Very Discouraged-Locking stifle

[Marsha Cassada]

My new shetland mare, which I got in March, started dragging a hind foot last week. Two days ago, when I lifted her hind foot, it sort of kicked out in reflex. It has been giving her trouble since. I watched YouTube videos this morning, showing locking stifles, and sure enough, that is what she appears to have.

I tried to take some trouble to find a good horse after I lost Dusty in December. I took my farrier with me to look at prospects. Tipsey was furry and rather thin in March. I thought her loin looked a little shallow, but the farrier said no horse was perfect and one had to decide what to compromise on.

So, now I have a problem.

I'm trying a new farrier tomorrow; I will see if he has any insights. Will call the vet on Monday. Maybe get the chiropractor over.

I'm starting to feel the black cloud again.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Aw, man!! Been there, Turbo's been fine most of the year so I thought he'd pretty much outgrown it at four years old but the last few weeks he's been HORRIBLE. Locking stifles suck!

The chiro is a wonderful thing but probably won't help with the locking. The farrier can give her some relief by squaring her toes and easing her breakover so you may find she doesn't do it for a few weeks after she gets trimmed but it will probably come back if she's started doing it. How old is she now?

Still, take a deep breath. Just because she's got a problem doesn't mean she's not a good horse.

At the worst she has to have a small procedure and then is fine. You may simply need to trim her toes and work her over some cavaletti and it will disappear- some horses only lock when all the conditions are wrong and are fine most of the time. Honest! I wish I'd had Kody's surgery done many years earlier and if Turbo keeps this up he's going to get it too as I won't let one suffer with this now that I know how easy the fix is.

Leia

 

[Kelsey - Vandy's Farm]

Give her some banamine and turn her out. A lot of times they can work it out on there own. If not, they can have surgery to correct it.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Just got home from the farrier and I feel much better. I did do the physical therapy excercise I saw on YouTube with Rusty. At first Tipsey's leg jerked and popped, but after the 3rd time, it went up smoothly, and the rest of the day she was fine. The farrier (a new one I've never used before) said her hind toe was too short and the hind was 3/16 lower than the front.

So, I am going to try the therapy thing, and we shall see about the hoof trim. But I feel much more positive now than I did yesterday. He saw no reason why she couldn't continue training. We will continue working to build up hind muscle. I will probably go ahead and call the vet tomorrow and follow up with that, but I feel much more relaxed about the whole thing.

Leia, she is 4 years old.

So sorry to hear about Turbo. Someone suggested a weather change might trigger it. I'm going to mark down the date of her episode and see if there is a pattern.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[MiLo Minis]

THE best horse I have ever had the pleasure to own or drive, pictured in my avatar, suffered from a locking stifle. It didn't hinder him at all from being the very best! He lived outside for the most part and IF he had to be stalled it was in a large box stall. I kept his toes trimmed with a really good roll and kept him well exercised. He did eventually develop arthritis in his hocks and I don't know if that was a result of the stifle issue or not but I drove him until he was 31 years old and he won consistantly! Lots of exercise on hills and cavelletti. Get yourself a rasp and ask your farrier to show you how to roll her toes so you can keep her comfortable. Good luck!!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Lots of positive knowledge here! I'm feeling the black cloud dissipating rapidly!

I took her out this morning ground driving. First I did the little lifting excercise. The bad side did fine, the other side popped the first excercise, then not again. We ground drove 2 miles and I tried to find inclines. Hooked her to the sulky when I got home and we did a very short drive with some circles. (I'm home alone and don't feel comfortable yet working her in a vehicle without someone around. Took a chance this morning and she did fine.)

I noticed she did not drag a toe today. She has a good flight pattern, the hind well under the front and both sides tracking perfectly. Not sure how that fits into the overall locking problem...

 

[MiLo Minis]

Willie tracked up quite nicely and in fact over tracked in extension. The stronger you can ake her hind end the better she will be. Something you should know is that when she is locked you need to back her a step to unlock rather than asking her to move forward which can easily cause her to fall down.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I've been picking brains of all the horse folk I run across about the locking stifle. Called the OSU veterinary hospital yesterday, as someone suggested working on hard surface might exascerbate it. No clear answer on that, but I also asked about the surgery. He said they always recommend excercise first, as the surgery has mixed results.

She seemed fine for a few days. We did ground driving yesterday then about 10 minutes in the light sulky. Today she is locked again--the other leg. We did have about 1/8 mile on pavement, then a gravel road for the ground driving. The sulky work was on the grass area.

I did the excercise, some backing, massage, and it seemed better this morning. Everyone says it is not painful, but I'm not so sure. Her leg muscles were spasming. I think it must really scare her.

Everyone is telling me the same thing--she needs to keep moving and to keep going with the harness work. She is in a pasture, not stalled, and moves a lot. I sure hope this gets better.

 

[Minimor]

I've been told that a locked stifle can be VERY painful....and especially if the horse locks up in both at once. Apparently that can happen.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I have fed yuccas for stifle issues on a riding horse I had and that worked well. I also knowhorses that have had the surgery and done well and recovered and had no problems after. Best wishes.

I have fed yuccas for stifle issues on a riding horse I had and that worked well. I also knowhorses that have had the surgery and done well and recovered and had no problems after. Best wishes.

 

[Foster Woods Miniatures]

Been there... TWICE! :/ In one of mine, it was in both legs! One morning I went to go walk him and both of his stifles locked... at the same time! Surgery was necessary both times.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Please tell me about stifle surgery options for locking stifle, so I can sort of know what questions to ask the vet, and what to expect. This is all new to me.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

The vet finally returned my call last night. I think he didnt' call sooner as he was trying to find some answers. I told him at this point I just wanted him to come and make sure that locking stifle is actually her problem. I've only seen videos to make me believe that is what it is; no one has officialy diagnosed it.

Both legs are doing it. I backed her quite a bit yesterday and couldn't seem to loosen one. She could walk forward fine, no dragging foot. I ground drove her then hitched her to the light sulky. MY husband had mowed me a winding path in the pasture at my request; it has some nice grades, soft footing, and I think the unevenness of the terrain is a plus. I drove her twice around the paths, probably 1 1/2 miles. She pushed off well with both hind feet on the inclines and appeared to have no trouble at all working. Everyone keeps telling me that she needs to work and build up muscle so that is what I'll try to do. I don't put her up in the corral at night but leave her to move freely around the pasture.

Over the cavalettis she does nick a foot. I don't think I have them spaced just right yet. I wish I had someone to lead her over so I could watch. Maybe my left brained husband can do the watching and figure out the math for me...

I watched her carefully when the legs were locked and I do not think she was in pain. I think it has scared her, and she gets anxious when/if it's going to happen. As a prey animal, it's easy to see why it would fill her with fear and anxiety.

Last night she galloped and trotted freely all around and was a snorty happy girl. I still have the black cloud over me occasionally, but hopefully we can work through it.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Contacted the chiropractor and this is her reply:

"Unfortunately stifles are not a fun issue to deal with. I have had to learn through experience with 2 different horses, both of which are still competitive now. It is a manageable condition, but will most likely require veterinary intervention. Some vets do an internal blister on the stifle, while others inject. The futurity colt of my mom's last year had severe locking stifles. We blistered, then tried injecting, then tried the 10 day IM injections of estrogen (which help some horses with this). None of it worked. He had to have surgery (medial patellar ligament splitting). He is doing good now and my mom competes on him some. I don't think he could hold up to going every weekend though, like I do.

When the stifles lock, the altered gait can create subluxations in the back and pelvis, which will benefit from adjustments. And I do know how to adjust a "locked stifle". But the ligament issue has to be addressed. The adjustment of the stifle won't eliminate the locking, just corrects it temporarily."

I know you guys are tired of hearing about my problem, but it is a new issue for me and I'm trying to learn everything I can.

 

[Minimor]

Personally I would not go with the blistering, nor would I go with the tendon splitting (if that is the correct term)--I've known too many people that tried ine or both with no success--they ended up doing the full surgery anyway. So, I would save time and money and just have the actual tendon cutting surgery done--it has worked well for those I know that have done it--that is, if you make the decision to have some surgical treatment done.

 

[DJF Miniature Show Horses]

I agree that the cutting surgery is the best option. We done injection blistering. Did not work. Slicing surgery next. One stifle got better and the other locked immediatly after surgery and continued to do so. Over the next few months he would seem okay then he started locking again....Its a crap shoot.

My colt died from kidney failure so I have no further followup. Much good luck and prayers for your mare. Im sooo sorry you are dealing with this...

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Aw, man!! Been there, Turbo's been fine most of the year so I thought he'd pretty much outgrown it at four years old but the last few weeks he's been HORRIBLE. Locking stifles suck!

The chiro is a wonderful thing but probably won't help with the locking. The farrier can give her some relief by squaring her toes and easing her breakover so you may find she doesn't do it for a few weeks after she gets trimmed but it will probably come back if she's started doing it. How old is she now?

Still, take a deep breath. Just because she's got a problem doesn't mean she's not a good horse.

At the worst she has to have a small procedure and then is fine. You may simply need to trim her toes and work her over some cavaletti and it will disappear- some horses only lock when all the conditions are wrong and are fine most of the time. Honest! I wish I'd had Kody's surgery done many years earlier and if Turbo keeps this up he's going to get it too as I won't let one suffer with this now that I know how easy the fix is.

Leia

How is Turbo progressing? I was shocked to read your post. You were so hopeful that with constructive excercise he would be fine.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

It's been a bad week for him. He was locking terribly, I had the farrier at our new place come out to trim him to correct the overgrowth in his toe that was making it worse and he misunderstood and took him down at the exact same angle so now I can't do anything about it until he grows out for a couple of weeks. Poor Turbo! Now he's locking AND sore from being trimmed too short.

Leia

 

[MiLo Minis]

"It's been a bad week for him. He was locking terribly, I had the farrier at our new place come out to trim him to correct the overgrowth in his toe that was making it worse and he misunderstood and took him down at the exact same angle so now I can't do anything about it."

Leia you do want him on the same angle!!! At least if it is his correct angle that's the one you want. Squaring the toe or giving him a really good roll over on his toe won't change the angle - at least it shouldn't! What I do is trim the foot

normally then I take my nippers and chunk just the toe off straight across then take my rasp and smooth the toes so they are rounded over really well - it's called a mustang roll and it allows the foot to breakover much more easily which seems to relieve the stifles.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

It's been a bad week for him. He was locking terribly, I had the farrier at our new place come out to trim him to correct the overgrowth in his toe that was making it worse and he misunderstood and took him down at the exact same angle so now I can't do anything about it until he grows out for a couple of weeks. Poor Turbo! Now he's locking AND sore from being trimmed too short.

Leia

That is terrible. Someone told me that cooler weather triggered the locking sometimes.

I have even worse news. I've been working with mine in the light sulky, hoping to strengthen her hind. Just walking on soft ground and low grades. Ground driving and some cavaletti work. She has been progressing well. Saturday she blew up. I was able to get out of the vehicle in time and tried to calm her, but she went crazy. Finally got her calmed down and the harness was intact enough for me to lead her back to the barn. I unhooked and ground drove her for a mile. Luckily she is not a kicker, or she would have torn up the vehicle, but she gave a great imitation of a champion bucking bronc! This tells me she is NOT a driving horse. So, I am not going to pursue it any further.

My next course of action is finding a pet, non-breeding home for her, where she can just be a pretty ornament. And sending my harness to be repaired.