Horse's legs filling up overnight

Chico Mio

Chico Mio

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Noticed this morning that Ari's legs were quite filled - especially the hinds, of course. No heat in his feet or excessive heat in his legs, but quite definitely inflated. I thought he was a little stiff yesterday morning too. The only difference is for the last two days we have had to bring them in early and turn them out a bit later because of the weather so obviously he is in his box for longer (15 hours yesterday) and we haven't been exercising as much. Classic, 'Monday Morning Disease' We cold hosed him for ten minutes and the swelling reduced. We have turned them out as usual and he seemed quite happy and wandered off to wiffle about, we will keep an eye on him but does anyone else have this problem and apart from the obvious minimising box time, what do you do? Leg wraps? Cold hose everymorning? More exercise before coming in?

Any advice/tips welcome! Ta.
 
My mare's legs fill a bit when she stands in a lot. I use stable bandages to help keep them down if she has to be in for a long period, and obviously try to get her out as early as possible.

Hers seem to be affected by the weather as well - when it is cold and frosty (or better still, snowing!) hers go right down and she has lovely tight legs again.
 
Ah, interesting about the weather! It has been incredibly warm and muggy here over the last three or four days and the horses have been a bit damp when put in to nice warm stables, could be that too.
 
My horses legs filled over night as well i just bandage her legs over night in the winter and if not i find they go down when shes ridden.
 
Thanks everyone. Poor OH was distraught because he took Ari's shoes off at the weekend and thought that he had done some irreparable damage somehow, he was so upset even when I reassured him that it is not uncommon in stabled horses. I will look into some stable bandages and try him on a circulation/lymphatic system supplement.
 
Monday Morning Disease is actually azoturia - or tying-up. Legs filling can be caused by many things, too much hard work, standing in a box, fresh hay, the list is endless. My horse is 15 now, she occasionally gets filled legs, as soon as she goes out in the field, and starts to walk, the fluid disappears. Unless it is excessive I wouldn't waste money on supplements or bandaging.
 
My boy is 14 and he gets this when stabled overnight. I don't do anything as it goes down within 5 mins of being turned out again in the morning. Doesn't seem to bother him at all and isn't causing any damage so I just leave it alone.
 
D's are doing the same at the mo as he's now being stabled every night because of the weather. Its not a problem, because as soon as he's out wondering around, they go down. His one front leg does fill slightly more than the others at the mo though as he knocked it a couple of weeks ago, although this is reducing as its healing. One of my other horses was terrible for this too, but again as soon as he was out and about they went down. I dont bother bandaging either, no point unless it was causing a problem.
 
tracey01 - I realised the MOnday Morning thing was wrong after I'd written it - berk that I am, I know it's azoturia - shows what dealing with panicking OH does to the brain!!.

OK deffo not too much hardwork, that's for sure!

Standing in too long - possibly, I think 15 hours is too long

Fresh hay - we have just started feeding this year's hay - literally at the weekend. I will ask the guy for a roll of last years next time he delivers, if he has any left.

Thanks!
 
My mares legs fill over night when she is in, she is never lame becasue of it. Bandaging helps when she is in all the time during bad weather but i try not to have to bandage them allwinter as i feel that although the bandage brings the swelling down the constant heat on her legs is not good for her. I have found 2 suppliments that work really well. The cheaper is the NAF De Tox which works well to reduce the swelling by encouraging toxins out of the body, the other is Equi Elements which is acctually a joint suppliment but it has lots of Selenium in which is a good Antioxidant. This works very well but is slightly more expensive.
 
So stop locking them in a cage for 12-15 hours a day and you won't have a problem with filled legs!

Horses were not really designed to be locked up like that. Movement and space is what they need. Horses kept outdoors where they belong, with space to move around, don't get filled legs do they!
 
are you feeding? one of my horse's legs did this a few year ago when he was stabled and got better when he was worked. turned out it was due to too much protein in the feed i was giving him.
 
[ QUOTE ]
So stop locking them in a cage for 12-15 hours a day and you won't have a problem with filled legs!

Horses were not really designed to be locked up like that. Movement and space is what they need. Horses kept outdoors where they belong, with space to move around, don't get filled legs do they!

[/ QUOTE ]

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Well if you want to look at it that way, horses weren't really designed to be ridden either...
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I think we are all in agreement here that maximum turnout time is preferable
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[ QUOTE ]
So stop locking them in a cage for 12-15 hours a day and you won't have a problem with filled legs!

Horses were not really designed to be locked up like that. Movement and space is what they need. Horses kept outdoors where they belong, with space to move around, don't get filled legs do they!

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you. Very helpful. Would love to keep them out 24/7 but they have other ideas once it gets dark, I'm afraid. You'll be pleased to know that one of them box walks - that keeps him active while he is in overnight.
 
Hi, a few horses on our yard are a bit filled at the mo,
Personally i dont like bandaging only if really necessary and
if you are not experianced at bandaging it can cause more problems than solving them

If it goes down once horse has had a walk about then I wouldnt worry to much, easier said when its not your own horse i know xx
 
Oh yeah forgot to add to SMID that yeah ideally we would like to keep our horses out but with the society that we live in what we want and what we get are two different things!!!!!!


At least Chico mio is asking for advice and trying to find out what is best for her horse.
 
[ QUOTE ]
So stop locking them in a cage for 12-15 hours a day and you won't have a problem with filled legs!

Horses were not really designed to be locked up like that. Movement and space is what they need. Horses kept outdoors where they belong, with space to move around, don't get filled legs do they!

[/ QUOTE ]

Would love to leave them out, but now the weather has changed they queue up at the gate waiting to come in and who am i to argue with 3 horses/ponies ranging in weight from a couple of hundred kilos to half a tonne....! Also not everyone is fortunate to have 27/7 turnout even if they want to keep their horses out!
 
Not happy. As of 5.00pm here legs less swollen but still not right. No heat in foot or fetlock but he isn't his usual self. We have called the vet who should be here fairly soon. I'm wondering if, as his shoes were removed on Saturday, whether he has grazed his heels (which always seemed incredibly low to me) and got an infection. That and maybe the change of hay to this years stuff, which could have a much higher protein content than the old stuff as they grow it for cows and it is heavily fertilised.
 
Oh dear, poor thing. Yes, could prob be either of those things. I missed a tiny spot of mud fever recently which caused a bit of swelling, felt like a right pillock. Hope he is back to normal soon.
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