Why are my horses legs stocking up?
Answer: Stocking up is a very common problem caused primarily by stabling. In the wild, the average horse is on the move 20 hours a day, grazing, walking to water, fighting (or play fighting) and–when necessary–fleeing from predators. This nearly constant motion serves as an integral part of the circulatory system.
Why are my horses front legs swollen?
Soft, puffy joints or “filling” around the joints or lower limbs are very common in horses. The soft tissue swelling or “oedema” is usually due to a hard workout or a knock to the leg. It can also be caused by excessive grain feeding together with lack of exercise, such as in horses stabled overnight.
Why do horses legs swell up?
A horse that has significant swelling in all four legs may have some type of systemic illness. This could be a sign of heart trouble, liver or kidney disease, or a bacterial or viral infection. It’s defintely a situation that calls for a veterinary examination.
What makes a horse stock up?
A: Most commonly, this type of swelling, called “stocking up,” occurs when fluid pools in the tissues of your horse’s lower legs (called edema) during periods of inactivity. When your horse is exercised, the fluid is mobilized into his circulation and his legs return to normal.
How do you get rid of swelling in horses?
One of the first things to do is to get your horse moving. This can include turn out, walking in-hand, lunging, horse walker, or riding. Movement stimulates the circulatory and lymphatic systems and will help to get the fluid moving. You should notice the swelling reduce quite quickly from movement alone.
How long does stocking up last?
Simple Stocking up will usually resolve after 30 minutes or so of light exercise, such as hand walking, lunging or easy riding. Cold-hosing or applying a poultice are other techniques which increase circulation and get fluids moving.
How do you tell if a horse is stocked up?
To determine if the swelling in your horse’s legs is “stocking up,” apply pressure with your fingers over a swollen area. The pressure will cause pits in your horse’s skin (hence the term “pitting edema”)—similar to what you’d see if you press your fingers into bread dough that’s risen.
Do horses legs swell with laminitis?
Horses may exhibit increased digital pulses, increased hoof temperatures, swelling in the limbs, constant weight shifting, subtle or obvious lameness, a stance indicating discomfort, unwillingness to move, and reluctance to rise. Chronic: Clinical signs that last more than a week are diagnosed with chronic laminitis.
Can an allergic reaction cause a horse to stock up?
Allergies result in leaky blood vessels all over the body. Edema or stocking up occurs in the limbs, again, because of gravity. Inflammation in the skin from mild irritation or infection will induce leakage of fluid from the bloodstream into the tissues.
What does it mean when a horse has a stocking up leg?
Skin irritations can create a leg that looks like it’s stocking up, but is really an inflammation due to infection or cellulitis or something like that. Absolutely get your vet involved. Cases of scratches and equine pastern dermatitis can create “stocked up” legs, too.
What is’stocking up’in horses?
This pooling results in the swelling that is called ‘stocking up.’ It is, in fact, edema, and some horses seem to be more prone to it than others. Stocking up may be more likely in older horses, whose circulatory system isn’t as efficient as it once was.
What to do if your horse is stocking up?
Unfortunately, a horse that is prone to Stocking up usually continues to have this problem throughout its life. What can be done about it? Simple Stocking up will usually resolve after 30 minutes or so of light exercise, such as hand walking, lunging or easy riding.
Why are my horse’s legs fat?
And, as many of us know, movement is limited when a horse is stabled for part of the day. Stocking up is most common in older horses, horses that are in stalls for long stretches of the day, and horse on stall rest. But, some other things can contribute to fat horse legs.