<< When you have swelling on the inside of the front leg, between the knee
and 
 the fetlock, is this possibly tendon damage?  
 
 The horse is not lame, and I certainly have seen worse swelling(in another 
 horse I had), but it is uniform swelling about 1/4 of an inch in that whole 
 area.
 
 We just did a 15 mile training ride in the mountains (probably the most load
 I've put on this horse since his training began 6 weeks ago)...with alot of 
 climbing, and more cantering and trotting than he has done so far.
 
 Is it fair to say without anyone seeing this horse, that I obviously 
 over-stressed him?
 
 Also, I have never seen this before, but i am noticing *clips* of hair
missing 
 from the front of his rear legs (cannon bones)...like he could be clipping 
 himself ??? And it's all up and down that area...not just in one spot. No 
 swelling, just hair missing, and no lameness.
 
 This horse has medium to long pasterns upfront, but other than that is
pretty 
 much conformationally correct, ( a 14.2 Arab).
 
 Thanks for any help with this.
 
 I have already obsorbed myself in Nancy Loving's book "Veterinary Manual For
 The Performance Horse", and all other Endurance Books I have.
 
 Kathleen
 
  >>
Kathleen:  I, too have had a similar problem in the past and have one now.
 YES, there has been stress to the area. May only be tendon sheath.  My horse
is not lame either. Is there heat you can detect?  I cold water hose and
poltice to eliminate this.  Give two to three weeks off and start agin.  If
no recurrance, you are okay.  Usually this type of swelling shows up 2 to 3
days after ride.  Could come from bad step, uneven shoeing, a myriad of
causes.  If in doubt or very concerned, get ultra-sound.  Real tendon damage
will show up with and experienced diagnosis.
Teddy