Are stifle injuries ever minor/easily healed?

[alterblue]

Feeling so discouraged

2 days after a great ride my mare came up lame. Farrier, BM and I all think it is her right stifle. Vet can’t get out right away but for now they put her on stall rest and bute. There is not a single mark, bump, or swelling on her anywhere.

Has anyone had a horse with a minor stifle injury that wasn’t serious? All the horses I’ve known with stifle issues were chronic and difficult to diagnose/heal. I keep telling myself maybe she will be the exception. Any advice/words of encouragement are appreciated!

[Mallard]

My guy slipped on the ice back in January and strained his left stifle.
Vet examined and there was quite a bit of inflamation/heat.
We DMSO’d it for a week, and there was some improvement, but he was still NQR. The vet then blistered the ligaments and we saw a huge improvement over the next week.
He then had some hock issues…these are not new …which required rest, so pony became a bit unfit over the next month.
When bringing him back into work this spring, I found that stifle stuck/slipped quite a bit, especially at the walk. Vet said he just needed to get fitter.
Now, he is pretty much back to where he was work/fitness wise, but still has the very occasional ‘sticking/slipping’ of that hind leg, … it happens only when we’re walking, especially if we’re in deeper footing.

So…yes…I do believe that stifles are slower healing.

[MoonWitch]

I feel your pain…

My 22yo (who looks & acks 12) love of my life came up 3legged lame in April. Ultrasound showed a slight tear in the lateral patellar and was put on bute, Surpass & stall rest. After six weeks - still a 4/5 - better but not what it should be for that amount of rest. X-rays showed a calcified bone chip which is the real culprit. We had the stifle injected with HA & steroids and he’s now on Legend.

While I just want him comfortable, it is breaking my heart to think that I may never be able to enjoy a ride through the fields again - even at a walk. I keep searching for something/someone who can say that there is a chance for that at all. My farrier said he has never seen one come back from it, but the vet is being more guarded about giving a prognosis.

If anyone has any words of advice, or happy endings - please help us too!!

[appychik]

Don’t give up entirely, least not yet.

Long story short… Gus has been dealing with stifle issues for the last 10 years, ever since I purchased him in the spring of '00. Initial injury was to left stifle - hyperexteneded on the lunge line. Healed without any major issues, was probably off for about a month.

Three years later, Spring of '03 he was lame. And again in '04, '05, '06, '08, '09 and '10. Our only “good” spring since '03, was in '07… but then he crashed hard that fall.

The springs of '03-'05 we couldn’t get a real diagnosis as to what was ailing Gus. One year it was navicular, the next arthritis in fetlock (both years it was the front legs… supposedly), and in '05 it was hocks. In all reality, it was always the stifle, just presenting itself in unusual ways.

In the fall of '07, he reinjured the left stifle… recovered well enough, but then injured the right stifle that following spring. So we thought he’d never recover.

It took nearly a year and a half, but Gus was finally starting to become sound this spring… but now he’s lame again with something else, and it is most definitely the front end.

So, don’t give up. Time and MOVEMENT is your best friend. We did the stall rest crap with Gus when he injured his stifle in '08. Honestly, that did more harm then good… he improved greatly being on pasture 24/7.

Legend injections seemed to help him, least initially, to prolong the time between joint injections. Hyvisc was our favorite HA drug of choice to inject into his stifles. It definitely helped him a lot… and honestly we haven’t touched his stifles since that spring of '08, I think. Just did a Legend this spring as it had been a good two years since he was injected with anything… we did the Legend IA.

I’m hoping to get my old boy back soon… it has been very depressing having him be off like this for the past two months.

Good luck OP and MoonWitch.

[Katy_Watts]

My mare backed out of the trailer awkwardly when still a bit sedated from the dentist. Sound going in trailer. Very lame walking back to pen. 3 legged, stifle hot for a week. A bit off for another week. Short at canter on that lead a month later, then 6 weeks later just fine. I think letting them move at liberty with privacy is better than stalling.

[iJump]

Instead of making a new thread…

Horse jumped or climbed out of his paddock 3 days ago (Saturday). No marks or swelling anywhere.

Sunday he just had turnout.

Monday he was lunged, was sound.

Tuesday he was on the tread mill.

Today I was going to lunge him, he was NQR so I pulled him up and was looking over him, pressing in some areas and he was very reactive in the stifle area on the left side (biting at himself, and ended up kicking me actually).

Now I’m thinking he may have gotten hooked on the gate and had gotten off it by himself because he was walking around outside the paddock when I found him.

I gave him 2g of bute and DMSO/Fur’d his stifles on both sides. Calling the vet in the AM.

How off would he be if it was something super serious? He puts weight on everything, backs up and is overall pretty normal, and not crazy crazy off on the lunge. Just super sensitive to touch.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

Similar to Katy Watts, the first mare we owned had a panic attack in a trailer - went down and seemed to have banged her stifle. If I am recalling correctly, she was ok the day of the incident then lame the day after. We did some cold hosing, gave her a couple of weeks off, and it seemed to resolve. No diagnostics or imaging. Thought I would throw this anecdote in the mix - as horse owners, we tend to go from zero to worst case scenarios in our thinking, but fortunately, that does not always turn out to be the case.