Angel

[kaykay]

kinda hard to explain in type but ill try. stand the horse straight with someone holding the lead. (you do not want the horse to move forward) go to the hip and put horizontal pressure on it. kinda like pushing the horses hips over to the other side. my vet did this a couple times on each hip. when they have locking stifles you can see the instability when you put pressure on the hip. then when you lead the horse forward youll see the stifles lock up. A horse without locking stifle will be very steady even when you push the hips. Hes an older vet and when he showed me this i was just amazed. the mare had intermittent locking stifle but sure enough when he did this she locked up on one leg. He said its due to the instability of the joint so when you put pressure like this if they do have locking stifle this will make it appear

I will say also that when you see this in horses under a year with no sire or dam carrying the trait its usually just a growth spurt. but on an older mare like this and especially having it in both back legs my bet is its genetic

one more thing. the mare i had did not lock up like you usually see. what she did was drag one hoof. it was so subtle that it was very hard to pick up on. I called the vet out as i was afraid she was coming down with west nile or something.

hope that made sense

 

[Margaret]

Thanks Kay Kay, Your explaination makes sence to me... it gives people something to test for, and check when making not so sure decisions, since their are so many deceptions out there.... I regularly trim a stifle lock gelding, and have noticed that when ever I pick up his hind leg to trim, the leg locks up--But his is a severe case. Leeana, I hope the best for you, with what ever you decide to do, as this must be hard for you.. just remember there is a silver lining in every cloud.

 

[RAPfrosty]

Fever gets this occassionaly. It will lock for a second or two and then he pops it back himself. The vet said it is common in growing horses but if it continues when he gets a little older that surgary is what he recommends. Since your horse is older I'd say it is a perminent thing and you should fallow any of your vet's advice! I know it looks and seems scary but don't stall her up and worry about it too much!

 

[Leeana]

Her back leg is still locked up very badly, i agian walked up backwards (attempted ..she just couldnt do it) and did some more walking up and down this little hill in our backyard, still nothing. Im praying that it comes out soon ...i might just have to leave this one up to her and let her work it out. Last night she worked it out by herself within half an hour that noticed it ..but its been 5 hours now. I tried to stretch it out, but still no luck.

Kay ...im going to try that from now on, this is really heart breaking to watch her hobble and trip.

Leeana

 

[Margaret]

Leeana, This little gelding that I was talking about, is owned by a friend of mine and when he gets locked up bad, she just claps her hands behind him and it pops back in place when he trots. Now if her hooves need trimmed this could have alot to do with her inability to pull out of a lock. So a knowledgeable farrier could be of help, if she needs a trim. You can share photos of her hooves, if you are not sure.

 

[SunQuest]

I agree with Margret on the hoof trimming adding to the issue. On horses that lock, have your farrier trim the hoofs as if the horse forges (overstrides). What this does is round the hind toes so that it shortens the horse's stride. This helps to keep the leg from locking as the leg doesn't get extended as far.

In minis, this is common and it can also be brought on by weight issues including the weight of the mare carrying the foal as the foals are so large in comparison to the mare. So what happens is that the stiffles can be affected as they have to compensate for the foal.

With that said, I agree with KayKay about not breeding the mare again as this is normally a conformational fault and can be hereditary. Yes the surgery will work, but what happens is that they cut (snip) the tendon that locks the patella which makes it so the horse can no longer lock that leg.

Excersize is a better alternative, when it works, and helps to strengthen the muscles in the area to keep the tendon from causing the patella to lock. But the exersize needs to be done daily as you have to keep the horse's hind legs physically fit to compensate for the poor structure in the stifle area. It is not a cure all, and it becomes part of the life long routine of care for that horse.

My vets have informed me that no matter what is done, a mini with upward fixation of the patella is likely to develope arthritus even if the surgery isn't done. If the surgery is done, then the leg will quit locking, but you run the risk of arthritus. If it isn't done and the problem is one that happens all of the time, then the joint will get premature wear and can get worse and arthritus is likely to be the least of the problems. It is all a matter of how bad and how often this occures as to whether the surgery is required.

I have also noticed that it happens a lot in quick growing young miniatures, but with them it seems to be only one leg and it happens in the winter much more than the summer due to the lack of play (exercise) that occures at that time of year.

In any event, a horse that locks due to conformational reasons should not be used for breeding purposes.

 

[Leeana]

I think what caused it was Friday she was in her stall all day, exept when i took her for a walk before we left. Then she was out for about 15 minuts while i cleaned her stall that night. Then saturday we had rain pooring down and to much mud to walk through, so she was in her stall saturday as well exept when i took her into the garage to brush her. Normally she is outside from 9am-4:30pm. I'm going to take a guess that it was from being in her stall so much over them two days and not being use to it.

We moved all her water, feed dish's and lick-it out to the middle of the barn isle. She will be there untill its time to foal and then will be back in her stall so we can get straw down and all that. Her regular stall is 8ft'9ft but the isle way is much wider and longer.

About 7 weeks ago her hoof's were trimmed. She is 4-5 weeks away from her next trim.

When i cleaned her hooves out i always thought something was funny when i was holding her hoof. If she would try to yank it out of my hand, it just felt like something wasnt right.

Margaret, i will try that when i go back out here in a bit.

Kay, i forgot to ask ...could i try that on my others. They've never locked up ..but will that test show if there going to have a problem with it even if they never have?

Leeana

 

[wade3504]

Going for 11 or 12 weeks without a trim might be her problem. I have a mare whose stifles start to pop if she goes over 7 weeks without getting trimmed.

Amanda

 

[Range]

If she has been locked for a long time and is walking around, be sure you watch the front of that ankle and foot for injuries. If she is dragging the foot, she can be scraping the skin away. You may want to try to protect it in some way.

 

[Leeana]

We do our hoofes every 10-12weeks depending on within that time when the farrier can get out.

We have these hoof protector things that go over the hoof, i used them on coco when we were driving. I also have these red shipping things that go on there leg. I will go put those on both her back legs right now.

Im sorry guys, i know im blowing a stifle locking up way out of proporsion ..i'm just not use to this and it worries me and really dont want to take any chances!

Oh yes, my dad wanted me to ask. She cant be drove right? I was thinking of ways to get her exersizing and i was going to get her driving this summer. Can you drive a horse that has a stifle problem, i figured that if i was to work her up to it that it would be a good way to strengthen the joins and her muscles .....but i dont want to make plans for anything if it will hurt her.

I just dont know much about stifle's yet ..this is all new.

Leeana

 

[normajeanbaker]

We had a Mini gelding who had an issue with his stifles locking. Our vet said to drive him, drive him, and drive him some more! Nothing is better for getting those Stifle muscles stronger then driving. After he was broke to drive and was on a regular work schedule, his stifle has really yet to lock up again. He's out on lease now being just a pet and lawn mower, but nothing will build up the stifle muscles better then getting her up and driving. I also had an older Saddlebred who's years of being a top Gaited horse took it's toll on his hind end. I drove him much more then I rode him and it helped his hind end a huge amount. Driving does wonders for building up hind end muscles without causing much stress.

Jen

 

[Leeana]

Still locked up ..its now been 25hours.

Tried it all agian this morning, walked her on the 'poop hill', walked her for about 20 minutes and then walked her backwards ..nothing helped her. I did turn her look though and walked up behind her and clapped my hands ..she took off running regularly. Then after that ..they seemed to unlock. I watched her another minute and she was walking normal. Then i went to get a bucket of water ..came back and BOTH were locked up

. Walked her some more. Tried the clapping thing but she just looked at me.

She has protection on both her back legs right now and hoof.

25 Hours seems like a long time though ...

Leeana

 

[Margaret]

It sounds as if her hooves could use a trim to shorten her stride a bit. Also with the exersize- it does need to be done regularly (Daily trots). My friend uses a round pen- but anything will work as long as you can keep after them. Different tactics work with different horses to get them to move. Some folks use clapping, others wave their hands. Something will motivate her.. Once they get the idea you want them to trot, they usually waste little time doing it.. once her hooves are correctly trimmed, daily exersize will minimize the tendency to lock up,- as a general rule. The longer she is locked up, the more she will tend to stay locked up, so it is important to get her corrected asap. This also might be a good time to consider investing in a good joint suppliment to aid with her movement.

 

[Leeana]

Im going to try to find a good joint suppliment and get her going on that.

Oh yes, and i talked with my vet a little while ago and he to go ahead and get her hoofes trimmed now so i called and left my farrier a message. He normally makes it out within the week.

She FINIALLY unlocked. I was walking her on our driveway and she stopped hobbling. We did 4 laps around the house walking and trotted her back and forth some through my front yard for about 5 or 10 minutes. She is hasnt locked up any since 11:30 this morning and was running around in the pasture. Were going to start doing 5 -8 laps around the house walking, then trot for about 10 minutes. The ground is damp and a bit mushy so i think thats helping a bit. She trots on command. This summer we will probaly just do some lunging but its to muddy to get anything like that done right now.

What a releif ...

Leeana

 

[Margaret]

Yeah!

 

[Happy]

l started out once with a couple of auction horses and learned why they are auction horses. most people up here who can't sell non breeding pets off the farm for whatever reason dump them for others who are looking for cheap stock. the 2 l had both had stifle problems to my horror. l had them vet checked gave gluecosimine sorry don't know how to spell that for 5 months but didn't help them any the next step as they were mature was to try either the shots or have them cut. l opted to resell them to a knowing pet home to a older couple looking for a few lawn mowers willing to accept the problem they had. at the time my vet said they were to old to have just started locking up and it was most likely something they were born with and did on a regular basis. but l was not aware they could lock a leg for as long as 25 hours straight for that l would think there was another something underlying that should be checked. l would suspect it is very hard to stand on 3 legs with one out or behind for that period of time and be well adjusted and happy. most only last from a few drags to within an hour with movement at the most and pop back till next time. if people keep breeding and buying faulty horses the world will be over run with more rescues then there are homes for. JMHO on this no flames wanted but l really hate to see someone green get a bunch of advice and start giving things that might not help and the poor old girl bypasses a vet check to make certain this is what the problem in realality is.

 

[Leeana]

Happy,

I get what your saying ...but these people have allot of horse experince and i trust every word they say.

I did call the vet but there isnt anything he can untill after she foals.

3 of my best horses came from an auction, i dont beleive people 'dump' these horses at auctions ..to them its a fast way to get rid of a horse. Some people cannot afford $5,000 mini's with 10 national champion titles and keeping a mini out of the wrong hands of somebody and giving it a good loving home means more to some people then a show record.

Angle is also registered and was well taken care of ..where we bought her was a very nice auction.

I just dont think all horses from auctions are bad at all ...

Im not flaming ...but these people on this forum are very helpful and most there advice works.

Leeana

 

[Jess P]

Leanna. I have gotten three big horses from an auction in the past. One was a very nice appendix-QH gelding that was brought up from Florida. He was a great jumper and such a sweetheart. We also got a 3 year old Thoroughbred and a 3 year old Registered QH from the same auction. They were all geldings.

I don't think all auctions are bad, but I would definently not buy breeding stock from an auction because you cannot get a vet check there that day. You also don't know what they are bred to, you don't know what they are exposed to at the auction, you do not know their past.

I seriously hope you learn from this.

 

[Leeana]

I do have to admit though ...

I have lost some faith in buying from an auction because my views have changed a bit. When i bought from an auction i would normally walk the horse and play with it for a long time. I hate to see people just walk by and write down a number. If you cannot even remember what a horse looks like when it comes through .....you shouldnt buy it.

But my faith in auctions is pretty much gone after this ...90% of the rest of my horses will be from the internet or farms. I've currently got $1,200 in my 'special horse account' and when im going to try to save up to about 4-5thouthand in order to purchase a very nice show mini someday ..its going to be a LONG time though im guessing.

I love buying from them because its just a great way to adopt a family pet ...but my interests are changing a bit.

Leeana

 

[Jess P]

You don't necessarily need 4-5 thousand dollars for a nice show horse. I bought both Diego and Jubilee for under 2 thousand each and they both are of good quality.