Middle aged horse with puffy legs, normal?

[Amchara]

My very much loved 15yo mare has been perplexing me with this very small issue for the past couple of weeks:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xat1/v/t1.0-9/11096688_10153081291207559_1380750380541367969_n.jpg?oh=b108bbb78d7ae678877a59613bd152a1&oe=55BA9854&gda=1436765590_3515244a850627126c384d36d23f3bdf

If you look very carefully at the grain of her hair, you can see she has some fluid in her legs. Present on BOTH front legs. She hasn’t been lame. No heat. A few weeks ago it was mostly over where the check ligament is, and was interment and continually decreasing, and has leveled out at the condition the above picture displays. I thought it might be the start of an issue, so I gave her a few weeks off. I’m starting to wonder if she is just showing her age/use?

Input appreciated.

[Sticky_Situation]

It is hard to tell from the picture, but if there is no heat or lameness or other signs of illness, and it’s present in both legs, more than likely she’s just ‘stocking up’. It especially occurs if they are stall confined or otherwise less active than usual, and is more common in older horses, due to less efficient blood and fluid return from the extremities when the horse is standing still. Generally, it goes away with exercise, so riding and turnout should actually be beneficial.

Occasionally, edema in the legs can be caused by an infectious process somewhere which makes the microscopic blood vessels in the legs and elsewhere more “leaky”, so if she has a fever or is in any way not acting like her usual self, you should probably get a vet involved. But if the only symptoms is cool, painless swelling and she is otherwise seeming just fine, I wouldn’t worry much about it, and putting her back to work will probably get rid of the swelling faster than anything else.