Swelling in Right Knee and Cannon

Question
My horse is 12 yr Quarab gelding. Pastured with 2 other horses at the moment in a dry lot. It has been very cold and we have had some snow.
On Wednesday, Feb 9, I checked on my horse and found that he had some swelling in his Right Front knee. No heat; swelling was soft. He was not lame at the walk or trot. He has no injuries that I can see and was alone in a pasture at the time of injury. Thursday, I checked on him again and he had the same prognosis- no worse, no better. Friday, I checked on him again and he had the same swelling in the knee (slight heat) and swelling (med- firm) extending down the inside of his cannon bone. This had slight heat, but he walked out fine and only had slight lameness at the trot. He has been bearing weight on it just fine. Today, Saturday, the swelling now the same as above and on the outside of the cannon bone, just at the top. The swelling in the knee has very slight heat and the swelling around the cannon had heat in it. He received 2g of bute on Sat. I do not have a very good option to but him in a stall unless it is absolutely necessary. When he walks he does not show any signs of lameness. His trot he shows mild signs of lameness. He is bearing weight on the leg and does not seem to be affected by it (pain wise) he is acting himself. Thoughts? I am hoping, if at all, possible to wait until at least Monday before calling the vet if things do not change.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Answer
Hi Anji - love your name!  Thanks for all the details ... I'm on a short break from my horse job and saw your question.  I think you'll be fine through the weekend but I would start hosing this leg.  Cold water, 15 min twice a day if possible.  I think it's good that he's still out since he's moving okay.  Would probably get stiff if confined to a stall.  I'm guessing that the swelling below the knee is simply gravity's pull on the swelling in the knee ... it has to go somewhere and it's usually down hill until it can be absorbed.  There are several possibilities of what happened inside this knee so I would get a vet to check it out if things are greatly improved by Monday and get an x-ray to be sure there are no chips floating around inside.  Let me know how it goes ... gotta get back to work! Start hosing it :)

Thanks Anji!
Judi