stifle problems

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Kathy2m

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Abby has had stifle issues since she was in foal with Shelby. I did not breed her, she was in foal when I bought her so needless to say no more babies for her. I have owned her almost 3 years.

She has only locked once. I have had the vet look at her he told me shes not bad enough to do anything about it. Vet recommended lots of exercise, hills, cavaletti work, etc. I was jumping her and that seemed to help, I try to keep her fit. She is now my driving horse and seems to do pretty well until we get into thick sand then her stifle starts to make that popping sound. Should I talk to the vet about surgery or just leave it until she starts locking on a regular basis. Kathy
 
Has she been xrayed? If nothing else, might be good to have her stifles xrayed to give your vet more information. If she's only locking occasionally I would probably not put her through surgery but it's certainly a viable option should she get worse.

Jan
 
Are you certain it's the stifle popping ?

Did the vet say the joint was loose ?

Tendons can make a popping sound in horses when they're taunt. It's caused by the two tendons crossing each other. (DDFT & SFT) Kinda of has a rubber band sound. This doesn't seem to hurt them and there's really not a lot to do about it. I'd keep her on a good joint supplement and just keep her exercising.
 
Are you certain it's the stifle popping ?

Did the vet say the joint was loose ?

Tendons can make a popping sound in horses when they're taunt. It's caused by the two tendons crossing each other. (DDFT & SFT) Kinda of has a rubber band sound. This doesn't seem to hurt them and there's really not a lot to do about it. I'd keep her on a good joint supplement and just keep her exercising.
Thanks for the input.....

Vet didnt say if it was loose, I noticed it the first time when she was heavy in foal, it popped constantly. After she foaling and weaning I wanted to show performance classes and had my vet look at her because of the popping, at that point she had not locked. She locked after giving her some time off. She only did it that 1 time and now I try to keep her worked 3 to 4 days a week even if we just go for a walk. It gets better with consistant work, but if I get her in deep sand or where she has to pull hard it starts popping. I just dont want to do anything to hurt her. She doesnt seem to be in pain when it pops.

I am having so much fun driving her and I just want to do right by her.

I have had her on Cortiflex for over a year now. Kathy
 
It sounds like you are on top of things and maintaining her wonderfully! (And kudos to you for not breeding her again...)

It doesn't sound to me like your mare is a neccessary candidate for surgery. You would KNOW if she was in pain or had bad locking... some horses lock so often or so badly that they can't unlock their leg and drag it around. A lot of times you will notice them wearing their toes off in back or lots of long drag marks in the dirt of their stalls.

If I were you, I would keep her back toes trimmed nice and short and continue to work her. Perhaps avoid deep sand if that aggravates her condition.

Sounds like you've got a good head on your shoulders to maintain this, but no, I personally would not consider surgery at this point.

Andrea
 
Andrea, Thanks for the response.

My farrier does keep her toes squared off in the back so she will breakover better. I live in Florida so sometimes there is no way to avoid the sand. I was pretty lucky in the HDT we did it was in mostly grass and a little mud, she charged on like a trooper.

I know they can do an internal blister on them but not sure how well they work, dont know anyone who has done one. Is there anything else I can do for her? Kathy
 

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