The other day I came home from work and noticed Gypsy stomping, swishing her tail and shaking her head a lot. I went out and sprayed her again (did it before I left in the morning) and noticed her right hind leg had some pitting edema. I chalked it up to her excessive stomping. I walked her a bit and rubbed down her legs before stalling her for the night just to move some of edema out. The next morning she was pretty stocked up right up to the hocks, especially around the fetlocks (bilateral) and she had that "fungal residue" ya'll were talking about in another post. She has also been "peeling" around her chest, neck and shoulders and everywhere else I have continually sprayed her with Pyrhana and Skin So Soft...I think it's all drying out her skin. Anyway, we went for a ride (just walked up and down the road, really) then I gave her a bath and a good, deep massage through her back, hindquarters and legs. By the end of the day, it was just about gone....BUT back again in the morning. It goes down once she's turned out for the day, but has not completely disappeared. I lunged her last night and when we were done, it was completely gone...BUT again, back this morning. I don't think she's laying down at night because she is not full of shavings like she usually is. She is not limping and she did not look "off" or painful while she was lunging, but she does this weird thing when I pick up her hind feet...she will hold her leg to the side like a male dog urinating on a tree. I haven't been able to ride her a lot lately due the rain (I dont have an indoor and everything is "suck you in" mud with the clay at our place when it rains) so could it be that she just isn't getting the exercise she should? I called my vet and he said I shouldn't have to wrap her legs at this point, but should I wrap them at night when she's stalled (I try to leave her out til 9 or 9:30pm and have her back out no later than 7am)? I can't leave her out at night cuz the bugs are soooo bad and she doesn't have a run-in. She did this last year around the same time for about a week and we never figured out why. Is it weather related or something? I'm stumped on what to do so if anyone has some inspiring knowledge you'd like to share with me, please let me know. Thanks everyone!!!

Poor Girl. It really sounds like she just needs to be turned out at night, in spite of the bugs. She's having skin issues anyways (I am not sure of the other post you refer to here) and since you can't ride, turnout would be more vital. Stocking up is a sign she's needing to move more, that's why it's always back in the morning. I used to have this cute little appendix mare that we let have turnout in a small pen attatched to her stall, when she wasn't in pasture,  wasnt much but it helped, and her attitude was much better anyways) but when we went to shows and she had to be stall for several days, her legs would always stock up, and the dermatitis on her hind cannon bones would get worse. I would spend a lot of time just getting her out and hand walking to keep the swelling down. Leg wraps helped, but what she really needed was movement.  I don't think the heat is helping any....my own ankles are swelling now that it's hot here (I'm 8 month prego, but didn't have a prob with swelling until it turned hot/humid)

Sooo, my advice is put a fly sheet on her and turn her out anyways at night. Too much fly spray can give the allergic reactions as well, and some horses actually fare better with bugs at night than during the day. Sometimes the skin probs you think are bug are actually "dew poisoning" that is an allergy to the grass when they get in the sun!!!

Thank you so much for the response. I was hoping it would be a simple fix of just keeping her out at night and exercising her more. I'll look into a nice fly sheet. And you're right, the first time I noticed it was on that REALLY hot and humid day when the wind was still and the bugs were NOT!! I've been passing up the urge to spray her lately since she seems to have had a reaction to all of it. She's happier without it, it seems. I also bought EquiSpot (2 week topical application) to see if maybe that would work better than the spray. I'll try that, the fly sheet and 24 hour turnout and see what happens.

Thanks again

I agree -- it's amazing the difference that extra turnout can make to horses who are prone to stock up.  I think you'll see a good change.  

I use that EquiSpot on Solo sometimes, and I like it.  It's not 100% effective, but it does seem to reduce the number of flies and also reduce the time each fly sits on him (less bites?).  You also might look into those fly leg bands and collars -- I haven't tried them, but I am interested in them (they're just low on the $$ spending priority list for me right now!).  I also have used fly boots in the past when the stomping got bad and I LOVED them, just make sure to get ones with stays in them so they don't sag. 

Thanks Solaris. I was wondering if there was some sort of leg protectors of some sort, but have never come across them. I'll have to look for them in some of my magazines.

I left her out last night and low and behold....no edema this morning. Not to mention her attitude was much better...not pushy or flighty. I hope we don't get thunderstorms tonight so I can leave her out again.

You can find the leg protectors (usually called fly boots) in any major equine catalog.  Dover has them, Valley Vet, Horse.com, etc. 

Found these cheap as long as the shipping doesn't getcha.  They sound like they should be decent quality.

http://www.jeffersequine.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=1&mscssid=E76P6BM39FBS9P2NQ25VS3XRECLEBSD2