The Road to the Tevis Cup, Post #9: Fantazia's mysterious stocking up

Not long after I brought her home, Fantazia’s legs started filling in above the fetlocks between eating breakfast and riding a few hours later. It was a mystery, because (a) she is in a 4-5 acre pasture 24/7 and (b) if it were inactivity –I thought — then I should have been seeing it when I fed her first thing in the morning. I asked for help understanding Fantazia’s mysterious stocking up on two Facebook pages, the AERC page, and the Equine Wellness and Nutrition group, posting the following:

“I’ve got a new horse as I announced a few days ago. When I picked her up 16 days ago, she had very clean legs, no filling but a tiny tiny bit above the rear fetlocks (what I’d think of as normal in a 13-year-old). Front legs amazingly clean.
Now, this is happening. When I feed her (between 5:30 and 7:30 depending) her legs are perfectly clean, no filling in AT ALL. When I get her out to ride (between 10 and 11), all four legs have stocked up somewhat.
After I am done riding, they are clean. (I ride for 90-120 minutes, mostly walk, 20-30 min trot, 3-6 min canter)
Anyone have an idea what’s going on? She gets 2 lbs Ultium Gastric Care and one cup Natural Glo Rice Bran morning and evening. When I ride (most days), she gets about a pound of whole oats. As much alfalfa as she wants (probably only eats about 8-9 lbs), on ~4 acres with grasses and weeds typical of the southern Sierra Nevada foothills. Hand-grazed 20-45 min a day (mainly St Augustine).”
(July 8)

Fantazia’s legs were clean when I picked her up, and at breakfast each morning…

The suggestions were numerous and varied…

It was the work.
- My reply was along the lines of, if a seasoned horse cannot do an hour or so of work, we’re never going to make it to Tevis.
It was the alfalfa (this was very popular).
- “Don’t feed alfalfa” is a favorite: see my old post, How to discourage questioning in an online horse forum
It was the Ultium.
It was some noxious weed.
- Possible
Too much protein.
Is she getting enough salt?
- This was a very useful suggestion, because although she had salt blocks, she didn’t seem to be using them, so I added about a tablespoon of loose salt to her feed am and pm.
- I started her with Redmond Rock (crushed), because I had some already. She loves it! But essentially all horses need is NaCl, so she’ll probably end up with the 25 lb bag from Costco that costs $5.
Don’t feed before riding.
Allergies.
Take the shoes off
- (She was barefoot at the time)
Put shoes on
- (I had already scheduled the farrier)
She needs more turnout.
- erm… she’s out 24/7 on 4-5 acres.
It’s standing all night.
- Erm,,, she’s FINE first thing int he morning. That is precisely the mystery.

Most missed the point:

She was not stocked up at breakfast, but she definitely had some filling in 1.5-2 hours later. It would be gone after riding. It was the pattern of the phenomenon that was the mystery.

I had some good, doable suggestions: check her legs at random times during the day. Check pasture for weeds. Verify if it changes according to workload. Suggestions of changing her diet seemed unwise when I had only just started her on it. I needed to wait at least a month before I could assess any effect of change.

What I discovered: It’s her activity level

To get straight to the point, Fantazia’s mysterious stocking up after breakfast was due to her activity. She starts pacing at some point before breakfast (4am? 4:30? she’s doing it by five). Perhaps pacing isn’t quite right. She walks into a paddock that is as close as she can get to the hay barn. Sometimes she chooses another where she can look right up at our door. Curiously, she never comes as close as she could to the house though.

Once there, she does not really pace, but she does move around, aimlessly, and fairly ceaselessly, shaking her head and looking at the house, until we feed. She does it in the evening too, which is why her legs are always clean at dinner.

It’s also her work activity level.

She is more stocked up after eating when she’s had a hard workout the day before. After days of inactivity due to heat and California fires, her legs were nearly perfectly clean. Medium workouts and rest days between workouts result in minor filling in. A string of light workouts means clean legs.

I am not entirely sure how much of this is due to the exercise itself and how much is due to her energy levels. Fantazia is fairly calm in her pastures, normally. but when she hasn’t been worked for a while, she starts running around a lot more. She goes up and down the banks of the irrigation ditch a lot more when she hasn’t been worked. When she is bored, she comes closer to the house to see what I’m up to.

I suppose the only way to separate the two potential contributors to the stocking up would be to stall her. That way she couldn’t move around before feeding or when bored. But I am not willing to do that (besides we have no true stalls). Not healthy, and that might teach her to truly pace.

Why it’s a bit worrisome even though I’ve solved the mystery

Stocking up is normal, with inactivity. Many stalled horses stock up every night; that’s one of the purposes of standing wraps. They help minimize the filling. I’ve used standing wraps on Fantazia, after increasing her workload. They don’t seem to make much of a difference.

Fantazia’s standing wraps. They do tend to get foxtails in them, even though I’ve placed them high.

It’s not that normal for a horse that is pastured 24/7 to stock up. However, a very quiet horse can stand still just as much in 10 acres as in a box stall. Fantazia is quiet, and doesn’t often stray far from where she can see the other horses.

A pasture mate might help, because then she’d probably graze more and explore the far reaches of her acreage. She’s likely to get a friend in October… at least I hope so.

I will also experiment with her feed if the issue continues. However, the most worrisome thing is that the left leg fills in slightly more than the right. There is a puffy place just above the fetlock on the outside of the left foreleg only. That suggests a potential issue, even though it disappears completely after movement. I will have a vet look at her before long.