My little BamBam is home again :)

[OutlawStyle]

BamBam came back from a lease a "problem child" & needs a few lessons in respecting me again, but I really missed him.

I do have a few questions. He has had stifle lock since about 2 months after he was weaned & I purchased him (so Aug 2010)

I didn't keep him with the other minis so no way he could get kicked, but he hasn't out grown it either. Our vet thinks he will though. He seems like he doesn't lock up as much, but he spends most of his time running or trotting & he has never locked up then. He has amazing movement when he's not walking.

Anyway, before we moved I tried getting him to trot over poles to hopefully strengthen him up, but he's a brat so he leaps over them instead. Now that we moved, we have lots of hills. I heard that getting them to climb hills is also good for helping to strengthen their stifles? Would any joint supplements help him? He gets turned out daily, but I don't leave him out (too many stray dogs around).

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I hope someday he'll out grow it & be ok for driving and showing.

Pictures

and it's filthy hover mini...

He loves being clipped, but really wanted to eat the clippers.

 

[Lil Timber Buck]

Hahaha how cute! I hope my little backskin paint loves the clippers too! Your boy is adorable.

 

[OutlawStyle]

Thank you

All but one of mine seem to enjoy being clipped, it's like a good long neck rub to them.

BamBam has been doing so much better since he's been home. Still a brat, but more respectful. He's more like he was before he left.

 

[eagles ring farm]

He's a handsome little guy

 

[Forever Farm]

They don't "outgrow" stifle issues- if it's a problem now, it's going to remain a problem unless addressed. In activilty is the worst thing for them- keepign them stalled can aggrevate the issue, as can round penning and lunging. The best excersise is straight lines up and down hills (have a four wheeler or golf cart?) and lots of long trotting. Poles are a great idea, and he may be jumping them because the spacing is off.

I have not found any joint supplements to help the actual stifle issue- they help with the arthritis that comes with long term stifle trouble, but not the stifle itself. There are relatively inexpensive treatments for stifle issues that do help, though. There are some vets that might reccomend cutting, but I do not advise that if you want a drivign performance horse. They can blister or perforate the joint and he can go on to do whatever and be just fine!

 

[OutlawStyle]

BamBam is always active. The only reason he's ever in a stall is because there is a lot of stray dogs (mainly pits, nothing wrong with the breed.. I just don't want them around my minis). So when I'm not able to keep an eye on him, he's safe in his stall.

I heard going down hill is bad for the stifles? I only lead him up the hill. I have never lunged him, I don't do that with any young horse. Sometimes I take him for jogs down the road. I don't have a 4 wheeler or golf cart, that would definitely make it a lot easier. I have finally gotten him to trot over the poles a few times, but he still thinks it's fun to leap & play over them. He's your typical spoiled little boy that thinks everything is a game.

I haven't seen him stay locked up in a long time, sometimes it's hard to even notice now.

I'll just keep working on him with hills & trotting over poles. He does seem a lot better & as it is right now im not as worried.

I said stifle lock, but his leg doesn't seem to stay locked anymore, it just sticks now occasionally? It's pretty confusing to explain really so maybe I'll try to video it sometime.

 

[Forever Farm]

BamBam is always active. The only reason he's ever in a stall is because there is a lot of stray dogs (mainly pits, nothing wrong with the breed.. I just don't want them around my minis). So when I'm not able to keep an eye on him, he's safe in his stall.

I heard going down hill is bad for the stifles? I only lead him up the hill. I have never lunged him, I don't do that with any young horse. Sometimes I take him for jogs down the road. I don't have a 4 wheeler or golf cart, that would definitely make it a lot easier. I have finally gotten him to trot over the poles a few times, but he still thinks it's fun to leap & play over them. He's your typical spoiled little boy that thinks everything is a game.

I haven't seen him stay locked up in a long time, sometimes it's hard to even notice now.

I'll just keep working on him with hills & trotting over poles. He does seem a lot better & as it is right now im not as worried.

I said stifle lock, but his leg doesn't seem to stay locked anymore, it just sticks now occasionally? It's pretty confusing to explain really so maybe I'll try to video it sometime.

Going downhill won't hurt him unless you're doing extreme mountian climbing or something with him

but slight hills up and down in straight lines are great. By stalling I meant that there are some who are afraid that working the horse is worse for them and leave them up all the time with no turn out. Havign had my troubles with dogs, I can understadn keeping him safe. Jogging down the road is great, too. I had a 28 inch gelding that had both stifles affected and to keep him in shape, we jogged about 2 miles everyday. Got my butt in shape, too!

Thing of it is, you don't want it to stick at all, even if it is only occasionally now. You can't predict when and where it might happen and not addressing it now can lead to long term trouble as he gets older. The gelding I was telling you about came from a lady who did not bother to get him any kind of help. Funny thing was, she paid $10,000 for him, showed him a few times, and when she discovered his stifle isues were making him have trouble, she just tossed him out to pasture. Both of his were so severe that they would lock up and he'd be unable to move for long periods of time until they unlocked of their own accord. When I found him, both legs had locked and he was skin and bone from not being able to move much to graze. He had parked himself near the water- smart enough boy to do that, don't you think? and the area around him was a grazed down dirt pit. We hauled him straight away to the University vet clinic where they blistered both stifle joints by injecting them with betadine and causing the joints to "swell" into the bone groove and stay there. This horse was 8 yrs old when I got him, and in two years time of owning him, he started having bad trouble with arthritis where he had gone untreated for so long. It came down to us startign to make the desicion about how much should we make him deal with before we let him go, but sadly, he died of a brain anurysm at 12 yrs old.

I meant to say earlier too that your boy is certianly a handsome little dude!

 

[OutlawStyle]

Going downhill won't hurt him unless you're doing extreme mountian climbing or something with him

but slight hills up and down in straight lines are great. By stalling I meant that there are some who are afraid that working the horse is worse for them and leave them up all the time with no turn out. Havign had my troubles with dogs, I can understadn keeping him safe. Jogging down the road is great, too. I had a 28 inch gelding that had both stifles affected and to keep him in shape, we jogged about 2 miles everyday. Got my butt in shape, too!

Thing of it is, you don't want it to stick at all, even if it is only occasionally now. You can't predict when and where it might happen and not addressing it now can lead to long term trouble as he gets older. The gelding I was telling you about came from a lady who did not bother to get him any kind of help. Funny thing was, she paid $10,000 for him, showed him a few times, and when she discovered his stifle isues were making him have trouble, she just tossed him out to pasture. Both of his were so severe that they would lock up and he'd be unable to move for long periods of time until they unlocked of their own accord. When I found him, both legs had locked and he was skin and bone from not being able to move much to graze. He had parked himself near the water- smart enough boy to do that, don't you think? and the area around him was a grazed down dirt pit. We hauled him straight away to the University vet clinic where they blistered both stifle joints by injecting them with betadine and causing the joints to "swell" into the bone groove and stay there. This horse was 8 yrs old when I got him, and in two years time of owning him, he started having bad trouble with arthritis where he had gone untreated for so long. It came down to us startign to make the desicion about how much should we make him deal with before we let him go, but sadly, he died of a brain anurysm at 12 yrs old.

I meant to say earlier too that your boy is certianly a handsome little dude!

Our hills are pretty steep, I get a pretty good work out walking up them. lol

For a while he was terrible, couldnt move without dragging his leg. Every time I saw him lock up I had him back out of it. I tried studying, but so many people said different things. I wasn't sure what to do. The first vet said surgery & if that didn't work, put him down.

He has always been a high strung & full of life baby so I feel like that wasn't the best advice ever. It was extremely depressing for me, but I tried keeping him comfortable & exercised him on his better days. I have been seeing improvement slowly over the last year. Our vet that we trust saw him in November when I ran out of time & chose to lease him to the little girl. He said that it was common for minis to develop it while they are growing & BamBam would most likely grow out of it later on if we got him into shape. I admit, the injections scare me, and I don't want to cause him unnecessary pain, but I'll talk to the vet about that. Since he won't be my show stallion (possibly not a show gelding either), I think he could still make a really beautiful trick pet here & model for the mini native costumes & halters I plan to make.

I do know that I'm way too attached to him to throw him away because of this.

 

[Forever Farm]

I do think putting him down is rather extreme, and usually, once treated, tehy have no further issues. They are given a local to numb the area, and they feel no pain with the procedure- it's not like having a jumper's hocks injected repeatedly- it's a one time deal.

One thing to point out is that stifle issues can be hereditary, so if you leave him a stud and breed him, he has a real good chance of passing this on to his foals.

 

[OutlawStyle]

I do think putting him down is rather extreme, and usually, once treated, tehy have no further issues. They are given a local to numb the area, and they feel no pain with the procedure- it's not like having a jumper's hocks injected repeatedly- it's a one time deal.

One thing to point out is that stifle issues can be hereditary, so if you leave him a stud and breed him, he has a real good chance of passing this on to his foals.

I will not be breeding him. There is no point in it when there is plenty of beautiful stallions that aren't stifled.

Im in no hurry to geld him, he isnt able to get to the girls & they would be mean to him if I gelded him and pastured him with them. If I was to find him a new home, he would definitely have to be gelded. I do not want it passed on.