Hind end problems

[Alohapony]

Hello,

My 25 yr old draft horse has been showing some hind end problems for almost 5 months now. My mom was riding him around our ring at the trot and said that it felt like he tripped in the hind end and felt like he almost wasn’t going to recover. A wk or 2 later I had him out on the trail trotting and it felt like his hind end gave out and he fell. We had multiple vets come out. 1st round we tested and treated him for epm and also doing hormone shots for a week patella. When he did it again after that we xrayed his back and he showed some kissing spines, he was then given the osphos shot. We had a second vet out that retested epm which came back negative and we treated for polynueritis this past month. I’ve been bringing him back to work this past week and 5 days in he gave out in the hind again. Every time he does it it seems to be in the same area of the arena besides the one time he did it on trail.
Do we think it can be the riding ring that’s the problem or is there something else I can look into.

Thank you!

[ThreeWishes]

Sounds like stifle problems. What are your horses living conditions? Stall …. Turnout ? And 25 is not a youngster. What kind of riding do you expect from him? Walk trot canter? What’s his workload and riding regimen?

[TWH_Girl]

I agree w a stifle issue. I would lay off riding him and put him on Equioxx. If you plan to continue riding, strongly suggest getting a decent vet to inject his stifles for arthritis, but also rethink his workload. A 25 yr old is highly unlikely to have upward patellar fixation which is what the estrogen is used for. I often am astounded by some of the vets I hear about and how most folks of this forum have a better chance of diagnosing some of these horses.

[NaturallyHappy]

If he is unfit, maybe start by walking over poles on the ground to help strengthen the stifle. We use 4 poles here for walking and working on stifles. If he has problems in the arena (you mentioned the same place), is it in a turn? Can you check and see if the footing is deeper in that area? As you strengthen him, do not trot turns. Only trot on straight lines.

[Alohapony]

He is in an in and out situation. He is my moms babysitter so just looking to find what is bothering him. He looks great and feels pretty good other than maybe a little stiff after the past few months off. You’d have no idea He has a problem if it wasn’t for the trip. I thought stifle too but can’t seem to get a vet into looking into it

[TWH_Girl]

That’s sad. Tripping and falling is kind of a big deal. At least to me it is. Are you in a rural area? If you have a trailer can you haul him in to a clinic or possibly have a friend assist? Glad his workload isn’t heavy. Hope you can get him comfy soon. Love the old campaigners.

[ThreeWishes]

What do you mean by in and out ? Horses who leave a foot behind and are weak behind are generally stifle problems. Which is exacerbated by standing still as in a stall. 25 is no spring chicken. Yes there are horses sound as a dollar into their late 20’s but in general you would see significant arthritic issues at this age.

[ThreeWishes]

Do you have any pictures ? Of his conformation? From the side?

[Marla_100]

What did you treat with for EPM?
If it was Marquis or Protazil,
which most vets use, neither
clears or kills the protozoa causing neuro problems. Those
drugs only slow reproduction of protozoa.

[ThreeWishes]

And isn’t a weak patella the stifle ? Was the stifle imaged (xrayed) or ultrasounded?

[Alohapony]

He has a 12x12 box stall with an always open door into his own paddock. He does go out in a larger turnout with his buddies to which he acts as if nothing bothers him when he’s running up the little hill and bucking around.
He was hard to keep weight on until I spoke with a out of state vet that reccomended a new diet. He’s on equal amount purina impact Performance and alfalfa pellets. He gets dac oil am and pm. Aloe vera juice, Elevate SE, animeds aniflex & muscle up and smart pituitary (his levels borderline we check it 2x a year and this keeps him good)
When treating the epm He was treated with ponazuril.

I originally thought stifle based off things I read that sound similar plus discussing it with my trainer she thought it sounded like stifle but the vets don’t think so. The 1st vet did a flextion test and thought he appeared fine, I dont remember if the 2nd vet did or not he went right to epm, and the 3rd vet we only brought in for epm.

[ThreeWishes]

It sounds like you really have gone all out for your horse. I applaud you. I hope you get more input here. My gut feeling is stifles. And he needs rest and time off with anti inflammatories like equiox. Then slow return to work.

[Alohapony]

Thank you and thank you for your input. My gut was leaning towards that from the beginning but I think we had to rule out a few things. Now Im just wanted other people’s opinion to see if we were missing anything!

[Marla_100]

You may want to visit the. Facebook group
“EPM Horse Support”
Many very knowledgeable people
and you may get new information.

[Bonnie2]

Sounds like the vets have been using a bit of a shotgun approach.
With no other signs than intermittent severe tripping behind under saddle, I wouldn’t jump to EPM. Seems more likely to be a stifle issue. Unfortunately the ‘hormone shot’ doesn’t work by itself. It needs to be paired with a work program to be effective. But it doesn’t sound like your mom or the 25 yo draft are going down that road. Worth talking to the farrier to make sure his hind feet allow him the easiest possible break over. If there’s a spot on the trail that catches him, be sure to pick him up and crawl through that part. Sorry there’s no magic bullet! Good luck with him!

[Marla_100]

Did your horse show any neuro
symptoms, assuming vets tested
fot it since polyneuritis is being
treated?
EPM can lie dormant until stressors cause the inflammation to get worse. Plus
the symptoms are all over the board from, sore stifles, hock inflammation, tripping, difficulty
swallowing.
Many cases get misdiagnosed since symptoms can be so subtle.
Is he on natural Vit. E?

[2tempe]

Some years back I had an older TB who was diagnosed with cervical arthritis. After diagnosis I had injections done in the neck; I was fortunate that they lasted a pretty long time - but after maybe 15 months, I started to notice his one hind dropping out behind him. Felt like it slipped or just got left behind, pretty clear that it was stifle related. I quit riding him at that time, but would put him in our round pen maybe every 10 days or so and it did not happen there. My conclusion was that the weight of saddle/rider was causing or irritating some spinal compression related to the arthritis. He also was showing some mild neuro signs at that point.
SO my suggestion would be: Get the horse’s neck xrayed or ultrasounded. You may well find some arthritis there.

[Alohapony]

Just wanted to put up a follow up to this post in case anyone else out there is looking for answers and also as a thank you to everyone that commented!!

We got his stifles injected very shortly after I put up this post and I noticed a huge difference in him immediately. knocks on wood He is doing fantastic and riding better and stronger than he has in a long while! He even gave me a perfectly clean and easy flying lead change last week in which he hasn’t been able to do well in a solid year!!
I really thought we were at the end of the line with him but the stifle injections have made a huge difference!! Thank you everyone so much!!

[candyappy]

Not only an answer to your problem but a good outcome too. Thanks for the update and I hope he stays sound and happy!

[Alohapony]

thank you!!