Just when you think all is well....

[Blackwater Farm]

My filly celebrated her first birthday on April 4th. It was a gorgeous day outside and all was well with the world. I have been preparing her for our next show that's coming up on the 16th, this would have been her third, and she was coming along so well in her training, her health was good and her summer coat was really coming in nicely. I had her in the barn and was doing our daily grooming routine. She was previously unhandled when I got her in mid February so I like to take a little time everyday and have her stand tied and groom her and go over the basics. I have had such great hopes for this filly in the local show ring this year and she has proved to be a contender winning blues in all her classes at her very first show. I gave her some birthday treats and untied her and we headed out to her dry lot so she could romp and play with her daddy (now a gelding) whom she adores! I take her halter off and watch her join her sire in a pile of hay. I like to just stand and watch them sometimes, they truely are beautiful creatures especially in their most natural state. I walked inside to get a drink and some lunch. About few hours or so go by, I was doing various barn chores and such when I happened to walk by their lot again and noticed something odd. I know my horses VERY well, something I pride myself in, and I know when one of them is even the slightest bit off. I watched her for a second and sure enough...there was something I had feared from the moment of her birth. That familiar tenseness in her right hind as she tried to walk off from a halt. Her leg went completely straight back, held stiff for a moment and snapped upwards and then forward as she tried to take a step. Stifle lock... Her mother had it in a very mild form. At the time I had no clue what it was (or that it was hereditary) as it happened very rarely. But I know now, upward fixation of the patella, that's her demon. At that moment as I watched her take several steps forward each one with that same locking jerking motion I saw all our show dreams come crashing down. I'm lucky enough to have a very close friend who is a vet. I took a video with my phone and sent it to her. She immediately called me knowing I would be crushed and let me know what we could do for her. She said there are two options, injections and surgery. We are going to start with the injections and see how that goes, hopefully she won't need any surgery. I know there could be much worse things in this world that could happen to her and Lord forbid she ever have to meet any of them. I just want her to be comfortable and not have to walk in any kind of pain or have to deal with this her whole life as she is just a baby. If you could please tell me, have any of you ever dealt with this before? What were the treatments and the outcomes? Should I continue with light exercise or will this make her painful? Will it last her whole life or is there hope? Yeah it would be nice to show her someday as she is smart and gorgeous and she deserves it but most of all I want her to be healthy. She doesnt exhibit symptoms everyday but it is most days. She stays turned out all day only being stalled at night to eat and we have alot of wild dogs around. If she trots around a while she seems better also, it's only from a standstill. I would have thought that it would be worse in the morning when I first take her out of her stall but it's usually more prevalent in the afternoon. Thank you all so much for any advice and you know I welcome it all with open ears and an open heart.

 

[Dee]

Ugh I'm sorry to hear your news. I can tell ur crushed over your baby. I don't know much about it, but I pray injections are enough to fix the problem and have her be happy. You have a long road ahead so try and think in the moment and stay positive! Think of you guys! Big hugs!

 

[AnnaC]

Firstly let me say I'm sorry this has happened to your filly, secondly please dont panic! This happens to a lot of minis for a great many reasons. Very basically the ligaments holding the kneecap in place have become stretched/loose thus allowing the kneecap to pop out of the 'groove' that it normally 'travels' in during leg movement. This can be due to conformtion but equally it can be due to many other reasons - slipping on ice/snow, or even on concrete, an awkward move when playing with others, a growth stint, an overweight body on young growing leg bones/muscles, hind feet needing a trim etc.

I certainly wouldn't be thinking about injections or surgery at this stage. The most important thing right now is to keep her 'moving'. Lots of time outside - when stabled have her in the largest space you can provide (so she has to walk round rather than swivel/turn on her hindend to move round her stall) Take her for in hand walks, keeping her walking in a straight line as much as possible, you could also put a pole on the ground for her to step over - keep her straight - be careful when you ask her to move over when you are grooming her, also make any turns when walking her as smooth and as wide as you can. In keeping her straight you are trying to strengthen the ligaments (and they will), turns and twists will just keep the ligaments stretched, so you may have to be careful when she is turned out with her companion for a while. Most important of all is to make sure her feet are kept trimmed, particularly her toes (and be careful your farrier doesn't pull her leg back to do the trim)

All this is just my opinion and I hope some of it will prove helpful. You will get a lot of advice on here, but I would certainly give her time and not resort to vet intervention, she is young yet and with care may well grow out of it as she strengthens up and you will both be happily off to the shows in the future.

Good luck!

Anna

 

[Farina]

I think Anna is right.

We have a mare (Haflinger x Appaloosa) and she had it really bad. At the age of 1,5 to 2,5 she could barely walk a step without fixation of her patella. I have spoken here in Germany to several vets and they suggested to turn her out for a long time and to keep her moving long distanes straight. While I rode another horse I led her with me on my trails.

Now she is 7 has done several endurance riding (up to 60 km) , dressage and jumping competition. After she turned 4 and was ridden regularly it never appears again.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Upward fixation is certainly a problem, but generally not a catastrophe. It can at times be a sign of a more problematic disease, but usually not the case in minis. Although one side is noticed first, the condition is usually bilateral.

Exercise/changes in housing/time can fix a fair number of these.

Injections are not an unreasonable thing to try, but I usually don't because if it fails then most of my clients want to have surgery performed and after injection surgery should be put off at least 30 days and some surgeons may want to wait 120 days. Why the hurry? Most of my surgical patients will show or race soon after surgery and not miss much/any performance time.

Surgery is done standing under sedation and local anesthesia. The incision is pretty 'keyhole' and scars are usually not noticed at all. Success rates are high and complication rates are low.

Dr Taylor

 

[Joanne]

We had a yearling colt have a locking patella years ago. he was in a stall at night and loose during the day. Our vet advised changing his management to outside free moving for 6-8 weeks.

You also want to make sure she has good farrier care and does not have long toes.

Our boy was fine in a month with no further problems. I think it can be a growth / exercise issue in minis. Also, on some too much weight and not enough exercise when they are young can put additional stress on the joints.

 

[happy appy]

We had a large horse with this and the vet suggested lots of hill work. We moved him to a pasture where we put his hay on the hill and water at the bottom. We have never looked back. He is 100% sound, never has an issue and no meds. He has to have that hill every day though.

 

[sedeh]

I don't know if I would rush into anything corrective(injections or surgery) at this point. She's only a yearling and may outgrow it. The exercise and keeping her moving is the important thing at this point. I wouldn't lunge her but mostly straight line work, light hill work if you have it and just letting her be in a large enough area she can play/run and keep moving! Good luck...don't be crushed she may come out of this just fine.

 

[valshingle]

I agree with some of the other posters. Don't panic! This may very well be a growth issue. I would turn her out as much as possible or keep her in a large area where she can move about all the time.

I had a big horse, Warmblood, that did this a age 3-4. We did a lot of hill work and he outgrew it. The vet explained the that the muscles/ligaments in the stifle area may not have been toned enough to keep the patella from slipping around a bit.

Good luck!

 

[txminipinto]

I agree also. Don't panic. Its very common and can sometimes be corrected w/o injections or surgery. A good farrier is a must and lots of exercise. Good luck!

 

[Blackwater Farm]

Well after hearing all this I do feel better! She is definatly not overweight and does get regular exercise in addition to her daily turnout. We have some really long dirt roads around our property and I may take her with me on my next drive so she can get some straight line exercise. She also gets regular farrier work but her feet were neglected before I got her. My main concern was that her mother had this condition so I was worried that it may be something she will not grow out of either! I wish I could leave her out 24/7 but we have numerous packs of wild dogs around that cause alot of trouble with livestock so I like them to be safe in their stalls at night. Her stall is a 10' X 10'. I wish we had hills around here to do work on but sadley we are very flat! Thanks again everyone for all the advice!

 

[Riverdance]

As the others have said, do not panic. Over the years I have had a couple of weanling/yearling colts that have done this. It can often happen to a young horse, but most outgrow the problem. My two did by the time they were 2. If you have it frequently when she is older, then you have a problem. But youngsters are growing too fast sometimes and their ligaments just do not keep up. As the others have said, should could have slipped, jumped the wrong way.... so many things could have happened. Just give her the paddock area where she has more room to roam and she should stop doing that when she gets a bit older.

Enjoy her, and go have fun at the shows.

 

[stormy]

There is a new treatment too, involves splitting the ligament, no incision...my vet just uses an 18 gauge needle. Has worked on two here, also had two rescues, one very bad...leg stuck out behind for so long the hoof was deformed...had the full surgery and both recovered fine and are driving with no issues today. Definately not the end of a dream, just a little bump!!

 

[Helicopter]

My first mini was given to me because she had bad stifle lock inherited from her mother. It just got worse so I had her operated on. No problem. You'd never know she'd had a problem and she is happy and free moving.

I now have a 2 yr old gelding who is locking up quite badly. Started when he about 1 yr. No family history that I know of. I'll give him a bit longer to see if he grows out of it but if he doesn't I will not hesitate to have the operation.

''They'' say that stifle lock is not painful but it sure hurts me to watch it.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Ahem, hang on a minute here. Since when has locking stifles been the end of a horse's show career??

Kody competed with it for four years in not only breed ring competitions but combined driving! And quite successfully, too. It's a horrible condition which I've come to thoroughly loathe but it's not the end of the world. The desmotomy surgery where they cut the offending ligament, should that become necessary, is a 100% cure and as Dr. Taylor said, only takes a few minutes and a small incision. I wish I had done it years earlier as Kody would have been healthier and happier for it.

That said, his case was chronic and very severe and he was fully adult and conditioned so there was next to no chance of it going away although I didn't know that at the time. I was extremely hesitant to do the procedure but in hindsight, it was the only solution. We tried the splitting procedure but it only made things worse for the three horses I know that had it. All had to go under the knife again for the desmotomy to cure the problem.

My colt, Turbo, has it as well but his case presented as a yearling and was very mild compared to Kody's. I'd only see it occasionally after I gave him 24/7 turnout and started working him over poles in-hand to strengthen his stifles. For the last six months or so I thought he'd grown out of it as I never saw a hint of it, but sadly he's stopped running and playing so hard after his gelding procedure and now I'm seeing it appear again.

Thankfully he's almost old enough to go into driving work so we'll soon take care of that with a lot of conditioning and miles.

Should I continue with light exercise or will this make her painful?

It will make her mildly uncomfortable to move but it will only get worse if she doesn't. Anna C gave you excellent advice and you can do searches here on the forum for "locking stifles" and you'll find many detailed posts. If you can pony her from her sire's cart while he goes on long trail drives that would be the best way to exercise her. Especially if you can find some hills to drive on! They'll both come out fitter.

I would start with exercise and see how she does before considering injections or other surgical options.

If her mother did it, chances are she will too but it's worth giving her a chance to grow out of it. Keep those hind toes squared off and rolled religiously!

Leia

Edited to add: I see you have no hills but you can make some by taking a page from the MotoCross book and having some fill dirt dumped on a flat area and arranged into tamped-down hillocks. These are actually quite fun to drive on with a good cart and you can lead her over them as well.