Newbie question/worry

[Dill PIckle]

Hello All, I am new to the board as well as a new Mini owner. A thrilled and completely in love mini owner! Dillon is 8/9 months ( I am still waiting for his papers) and doing very well in his new home. and such a love bug! anyway, we go on regular walks around our barn, threw the trails and around fields for exercise and exposure. Yesterday I noticed something I have not noticed before. In both hind legs - when he walks, his leg kinda 'catches' as he extends. It almost looks like it starts at his ankle, like a jerk motion, then as he extends his leg it seems to jerk, or catch at his hip. He does not do this at the trot and it does not seem to bother him at all. You can see this in both hind legs. He was seen by my ferrier 12/22.

What do you think? growing pains? worry wort mama?

Oh, my ferrier comes every 6 weeks for my App (full size) will Dillon need to be seen that often too, or can I get by w/every other visit?

Thanks so much!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

It sounds like it has to do with his stifle. It may be something he may out grow or it may require surgery. Right now its just catching so it sounds like it hasn't locked. Once it locks they won't be able to put any weight on it, you may think something is broken. I would mention it to your vet and farrier. For one thing you don't want his toes to grow out too long you want him to have a normal gait and break over just fine. Another is I would avoid stalling him and let him have as much room to run as much as he can. And exercise is good too. Doing all of these may help him.

 

[Dill PIckle]

thank you! I was worried it would be his stifle. Right now, he is only stalled at night - you think that will be ok?? Our Vet is scheduled to come on 1/18 and I had wanted to wait until then - will he be ok until then you think? Bless his little heart, I hope he is not hurting. I will continue our walks and maybe he can work it out. I sure hope so. but if surgery is what he needs, surgery is what he will get.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

It does sound like his stifle, but your vet can confirm. The good news is it isn't painful and he can live with it. If you opt for surgery, it's a simple one, often done while the horse is standing I believe. Exercise is good for him so continue your walks and maybe increase his free-play time if you can. Only stall him if you have to.

Welcome to the board and to mini ownership! Please post pictures of him when you get a chance. We love pictures!

 

[Dill PIckle]

Thank you and I will def get pictures! I have enjoyed looking at everyone else's so I will be sure to contribute! He is such a doll! My neice has two Mini's, and will hopefully show Dill for me. She and I have been having a blast with him. And whoever said you can't have just one is SO right! I will wait to add, but boy am I going to add!!!

I will for sure decrease his stall time, will talk to BO tonight,maybe he can let him out earlier in the am. You all think there is a good chance he will grow out of it, since it just came on? I will be sure to talk to my vet next week, see what she says.

Thanks again!

 

[AnnaC]

Hi and welcome!

You are doing the right thing for Dill by keeping up all the walks, but he really does need to be turned out as much as is possible if this is stifle trouble (sounds as though it is). Also, how big is his stall - if you must stall him overnight, give him as much space as is possible. Get your farrier to keep the toes on his hind feet trimmed really well back as this will help.

What are you feeding him? He will require a higher protein feed at his age but be careful not to let him get too fat - it puts more strain on his joints - he needs to be a good weight but not overweight!

Good luck with him - and, yes, we would love to see pictures.

 

[Songcatcher]

Welcome to the forum an congratulations on your new Mini. Others have given you good advise, so I will not repeat. I would add though that stifle problems are often hereditary. IF that is the problem, please do not consider him as a future breeding animal.

Best of luck to you.

 

[rimmerpaints]

WELCOME!!!!! I think everyone has gave you great advise

 

[lucky lodge]

welcome to LB,,sounds like stifle lock to me

 

[disneyhorse]

Hello,

"locking stifle" is particularly common in minis because it is a genetic defect. People will occasionally say "growth spurt" or "lack of minerals in the diet" but this is why it perpetuates.

It is tricky because it can develop at any age and the symptoms may come and go depending on how it is managed. This puts people in denial and they go ahead and breed and it then lurks in the bloodlines.

Lots of exercise and keeping the hind toes short/rolled will help. Down the road, a couple different surgeries are available if he remains symptomatic.

You can search this forum for old threads... Unfortunately there are a lot of posters because this problem is so prevalent in minis.

I would love to see pictures of your little guy, too.

Andrea

 

[valshingle]

I recommend that you turn him out 24/7, if at all possible. Hopefully, that will give you great improvement.

 

[Dill PIckle]

Thanks for the replys everyone! Dill is in a 8 x 10 stall at night only, I am feeding him the Purina Min Horse and Pony feed - 1 measuring cup 2x day and coastal hay. turned out during the day as my BO is certain a coyote or something will get him if he is out at night as he is the only mini at our farm, and the BO"s 1st to take care of. Dill has been gelded, no breeding for me, only rescuing more

. He is somewhat of a rescue himself, breeder in over head, baby not getting all the attention needed, etc. I will definately talk to my Ferrier when he comes again - do you think I need to get the ferrier out sooner? he will be back in 4 weeks.

I have some pictures that are 'ok', have only had him since just before thanksgiving. but I will post them anyway - he is still as cute as they come to me. His coat is looking better on this feed and he is setteling in nicely. Our barn dog Huney thinks he is 'hers'. quite funny to see.

Do you think the feed is ok? he seems to be doing well on it.

Thanks for all the warm welcomes, everyone here is so nice and helpful - glad I found this site!

 

[wingnut]

Good luck with your new boy : )

On a side note, can someone share a video of what a stifle issue like this looks like? It would really help us "new to horses" folks :

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I personally didn't have good luck on the mini feed but if he is doing well on it I wouldn't change it. Many people here have said they liked it some say they didn't. My only advice is get a food scale that you can find at Walmart and weigh his grain. For a 50 lb mini they recommend .60 of a lb a day and for one that weighs 100 lbs 1.1 lb of grain a day. You can take him to the vet and get him weighed there and see exactly how much he weighs. And giving free choice hay isn't a bad option either especially to these young horses.

Is there any way you can build a small run for him? Something thats like at least 10 x 25, bigger if possible with a shelter. That would be a lot better for him. If you feel like his toes are pretty long on him go ahead and get the farrier out.

 

[Dill PIckle]

Good idea on the food scale. The vet and I went by what the bag said to feed, I think (but will check tonight) it was equal to 1lb per day - I think I remember that correctly. I am worried about over feeding as I have heard and read where that is so easy to do in mini's. During the day, he has a good 3/4 acre pasture to roam in. That is for now anyway, We may be adding a pasture for him that would be bigger than that. The only problem with the 2nd pasture is he would be further away from the other horses, where as now he shares a fence with them. He could have 3 acres if I put him in with his 'brother' but I don't trust one of the horses in that pasture. Plus, based on another thread on here - there is quite a debate about putting him in w/bigger horses! I think I read 'It is all good until something goes wrong'. My goal is to have him out 24/7 like suggested, hopefully sooner than later.

I also wanted to get a hay slow feeder for this pasture -any suggestions?

JMS - what feed do you use?

will be checking with the ferrier this afternoon - thanks again!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

1 lb a day is probably good for him. I've switched to the GLO feeds by ADM. I'm currently feeding my grown horses (250 lbs) called PrimeGLO and they are getting .6 of a lb a day along with 6 lbs of orchard grass a day and are doing great. They also get a pro-vita-min tub that they love. They do have a bag called JuniorGLO and they suggest feeding .5 to 1% of body weight daily. What I like about the GLO feeds is you don't need to feed alot of grain and it allows them to have plenty of room for hay or pasture all day. While I was feeding the mini/pony feed I was doubling the grain and cutting the hay in half.

 

[HGFarm]

Here are some videos of stifle issues at different severities that I found on the internet. Utube has many of stifle problems or upper fixation patella problems, etc... where you can see how it affects different horses........