This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Upper Rear Limb » Stifle Lameness » Overview of Stifle Lameness »
  Discussion on Stifle lameness-how far do I go?
Author Message
New Member:
Wce159

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 5, 2006 - 2:42 pm:

I have 9 year old TB ex-racehorse, that competes at Novice level eventing. I've had him 5 years with no problems. 10 weeks ago, a few days after an amazing jumping lesson where he was moving and jumping beautifully, I got on him to find that he felt stiff, and was unable to pick up a right lead canter. I thought it might just be the stiffness and spent a few minutes trying to work him out of it, but it only got worse. I untacked him to find that he was having a muscle spasm in the lumbar region of his back and afterwards was extremely sore in his back with swelling. At this point he was short strided in the rear, especially going down the slight hill to the barn. I rested him. After several days, he was still very sore in the back and still had swelling, so I took him into the vet. He was confident the back soreness was due to a sore right hock, and was convinced that his career (and advanced age of 9)had caused this, and suggested hock injections, which we did. He told me to return him to work after a few days rest and to "work him through it". At this point he could pick up a right lead canter, though he felt a bit stiff, and while he looked normal while not being ridden, he would avoid trotting while on a circle to the left, and break into a canter. He was just a bit short in the right rear at the trot then, only seen while ridden, at the degree that my trainer called "not quite right", but not lame. I gave him more time off as his back was still sore.
Four weeks later, his back still looks like two vertebra have popped up, though no soreness and while he walks and trots normally, seems completely comfortable with a right lead canter, but still avoided trotting to the left. Back to another vet.
This vet found he was a bit sore in the right stifle, and following 10 minutes of work, had some swelling in the right stifle. He felt that an ultrasound would not allow us to see very much of the joint, due to it's size and that if I really wanted to get specific in a diagnosis, that an MRI or thermal imaging (which he doesn't do) would be in order and if I want to lay out a few thousand dollars for diagnostics he would be glad to refer me. He thinks it's either an arthritic flare-up that was aggravated by the increased work, though it's possibly a new injury. He said he's seen much worse, and felt that his future as a ridable horse wasn't in doubt (if this was an occasional trail horse he would only recommend bute while being ridden), though he would likely be limited in his jumping. He suggested steroid injections of the joint, and a slow return to work, with a focus on strengthening the muscles to stabilize the joint, and some changes in shoeing.
But should I go in for another round of diagnostics to better define the problem? If this guy is thinking chronic flare-up and he's wrong and I have a soft tissue problem then are we going in the complete wrong direction? Or is there something he knows that I missed? Is it significant that 10 weeks after the initial incident, 10 minutes of trotting and cantering got some swelling going again? Would this be more in line with a chronic condition than a result of a more recent injury? Would I possibly just be better off turning the horse out to rest for 6 months or a year?
Whitney
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jul 6, 2006 - 11:10 am:

Welcome Whitney,
What did the vet do to define the problem to the stifle of that leg?
DrO
Member:
Cheryl

Posted on Monday, Jul 10, 2006 - 8:04 am:

And just to second U of W - they hauled my horse from Auburn, WA to Pullman, boarded her for two weeks, did a spinal tap and standing x-rays of her spine, I don't know what all else they did, then hauled her back to Auburn. The bill was $833 dollars. I was absolutely astounded. I received phone calls from all the Doctors working on her with thorough explanations of what they did and didn't find. Was a truly amazing experience.
Cheryl
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC