Trailer ride shouldn’t hurt anything but not sure how you would unload him if it locks??? I mean, he won’t go down in the trailer, as always scared me, but can he get in it and out if it after a 3 hour ride in that confined space??
Maybe have the vet show you how he manipulates the stifle to “unlock” it. Then if the horse has trouble unloading, or moving the limb, you may be able to manipulate the stifle.
Although, it is likely that a vet at your destination would be able to assist, as well. Is that a possibility?
What’s your trailer like? Can you move the divider or otherwise make room for somebody to manipulate and unlock him if he gets stuck?
Yes, this is exactly my plan. He is a calm unloader and will be in a two horse straight load. I can easily get to him or move the divider. He had trouble unloading the first time, so I am aware of the issue and I think that we can handle it this time. Especially if I ask for assistance from the clinic.
It would be easier to get to the stifle if he is loaded on the right side of the trailer. That is actually a thing here, hauling on the right side. I don’t do it or like it, but shortly considered it for this problem. It will just be harder to get to the stifle if it is against the hard side of the trailer. I can potentially try to push him over, but this may be one of the few times I’d consider hauling a single horse in the right hand side.
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Good luck to both of you, I hope everything goes smoothly. 
It won’t hurt anything to ride on the right side, just be aware most non interstate type roads are '“crowned” in the center, means noticeably higher in the center then the shoulders (for drainage). Particularly rural two laners. Means the heavy side of the trailer will be on the low side of the road. Long as you are aware, you’ll be fine but be careful turning right from one narrow, high crowned road to another, just take it easy, it’ll be fine. Big, wide roads you’ll hardly notice.
There’s no reason for ligaments to look different with UFP. They aren’t damaged, they are just either (a little) too tight or too lax, causing either issues with unlocking from a locked status (too tight) or inappropriate catch/release (too lax). Usually.
I’ve actually had my big WB’s stifle’s ultrasounded and xrayed when he was having issues with something unrelated, just so we could rule out stifle problems. He was also in another UFP time because he was out of work due to said issue. He’s had UFP problems since he was a late 2yo. It’s not as bad as it was while he was growing, he rarely actually locks these days, but he will still develop a hitch coming into or going out of work. Rarely when completely let down, other than the occasional catch/release coming out of his stall after breakfast. So years of intermittent UFP issues, and his stifles were perfectly fine.
I hope Friday goes well,and you get some more concrete information. For a 3 hour ride, I think I’d load him on the left for the reasons above (road crowning), and figure out how to unlock him, if he is, when you get there, where you’ll no doubt have assistance. I think that’s the less risky option than hauling that long on the “wrong” side.
@CanteringCarrot , are you located in Europe? You mentioned vets in Germany and Belgium. Just asking because the hauling ideas may be different there, than if you are located in North America.
@JB I am hoping it is just due to his life circumstances lately. He just turned 5 and could be growing. He was worked in Spain (not hard), transported for a week, worked lightly here, and then we just started riding him this last weekend. So, he’s only been here in Germany for 3 weeks. He could have tweaked something too. He’s not on optimal condition fitness wise, but he’s also not completely out of work.
I do not know if I mentioned this, but aboit 1.5 weeks ago we pulled his back shoes. I perhaps should not have made that change. The foot looked good, and he was going to have a turn out buddy, so I decided to give it a try. I am going to speak with the vet tomorrow, to see if he should get the shoes back on - or if that plays a role for him. My gut feeling is to shoe the back, add appropriate exercise, 24/7 turnout, and maybe they will inject or do a less invasive option. However, I am not a vet and he could need more, so I value another opinion at this point.
Yes, I am in Europe. People (in this area anyway) haul a single horse on the right. I have debated this many times. Their argument is to keep the horse away from oncoming traffic. I then explain why I prefer to haul on the left side (for reasons stated above by others) and they just say, “oh, that makes sense.” as of they never thought of it 
A majority of their roads have no shoulders so you would think it’d be more of a risk here.
Young horses, even at 5, can easily go through a growth spurt that raises the butt, which straightens the stifle, which can easily cause “sudden” UFP issues.
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Yes, absolutely. I don’t know if it is apparent in the video, I’d have to get a photo, but he is straight in the hind end and butt high.
I am also hesitant to accept Luxation as the diagnosis due to the fact that he walked out of the clinic onto the trailer fine. I imagine he will not unload well (driving there now).
I hope that we can easily manage this because he’s a great horse. I give him credit because in the last month he has shipped from Spain, been to one clinic, and on his way to another. He is very obedient and cool about it. I wish I had some ulcer guard on hand, and he may be a candidate for that after all of this.
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I think that is your answer - butt-high and straighter behind.
I simply cannot imagine he’s dislocated anything from everything you describe, and certainly seeing the video.
FWIW, it’s not uncommon for just 1 stifle to be affected in a situation like this. It’s usually the weaker side.
The Rx for this is work. Minimal circles, little to no cantering until he’s stronger. Lots of power walking, balanced trotting, transitions between w/t, and within the trot. In a couple of weeks, start adding in trot-canter transitions, but only for the sake of the transition and a few strides of canter.
Add in pole work as is appropriate for his level of training and fitness. Raised poles especially. Anything that requires more lift of the hind legs will strengthen the muscles that are responsible for helping the ligament come off the hook and stay off.
Do some massage work in his flank area as well. The tensor fascia muscle is in there, and when it’s tight, it can cause inappropriate hooking.
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Yes, I hope that is what he needs. We have a trail system here that is great and offers hills of varying grades as well.
I was able to unlock the joint for him and he got off of the trailer and walked around the courtyard to his box with no problems. The other day he would have locked up atleast 4 times on his way there. No foot dragging along today. I think his muscles in that area could use more development. Good to know about the massage.
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That is a GREAT report! I think with some concentrated work you will see quick improvement in both the severity and frequency of the locking.
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There is a medial collateral ligament, and it’s crucially involved in making the hind limb’s “stay apparatus” work or not.
OP, time to google up some anatomy and teach yourself. Here’s one diagram of the joint and it’s ligaments that’s not too bad:
http://www.behindthebitblog.com/2008/10/stifle-mother-of-all-joints.html
The "stay apparatus involves sliding the patella (knee cap) sideways over a hook on the top of the tibia (?) so that the joint locks. It lets the horse stand for long periods using far less metabolic energy than he would if he had to keep his quads flexed in order to keep that “knee” straight. But! When the patella gets pulled sideways over that boney hook during movement, you get the infamous locking stifle. So people want to adjust the length (and/or stoutness? elasticity?) of that medial (“inside” or toward the horse’s center line) collateral ligament.
I’m not well-educated about your particular problem with the stifle and the various options for helping a horse with a locking stifle. But there are lots of them. Your vet can educate you about what the rehab plan should be for your horse’s case.
In answer to your particular question: I will say that I had a horse who had stifle surgery for a different issue (she had torn off half of the head of the medial collateral ligament at the patella… so she had “less” of the mechanical function of that ligament, not more) and she was expected to get on/off my ramped trailer on her way to surgery plus coming home afterwards. I think the honest-to-God truth is that we don’t have an alternative solution, so we have them use that leg that way.
That said, keep two things in mind:
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Your horse is going to use that leg in all sorts of ways that scare you, even when he’s on stall rest;
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These are big animals and the ligaments in that joint are stout enough for the job of just walking around. Or, to put it in other words: relative to the mechanical work they do for a horse normally, the strain put on them being on stall rest or led around in a controlled walk is pretty dang small.
IME, half of the problem of caring and watching this post-op horse of mine was me worrying about how fragile she was and not having the experience to judge. I just had to get used to it. Oh, and I had to be rigorously patient and detailed about following my vet’s rehab instructions. I think we can do a lot to let ligaments heal, but it takes diligence and a long time.
Good luck with your procedure. Ask me more questions if you think I can help.
Sorry, I should have read farther before that first post.
IMO, you should be taught the anatomy and function of all the structures in the stifle so that you can participate meaningfully in a discussion of your horse’s treatment plan. It’s not rocket science.
With my mare’s case, it helped me immensely that I had dissected out a stifle long ago and was familiar with that joint’s form and function, plus I was not afraid to have to re-teach myself that and/or have the surgeon do that so that I could catch up enough with her knowledge as we talked about what she wanted to do and the outcome. I’ll bet your vet has a model of the stifle or articulated set of boiled-down bones that you guys can look at together. It can be confusing to extrapolate from the left/right stifle to the one on the other side, but if you see it and handle it in 3-D yourself, you’ll get a clear understanding.
Yes, I was shown the anatomy and function of the stifle on an actual joint model. Yes, I know the what a stifle is and does. Did I know all names/location of the ligaments off the top of my head? Not initially, but I do now. I believe that I am capable of having a meaningful discussion about my horse’s treatment plan. I am not a total noob :winkgrin:
Interesting update: They took the horse out of his box today…and nothing. They longed for 15 minutes…and nothing. They turned him in circles, backed him up…and nothing. So I sent the clinic the videos that I have. They will look again this afternoon and tomorrow morning, but the vet doesn’t want to treat something he cannot see…or make anything unnecessary for the horse. I agree! At first it was really bad and quite dramatic. I tentatively scheduled surgery initially because I didn’t want it to get worse by waiting too long to “fix it”, but I also knew that I had a few days to see how the horse was doing and to potentially contact other vets.
I still don’t know our plan 100% because I think that will be formulated tomorrow morning, but I am hoping for a training plan and for him to come home shortly. Lucky for him his pasture that he is in all day has a shelter and is on the side of a hill 
The grass is not so lush at this time, so I think he can handle 24/7 fine.
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Even better news! My guess? He tweaked something, make some muscles pretty sore, but not in the way that would make him lame. Just in a way that would make it hard and harder to get that ligament unhooked.
Muzzles are your friend when it comes to allowing more turnout, but not allowing as much grass intake
Yes, I am thinking about a muzzle, but I will see how it goes. Especially if he can be in regular work. It has been so dry here this summer that the grass is not nearly as lush as it normally is. I think with 24/7 turnout and a ration balancer he is ok. He is an easy keeper it seems, but not a total air fern, Of course I will monitor closely due to his breed.
I hope to have a final word tomorrow!
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I seem to have offended you. So sorry! I didn’t mean to. Hard to tell from here the difference between not knowing the names of the structures involved and not knowing the structures. I hope you will forgive my mistake, but it was an honest one.
Also, I assumed that if you are coming to the interwebz for information you weren’t getting information that satisfied you from your vets. I’ll always ask for a larger sample size than what my vets can tell me about an unusual injury, but that’s not where I start. And I stand by my claim that it’s incumbent upon the HO to teach themselves enough to have a conversation with their vet that satisfies them. If we don’t do that “on our side of the street,” it’s sure to make the information we get from the vet incomplete.
Best wishes for a wonderful outcome!
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