hobbyhorse23
Well-Known Member
I've got to tell you guys I am my wit's end with poor Kody.
We'd reached a point last year where I couldn't take the way he was locking up anymore so we spent $500 on x-rays then $800 to have the medial patellar ligament split on both legs in hopes that it would fix his locking. Everything I'd read in Equus magazine and my online researches said this surgery was nearly as effective as the desmotomy (having the tendon completely cut) with shorter recovery time and less pain. The surgeon warned me that especially with a problem as bad as his she only gave him about a 50% chance of improvement, not 90% like everyone else said, and that to see any improvement at all I'd have to be really diligent about his rehab and basically never let him get out of peak condition for the rest of his life if I wanted it to work. 
OH! I was discouraged by this but knew I could never forgive myself if I had the tendons cut and there was some problem and I hadn't tried the milder surgery first. So.....
Kody spent TWO MONTHS recovering from the splitting and seemed to get better exactly as soon as the vet had said he would, no sooner and no later. This leads me to trust this vet's opinions as to recovery times. The problem is that after a brief improvement Kody reverted to locking and now is WORSE than he's ever been.
At least before he only locked at the walk and as soon as he'd taken those first couple of steps I knew he wouldn't lock until he stood still again. Now he locks randomly on and off while he's walking and on a bad day he now locks at the TROT. It looks like someone with martinet strings is controlling his hindquarters and wobbling the strings randomly. One trot stride will be short, the next he'll kick his own belly, then it will buckle under him, then it'll be short again. I'm so incredibly frustrated I've literally gone to bed in tears three nights this week. I can't watch him do this anymore!!
There isn't an icon on the menu to express how heartbroken I am at this point. It would be different if this was just a pet, just a regular average mini that would happily retire to the pasture while I showed another horse. I'd get them cut without a second thought and have done with it.
But this is Kody we're talking about. When he isn't locking his trot is getting more scopey, more powerful and more engaged every day. His dressage is coming along so well and he's just blowing me away in the hazards. He could be really good by the end of this year...I mean really good!
During his recovery period this winter he learned all sorts of tricks which he now loves to show off and he's finally leading around a jumper course with manners like a normal horse. Lisa Pichler was teaching at a clinic we attended last weekend and she was very impressed with "the little brown horse" and complimentary of his enthusiasm and love for jumping. This is a National Champion hunter/jumper trainer!
We've spent all winter training for obstacle in hand and he's finally understanding, finally got it down. He could be so gosh darn good if he only gets a chance. But right now he can't take a single sideways or backwards step without dragging a hind leg. One little girl at the clinic came up to me and asked me "Why are your horse's hind legs so sad? They don't move right." I had to bite my cheek hard to keep the tears from rolling down my face on the spot. I'm crying now and I can't stop. Why Kody? Why this poor little horse who tries so hard and has so much talent hidden in his handicapped little body?? Those of you who've met him know how special he is. His personality just radiates and involves everyone around him. He's nippy, pushy, has an attitude...and he's the best gosh darn horse I've ever met. He's got a heart as big as Seattle and when poop hits the fan he's the one I can count on to stay calm and do his best to get us out of it. And right now he can't even move without considering whether or not it's worth it.
He'll still be fine for the classes we've been entering all along (CDE's, jumper, driving) as they all involve going forward without pause for the judged sections but I'm terrified that I'll be dismissed from the entire show when the judges see him in that first halter obstacle class. At the same time we've worked so hard on it that I really want to enter! He can DO the things required and is willing to, he just drags a leg sometimes and I never know which day it will be. Some days he's fine.
We've done everything else. He's almost eight years old, had his selenium checked, had the splitting surgery, I work him regularly over raised trot cavalettis and on my neighbor's inclined treadmill, I've had the chiropractor work on him again this year and she says he's got very strong muscle tone through the back now. We even taught him to rear on her recommendation to strengthen his hind end! He can walk forward on his hind legs for as long as he wants to so it isn't like he's weak back there except conformationally.
We keep his hind toes squared off and we've even got a board in his doorway so he has to step over a "caveletti" every time he wanders in or out of his stall. Iodine and hormone shots have almost zero chance of working if the splitting surgery didn't. The only thing left is having them cut.
But my problem is that the surgeon is telling me Kody will be out for months and months if I do that. She wants him basically immobilized in a stall for a very long time so he doesn't cause joint damage until things have healed and stabilized in that stifle after having 1/3 of its support cut. Then it will be a long road back to work and he might still have permanent lameness issues in both hind legs due to the surgery. Frankly I'm terrified. There's no question according to her that we'd lose the entire season if I did it now and I could possibly make my horse unsound for the rest of his young life, losing the things that he can do at this point and enjoys so much. This is not the kind of horse that would be happy retired to a pasture!
He'll never make a therapy horse or any of those other useful occupations a lame mini can be put to safely. The only place he's truly happy is between the shafts and moving out. And yet I feel like I have no choice but to risk it now.
I guess my question to the forum is this: For those of you who have had your horses' locking stifles cut, how long did it take for them to be pain-free and back to working again? I've heard times as short as a week but I can't imagine that after having a tendon severed any horse would be completely normal so quickly. I mean come on, people with tendon injuries are out for months!
I can see how a horse who was locked and couldn't unlock themselves would be moving better in a short period of time, but I'm talking one who locks a little with every step and is otherwise normal. How long before they feel well enough to run, to jump, to trot out with power? Please be honest with me and tell me about those experiences where maybe the horse didn't heal so fast or was a little "off" in that leg for the rest of their life. I need to know what I'm getting into.
These horses can't sleep standing up anymore, can they? Can they still rest a hind leg while awake? Can they jump safely? Do you see them rearing and playing with other horses? What am I getting my horse into?!
Please help me. I can't take this anymore.
Leia
Edited to add: Oh yes, and he's on Equinyl Combo with Hyaluronic Acid so just about every arthritis medication known to man in one bottle. Chondrotin sulfates, glucosamine, time-release glucosamine, manganese, zinc, copper, MSM, everything.
Edited one more time to add that if you would rather comment privately you can email me at Spyderwind @ aol.com (without the spaces) since my PM box is full.
OH! I was discouraged by this but knew I could never forgive myself if I had the tendons cut and there was some problem and I hadn't tried the milder surgery first. So.....Kody spent TWO MONTHS recovering from the splitting and seemed to get better exactly as soon as the vet had said he would, no sooner and no later. This leads me to trust this vet's opinions as to recovery times. The problem is that after a brief improvement Kody reverted to locking and now is WORSE than he's ever been.
But this is Kody we're talking about. When he isn't locking his trot is getting more scopey, more powerful and more engaged every day. His dressage is coming along so well and he's just blowing me away in the hazards. He could be really good by the end of this year...I mean really good!
He'll still be fine for the classes we've been entering all along (CDE's, jumper, driving) as they all involve going forward without pause for the judged sections but I'm terrified that I'll be dismissed from the entire show when the judges see him in that first halter obstacle class. At the same time we've worked so hard on it that I really want to enter! He can DO the things required and is willing to, he just drags a leg sometimes and I never know which day it will be. Some days he's fine.
We've done everything else. He's almost eight years old, had his selenium checked, had the splitting surgery, I work him regularly over raised trot cavalettis and on my neighbor's inclined treadmill, I've had the chiropractor work on him again this year and she says he's got very strong muscle tone through the back now. We even taught him to rear on her recommendation to strengthen his hind end! He can walk forward on his hind legs for as long as he wants to so it isn't like he's weak back there except conformationally.
But my problem is that the surgeon is telling me Kody will be out for months and months if I do that. She wants him basically immobilized in a stall for a very long time so he doesn't cause joint damage until things have healed and stabilized in that stifle after having 1/3 of its support cut. Then it will be a long road back to work and he might still have permanent lameness issues in both hind legs due to the surgery. Frankly I'm terrified. There's no question according to her that we'd lose the entire season if I did it now and I could possibly make my horse unsound for the rest of his young life, losing the things that he can do at this point and enjoys so much. This is not the kind of horse that would be happy retired to a pasture!
I guess my question to the forum is this: For those of you who have had your horses' locking stifles cut, how long did it take for them to be pain-free and back to working again? I've heard times as short as a week but I can't imagine that after having a tendon severed any horse would be completely normal so quickly. I mean come on, people with tendon injuries are out for months!
I can see how a horse who was locked and couldn't unlock themselves would be moving better in a short period of time, but I'm talking one who locks a little with every step and is otherwise normal. How long before they feel well enough to run, to jump, to trot out with power? Please be honest with me and tell me about those experiences where maybe the horse didn't heal so fast or was a little "off" in that leg for the rest of their life. I need to know what I'm getting into.
These horses can't sleep standing up anymore, can they? Can they still rest a hind leg while awake? Can they jump safely? Do you see them rearing and playing with other horses? What am I getting my horse into?!
Please help me. I can't take this anymore.
Leia
Edited to add: Oh yes, and he's on Equinyl Combo with Hyaluronic Acid so just about every arthritis medication known to man in one bottle. Chondrotin sulfates, glucosamine, time-release glucosamine, manganese, zinc, copper, MSM, everything.
Edited one more time to add that if you would rather comment privately you can email me at Spyderwind @ aol.com (without the spaces) since my PM box is full.
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