I have a horse that stocks up in the hind legs a lot. It’s worse when the weather is warm/hot, and worse on days he can’t get turned out, but even when he’s outside for 14 hours, he’ll stock up overnight (and leaving him out 24/7 is not an option). When he can’t go outside AND it’s hot out, the stocking up is beyond awful. I keep him wrapped, cold hose him, etc. I’m wondering if there is a supplement that will help with the circulation. I’ve seen things like SmartHoof Circulate and Circulate Support. Would they help with this problem? Is this a circulation problem?
It’s a lymphatic system problem usually. Lymphatic circulation is stimulated by movement of the muscles, which is why turnout helps. Compression from standing bandages overnight are likely to do more good than anything you can feed.
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Adding MSM daily has helped quite a few horses. I’d load up at 20gm for 2 weeks, and if you see improvement, go down to 15gm and see if things hold, and if so, down to 10gm to see if that is enough. You might be able to go to/stay at 10 for the Winter, might need more as the temps heat up again.
If that doesn’t help (enough), and the swelling is bad enough, he may really need to be wrapped at night.
You could look into an herbal supplement or acupuncture. Acupuncture helped my horse a lot - he loves to stock up in general and swells at the drop of a hat. We did herbs for allergies, which did help some but were super expensive.
Seconding the MSM suggestion. My mare used to stock up in both hind legs in the heat, even out 24/7 in a largish paddock. MSM takes the swelling right down.
Uva ursa leaves. (https://www.bigdweb.com/product/code/413.do?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1P_Q2PKW1gIVS5J-Ch2EiwUaEAYYASABEgIDlfD_BwE). At least used to be pretty commonly used on the track.
Adding MSM did nothing much for my horse, but a daily Previcox has made a difference. If he can’t be turned out, 15-20 minutes of brisk handwalking at least once a day may also help him. I would go with standing bandages regardless of handwalking, however.
Thanks for all the input. He’s been on MSM for years - 10,000mg/day. I could increase that. The Uva Ursa leaves look interesting - I’ll have to give those a try as well.
For DSLD/ESPA some people use Arginine. It supposedly increases circulation.
I never really used it in my DSLD/ESPA horse, or when he had cellulitis/lymphangitis, so can’t tell you if it worked for that.
But worth adding to the list of things to look into, maybe?
Not to highjack but I have a horse that stocks up and was now under the impression that wrapping at night (while stalled) actually made things worse in the long run. Weakens the system and creates a re-bound effect. Can’t cite where I “learned” that info so perhaps it is baloney.
Mine is on stall rest right now and on Extra Strength Recovery (10 000 mg MSM plus the other stuff) and not stocking up so it could be coincidence or the Recovery may be helping my horse.
Wrapping - it all depends. I wouldn’t bother if it’s mild stocking up that resolves with turnout in the morning.
But the more swelling there is, on a regular basis, the more potential there is for permanent damage to the lymphatic system, and that’s what you want to avoid.
Sometimes, wrapping every night can give the system a chance to “catch up” and wraps can be weaned off (wrap later at night, unwrap earlier), but not always.
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Now that it’s getting cooler he’s going outside more and it’s definitely helping. I’m not wrapping him at night anymore because I have read that wraps can cause problems if used for too long. It took a few days before he wasn’t swollen up like a balloon in the morning. Now it’s very very mild. Hoping the worst is behind him, at least until it gets hot again.
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