Oh no, the hamster pony returns... HELP?

[EllieBeast]

Well, i brought Ellie in to ride tonight, and her face has swollen again.
About this time last year, her glands swelled up. we put it down to the change in grass and just waited it out. she eventually returned to normal after about 3 weeks of swelling during the day (when out) and getting better at night (when she was stabled). im really hoping that it wont take this long to go down this time. However Ellie now has to be turned out 24/7 and i dont know how this might affect the process.
Does anyone have any ideas on how i could possibly speed up the process or any idea of what could be causing this?
she has been on the same field for the last few months - with no trouble.
she is on the same feed as she has always been on.
however her hay has changed, yesterday was the first day of being fed only the new hay (had introduced slowly). she was fed on hay from the same place last year with no trouble (introduced said hay after swelling had gone down last year).

please guys, any suggestions welcome. i am probably going to have to cancel my dressage competition at the weekend. and if this takes as long as last year then its taking a reasonable chunk out of the time i have left to enjoy her.
sorry to be moaning, and thanks for reading.
Sarah

 

[harvgj19]

Is it some kind of allergy to something in the field this time of year?

Perhaps the vet can give her an antihistamine injection or something. My boys face swelled up with an allergy to a vitamin supplement, and after the injection it went down.

Poor Ellie, I'm sure its not nice to have a hamster face!

 

[EllieBeast]

thanks, the trouble is - even if she gets the injection, she has to stay on this paddock. the field that she is in now is differant to the one she was in last year whe the same thing happened. i ahve had her for 5 years, and this has only occurred twice.
i'm sure she must have twigged that we were doing dressage and has cotton wool up there or something!
at the mo im tepted to put it down to the grass again. i called the vet last time this happened, and he said to just let her be as long as she didnt have a temperature - which she hasnt.
Sarah

 

[jewel]

agree with above post i once had a pony that did nearly the same and it was something in the field, i moved field and she was fine

 

[harvgj19]

bummer.

They'll do anything to get out of work, won't they!!!

 

[EllieBeast]

i know! specifically dressage

 

[Bananaman]

Candlelite would get a very similar thing happen to her around this time of year.
The swelling would be not just in the gland area but all over her actual cheeks too, not hot or seemingly painful.
Once she'd stood in for an hour or two, sorry, I can't remember just how long, it would have gone, at least enough to make riding possible.
It always seemed to occur when the grass was very short and one theory was that she was taking in air as she tried to nibble the grass.
None of the others were affected and it didn't bother her at all, apart from looking like she'd rolled her cheeks in the nettle patch!
We just used to get her in a while before we wanted to ride and had no problems.

Hopefully your problem is similar and that you can manage her OK enough to still go and do your dressage.

 

[EllieBeast]

That sounds identical to Ellies probs, the cheeks too. thankyou, i will try bringing her in stupidly early tomorrow to see if riding can be possible.
Cheers! - dressage isnt until 3.00 on sun, so i will have plenty of time to bring her in beforehand.
Sarah

 

[Salcey]

My mare started having small swellings on her face last year and we found it was something swhe was grazing in the hedge

 

[KJJ]

Jaguar gets the same this time of year.. and it occurs when it's rained... when the grass is that much wetter and the mud starts to appear.

We came to the conclusion (with vet) that it is the chemicals/nutrients/amonnia's/enzymes in the grass from years gone by that 'surface' at this time of year when particularily wet etc.

Wth Jags his cheeks seemed worse if he grazed in a field where sheep have previously been grazed

Like E's it would go over night when off the grass.

 

[BridgetMiller]

My horse's face swells just the same, it seems to happen Spring and Autumn. I don't worry about it i've been in the same yard for years and it's happened to horses I've owned previously and when I mentioned it to my vet he told me it was nothing to worry about so I don't. It doesn't seem to affect my horse. It does look a bit strange looking down at it when you are riding though!