Collapsing behind? Locking stifles

[Nuttyfilly]

I have a nearly 4 year old that I brought from the brink of existence two years ago. She was very very poor and her stifles were noticeably weak then but didn’t suffer any locking until her second year. It’s intermittent and doesn’t seem to bother her. She lives out 24/7 and has done all her life. She’s recently been broken and has been away for 8 weeks where they have had no issues with it. She seems totally well in herself and not lame however when I ride her downhill she sort of drops her hind leg and it only seems to happen going downhill? Could this be related to the locking stifle? I had the vet out last year and they said to just continue with her as normal plenty long reining and hillwork.

Just wondering if anyone had a similar issue with the dropping of the hind on hills when their horses suffered locking stifle issues.

She is cob x and about 15hh with plenty growing to do she is bum high

 

[Goldie's mum]

Hello, welcome to the forum.
Looks like you posted after a lot of us had gone to bed! Sorry you didn't get answers. Someone will see this now!

 

[nutjob]

I had a cob with a locking stifle but it's a few years ago now. I don't remember any issue with going downhill but I never noticed a problem riding him at all. It was only when he was standing still and then had to move off or pick his feet up. Getting him fitter helped a lot and it hardly happened when he was in work.

 

[SEL]

Downhill can definitely be an issue - do you find the quarters want to swing one way or another? Crab walking is a typical sign but in order to get stronger they need to be straight and not compensate with the easier joint. It's sometimes easier when they are still developing strength to in hand walk down any problematic hills.

Worth getting a physio / body worker out to check muscle development too. Bum high is when mine started to struggle more so I massively backed off everything until he'd levelled out. Rarely an issue now thankfully (6)

 

[Midlifecrisis]

I ll bet it’s due to immaturity and balance issues which will rectify over time.

 

[Nuttyfilly]

She just seems to drop on her weakest stifle when she first goes out for a hack but it does get better and less frequent the longer she is out so on way back it’s pretty non existent. I’m getting physio and vet out to rule out other things.