Why is my geldings sheath swollen when I get him out of his stall but the swelling reduces with work?

Question

His sheath is cleaned regularly and he has no abnormal tempature. He has shown this for several years and has never bothered him, but we are curious as to what could cause it.

Answer 1

That is strange, but have a vet look at him.

Answer 2

this is called "stocking up" and often occurs in stalled horses. if you look closely you'll probably notice that his back legs also have the same swelling that goes away with work. it's caused like this (i'll try to make it as simple as possible): horses have highly developed circulatory systems that function properly only when the horse is moving (ever noticed that horses turned out freely never stand still one one spot more than a minute or two?). the lymphatic system is part of the circulatory system. when a horse walks blood and lymph fluid is circulated through the system and movement incourages this fluid movement and prevents it from building up. when you take away the horse's ability to move, you also restrict the ability of blood and lymph to circulate fully. the lymph fluid begins to collect and pool, this is when you see the swelling in the sheath and legs. when you take the horse out of the stall and let him exercise his circulatory system kicks in to proper working order again and that excess fluid is picked up and circulated back into the body where it belongs. then when he's restricted to the stall again the cycle repeats. this is very similar to a human that has swollen legs and feet if they've been sitting or standing in one position for a long period (like factory workers)

Answer 3

He is getting stocked up from being in the stall, his back legs are most likely stocked up to, my advise is turn him out during the day so he can stretch his legs out, and then put him in at night and when the weather is bad. Keeping them in the stall all day and them not being able to move around alot will cause there sheath and legs to stock up.

Answer 4

I have seen this alot with horses of spanish decent and it is many times the cause of an improper diet or too much food. http://tonyone.weebly.com

Answer 5

I'm guessing it has to do with the position he sleeps in, and that he is somehow impairing the circulation in that area so that it accumulates fluid in the tissues, and then when he moves around, the fluid is carried away in the improved circulation.