mind open to all the possibilities so you do not overlook anything.
DrO
Member:
Canter

Posted on Friday, Jan 13, 2006 - 7:52 am:

Thanks, DrO. I think I got it. BTW, Wednesday night, her legs were back to 100% normal and again she worked beautifully with no signs of discomfort or lameness. I couldn't get to the barn yesterday as I had to travel for business, but I know she would have had plenty of turnout as we had nearly 60 degrees (in Michigan, in mid-January...who woulda thunk it...I'm cursing the fact that I had to hit the road for work...would have loved to give my not-so white-anymore beast a good bath...)

Anyway, it looks like Sparkles problem has resolved and I'll just continue to keep an extra close eye on it.

Thank you!
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