[MissCita]

So Cita has been stocking up in her hind pasterns for some time now, not
overly bad but enough that they've gone down a noticable amount after
she's ridden. It was mostly happening when she wasn't being turned out
daily and when she was in a tie stall, however it's continued even now
that she's in an in/out and consistantly able to move around. It's gone
down since then, but it's still there. It's something that seemed to crop
up at the end of august/beginning of september solely when she didn't
receive turn out, but now it's an everyday thing and it ALWAYS is
completely gone after she's worked.

She is in medium-hard work 6 days a week, has never had an injury to
her pasterns as far as I know. They've never been hot and it's never
seemed to bother her. I've heard that stocking up can be a sign of
infection? Would this be the only symptom though? Also she recieved
an injury to the bone lining (I think and can't think of the more techincal
term ATM) which resulted in a bump. Never hot, she was never lame or
sore and I was on it from day one. It was also looked at by my farrier who
works with my vet and I phoned him about it, said it was most likely
nothing. It has gone down almost 90% in size since she recieved it. Could
this have anything to do with it? If not, what other things could be causing
this?

[tbtrainer]

One of the reasons for stocking up is limited turnout.. also what you are feeding...

So, what exactly are you feeding and how much?

[CJ]

Raps stocks up like that if hes in the stall for a couple days, has even when he was a young/er horse. I attribute it to lesser circulation from not moving around like when theyre turned out. If its bad, bothering him, or hes not getting out imminently, I give him a dose of aspirin or 1 bute to take the inflammation down til he can/does get out. He was diagnosed with high ringbone as a young horse but that doesnt seem to bother him or affect the chances of stocking up.

[TrailBlazer]

My mare will stock up if she has to stay in the barn. I always thought it was due to no or little exercise as with 24/7 turnout no trouble at all. You may have to warmer her up at a slower pace though.

[MissCita]

Cita can turn herself out whenever she wants now though, for the past two months (in/out paddick/stall) and it's still there. So now she has lots of turnout.

She gets 12lbs timothy divided between breaky and dinner, 8lbs local 2nd
cut divided between breaky, lunch and dinner. 1lb fiber max, 1lb step four
extruded, 1/2 cup whole flax, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp
cayenne pepper 2x's daily. She drinks plently of water (she's a hay dipper.)

Like I said, it's NEVER bothered her, but it's still there and I can't find a
reason for it.

[Dawn]

Just curious, what's the cayenne pepper for?

It could be that from the extended period of time with no available natural movement, it's damaged or reduced her natural lymph circulation system.

[MissCita]

Originally Posted by Dawn

Just curious, what's the cayenne pepper for?

It could be that from the extended period of time with no available natural movement, it's damaged or reduced her natural lymph circulation system.

It's supposed to reduce stress and help prevent ulcers.

Well that doesn't sound very good. Is there some way I or the vet could
confirm something like that? Are there any serious effects that could crop
up out of it?

[Dawn]

Do you have any links to research on the cayenne pepper? I've never heard of it, quite interesting.

I'm not sure about any side effects of a lazy lymph system in the hind legs.

It could also be that her hoof form is causing issues as well. Or that she's not moving around as much or as freely as she should be. Quite a few possibilities.

[CJ]

Is she barefoot or shod?

[MissCita]

Originally Posted by Dawn

Do you have any links to research on the cayenne pepper? I've never heard of it, quite interesting.

I'm not sure about any side effects of a lazy lymph system in the hind legs.

It could also be that her hoof form is causing issues as well. Or that she's not moving around as much or as freely as she should be. Quite a few possibilities.

It was actually recommended to me by my Equine Sports Therapist (I splurge and have her come out to work on Cita from time to time.) She
was explaining to me that over 80% of show horses suffer from ulcers
due to stress and said cayenne pepper has been proven to help
reduce the stress and prevent ulcers. I'm actually seeing her on tuesday,
I could ask her if she knows of any articles on it if you'd like! I have
noticed a difference since feeding it.

You know what, now that I think about it, maybe it could be related to her feet.
Here's your answer too CJ! She is shod up front but isn't usually shod in
the back. I shoe in the back for show season and that's about it. However,
she has the little tiny QH halter feet, my farrier and I have been working
on her front feet and they're 100% better now and she was saying next
time it would be a good idea to start the same regemine on the back feet.
She's never been lame and her back feet have seemed okay, but they are
very tiny for her size. We puts back on for 8 weeks in the winter to
encourage more growth and it made a big difference. Her bars and frog
were also growing faster then her walls. I haven't bothered keeping backs
on her because she never seemed to really need them and it's expensive.
However I do agree with my farrier that it's time to put them on. Could
this sort of thing cause stalking up? I can get pictures if you'd like. The
walls are starting to flare out a bit because the feet are too little. They
were badly flared in front but it wasn't just extra wall growth, her white
line was in the flares, so her feet were more like deforming.