Stifle-y horse. What to avoid till I get the vet out?

[tollertwins]

UPDATE: saw the vet today. Pony definitely has loose stifles and flexed pretty ouchy on that side.
He said that the stifle isn’t doing a full lock, but that the ligament may be catching a bit on the bone. However, the hock on that side also looks a bit wonky, and he said if he doesn’t want to bring the hock forward that could be messing w how the stifle works. Since it isn’t horribly bad and he’s a complete hair ball right now we decided to give him Legend and 3 - 5 days of bute and see how it is in a couple weeks.

Video for air chair vets.

IMG 4570

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So I’m starting to think my guy might have a locking stifle.

Now that we have his saddle sorted out he isn’t tripping in the front, but is still tripping in back. It’s the stepping in a hole feeling.

The husband was behind me when he tripped going from grass onto a road and said that it wasn’t so much a trip as he didn’t pick the foot up. He said it also looked like one foot was swinging more towards midline and that he might be tripping himself (base narrow).

So…I can’t get the vet out for a couple weeks yet. I am assuming this may be why he has trouble at the canter, so am going to nuke that for right now. What else? Lateral work? Transitions?

FWIW he’s an icey and will do his gait forever. It requires him to hop from back foot to backfoot, but it is a very short period of time where he has all his weight on just one leg.

Ideas? Definite no-no’s? Should I start hills when it’s not raining? Trot poles?

[wildlifer]

I’ve had a stifle horse. Avoid circles & lateral work. Things that are good: straight lines on hills, correct transitions where they push from behind, ground poles, 24/7 turnout. Keep an eye out for back soreness if compensating, massaging the lumbar/SI/hips never hurt anyone. And listen to your horse about what he’s comfortable with.

Hopefully yours will just need some focused conditioning & can move on & hopefully the vet check goes well.

[StormyDay]

Hills are good. So are raised poles. I also like collected work and backing the horse up; a vet taught me about backing up years ago and I do think it helps them a lot. It’s also done from the ground so it’s an easy thing to do if you are a wee bit concerned about riding.

[tollertwins]

Thanks!

@wildlifer I do work his hips quite a bit. First body worker I had work on him had one pop, happened again under saddle w my trainer on, he was being really stiff so she just worked on getting the neck supple. Stopped and stood and felt the hip pop.

I was doing some exercises where you use your fingers to get the horse to bend his haunches and it popped, so now I do work every day on both legs and the hips. Also on the neck. It was really tight in the same side as the popping hip.

[DMK]

In my multi year battle with mild IUFP I have done all of the above and lateral work. That said, the improvement in the lateral work comes with improvement in the muscles needed to hold the patella in place, but the lateral work is another piece of the puzzle to help develop those muscles, so a bit of a chicken and egg thing…

but if it is caused by an injury vs young horse/conformation thing, your approach may be different, however iceys are like a lot of ponies, a bit post (straight) legged behind, which is conformation predisposed to the issue, so I’m assuming that is the issue.

But whatever you do, the number one thing you must be is a 100% dedicated to the stifle fitness program and even then the problem may persist. My guy is schooling 2nd/3rd level dressage and competing intermediate in CDEs and I live in serious hill country - his entire life is a stifle fitness program. If he’s up in the bridle, engaged and using his butt, no problem. But when he gets tired and is walking along strung out, we will still have a flat tire moment every now and then.

[ndirish07]

You’ve received a lot of good advice already. I’d echo the hills, pole work, and transitions, transitions, and transitions between the gaits and in the gaits done correctly.

[NotAtTheBarn]

I would caution the hill work - a small amount of quality hill work on a slight slope is much better than an intense session or incline.

[tollertwins]

@dmk…yes, he’s a bit post legged, and has gaited horse loose joints to boot. It is definitely worse if he’s tired.

I found an article about icey biomechanics and it said that between their conformation and their loose jointed-ness they can be prone to sticky stifles.

I filmed from the back today…he travels so close at a walk he may also be tripping himself. If he’s clocking along at not-quite-a-tolt he just picks them up and puts them right back down. At a slower walk he rope walks a bit. Going downhill the right swings under more than the left. Kinda suprised he doesn’t interfere!

Above article also suggested not letting them get strung out, so it’s that and poles when the weather is bad and some hills when it’s not.

Still gonna have the vet look at him and make sure there isn’t anything else going on in there, and am adding a joint supplement.

Should I ease up on the lateral work? I do head to the wall leg yield at a walk and add shoulder in at the walk as well. He can LY at a trot, but he tolts if I try it at a trot.

[DMK]

The worst stifle equine I ever owned was a paso cross pony (not gaited, but with the classic hind end conformation). I have starred in this movie!

I would continue lateral work, especially if it is only at the walk, but it’s like everything else, build slowly, consistently and don’t overdo anything. Walking close is probably compensation for weak stifle support structure.

I do a adequan 2x year and periodically x-ray the stifles just to make sure they are not getting arthritic. Chances are they will eventually (and as a CDE pony that joint is like hocks in jumpers), and when we started building up for his first “full” season competing, I did have his stifles injected so I could push him through the fitness stage without him getting periodically sore (because then you have to back off, but the cure is more work…). But that was with a very consistent stifle program with steady improvement for 18 months prior.

Another thing to look into is putting a bell boot on the weaker leg every third ride for 6 weeks or so. You can look up the research on The Horse, it has been proven to significantly strengthen the weaker limb (proprioception is our friend!) I’ve done that as well and it is very effective!

And have hope - today I did a fitness drive - 40 minutes trotting up and down hills (10 min trot, 2 min walk, followed by 3 more sets). He’s just back from a HDT last weekend, followed by a hard dressage lesson on Friday, and he was trotting his typical trot we use on course. In short he had every excuse to be a bit tired and strung out, trailing his hind end, the perfect set of conditions for stifle moments, and yet we didn’t have a single flat tire moment!

[tollertwins]

@DMK

How did you determine for sure which hind is weaker? I’m guessing right, but am not sure. Quads on both legs are pretty flabby. Think it might help if I used on both hinds?

UPDATE Think I got it…caught 2 on video yesterday w the husband leading him down an incline. Definite hitch where he can’t quite get the toe off the ground and then the leg sorta snaps. Single bell boot comin’ up.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

I always always look at hind foot balance first on these guys. Bull nosing, medial/lateral balance etc. Low to negative plantar angles behind can be a big contributor to stifle issues and are often over looked.