Fat pads on horse who's not fat?

[soloequestrian]

I realised today that my mare has odd lumps under her skin - flat disc shapes around her saddle area and larger flat but hard areas between her croup and tail. She also seems to have hardening in her crest. The flat discs are the only ones that are slightly visible. The pads on her bum are very flat and can only be felt, not seen. They are not itchy although she is generally an itchy horse.
She is KWPN, 8, has a great coat, bare feet and happily walks and trots our rough forest road hacking. She's in a nice body condition - pretty much idea I'd say. She has never been fat and never had tender feet. She has been very spooky and reactive so she is on a gut balancer and quite a lot of magnesium. That seemed to be working but she has decided that the Mg doesn't taste good and I've had to reduce it again to get her to eat her feed at all. She is on grass and a small feed of oats and beet to carry her minerals.
She has had slightly runny eyes for ages - I thought it was the flies because they were terrible this year but it's carried on even now they've gone.
I'm wondering if she is allergic to something in her food or environment? I will chat to a vet but it's always good to have starting points and this has me baffled. All suggestions welcome, for both possible cause and management changes to try.

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

Dexter has what the vetting described as cellulite - doesn’t disappear with weight loss - could be that!

 

[bluehorse]

Without seeing it it’s hard to say but it could be adipose fat, it’s an indicator of EMS and can appear on horses who don’t look particularly fat. I would be concerned that it’s EMS especially as you mention she’s got a firm crest.

 

[soloequestrian]

Yes, I thought about EMS but it just seems so unlikely apart from this one symptom. She doesn't have a big crest and it's not firm as such, it just seems to have harder bits in it like the odd hard bits around her bum.
She's not in hard work but she is ridden usually 6 days out of 7 and as before she's never been overweight.
That's why I'm wondering about some sort of sensitivity or allergy - whether that might cause similar symptoms. Or if she might be particularly prone to Mg deficiency - I'm sure I've read that Mg can influence fat pads?

 

[soloequestrian]

I just read this description 'Characterized by their raised appearance and spongy feel, fat pads are found on horses in moderate to obese condition' - hers definitely aren't spongy, they're hard, and also not raised.... but I can't think what else they would be other than fat??

 

[Apizz2019]

Yes, I thought about EMS but it just seems so unlikely apart from this one symptom. She doesn't have a big crest and it's not firm as such, it just seems to have harder bits in it like the odd hard bits around her bum.
She's not in hard work but she is ridden usually 6 days out of 7 and as before she's never been overweight.
That's why I'm wondering about some sort of sensitivity or allergy - whether that might cause similar symptoms. Or if she might be particularly prone to Mg deficiency - I'm sure I've read that Mg can influence fat pads?

Magnesium can help with fat pads but most fat pads, especially in the places you describe, are symptomatic of EMS.

Many horses and ponies can have EMS without having laminitis and many that have it are crippled with laminitis. There is no way to know for sure, other than to test for it.

Our pony is EMS and no longer has the fat pads he did, as we've dieted carefully and upped exercise. He's also managed carefully in terms of diet.

I'd recommend testing for EMS, the karo syrup method as its the most reliable, just based on what you've described here.

I was exactly like you and said exactly what you've said here, just a few short months ago, and felt that our ponys fat pads weren't anything sinister and I wouldn't have that anything was wrong with our healthy weight pony. Until he came down with laminitis.

Cushings and EMS are responsible for up to 90% (I believe it's 90%) of laminitis cases so I had him tested for both.

Also remember, magnesium can have less than desirable effects if your horse isn't deficient and some can completely lose their marbles.

Good luck!

 

[SEL]

It is worth a vet check. My Appy turned out to have a poorly functioning thyroid. Meds were horrendously expensive but she'd been off grass and on soaked hay yet we still had strange fat pads.

She's been off the meds for 5 weeks now and has shrunk all over. Her crest is floppy and she's much happier in herself. No idea what caused it but I'm hoping it was a one-off.

 

[joelb]

They are not itchy although she is generally an itchy horse.

This would make me want to test for IR/EMS. Itchiness is a classic albeit not widely recognised symptom.

 

[soloequestrian]

I have a call-back booked with the vet. If it is EMS, what on earth do I do? Her weight is good!
Here she is