help, clever ideas?stifle locking in damp weather, but too warm to rug?

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Prince33Sp4rkle

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Stars stifle has always been prone to locking, but got a lot better as he fittened up last year as a 4yo and this year has hardly ever gone.

i do keep my horses well rugged(over rugged some would say!) and i think that has helped over winter/spring as the joint/ligament is well covered and kept warm? i wasnt really aware of that helping except that the last two weeks, with it being very wet, it has started to lock almost daily.

its far too warm for anything bare a LW sheet, and even at night he is only in a cotton sheet or a thermatex as he is a very hot horse.

in winter he wear magnetic pads under bandages at night, but again-it too warm currently and his legs sweat really badly and that cant be good for his tendons!!!!

is there ANYTHING i can do/use? he is in regular work, as much hill work as i can find hills and i do raised poles once or twice a week as that is good for stifles too.

do you think one of the copper bands for arthritic people would help? obviously that would only fit round his fetlock though! i know its not really a joint prob, more the ligament.
 
How about a handheld massager daily sessions x 2 of about 10 mins?

my ligaments in my knee are bad and part of my phsio is to give them a vigorous massage, apparently the friction heats them up and seperates the fibers, which in turns help them strengthen and repair properly without the pain & 'clunking'.

I got a handheld human massager at a good price from ebay, which works a treat on b's tight spots.
 
Baileyhoss said:
How about a handheld massager daily sessions x 2 of about 10 mins?

my ligaments in my knee are bad and part of my phsio is to give them a vigorous massage, apparently the friction heats them up and seperates the fibers, which in turns help them strengthen and repair properly without the pain & 'clunking'.

I got a handheld human massager at a good price from ebay, which works a treat on b's tight spots.
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I agree - and if you want to use magnets you can get magnetic versions too. try this http://www.magnetictherapy.co.uk/scp/THERAPY_MAGNETS/TSUBO_MASSAGER.html I have used these and found them very effective but gentle enough for areas with not much muscle depth.
 
We had a two year old cob who used to do this. It looked quite dramatic when it happened. We consulted a very well respected equine vet who told us that he had performed a number of successful surgeries to correct it. He basically makes a very small entry hole and snips the ligament (or something like that). Mare is now 5 and it hasn't happened once since the operation. It is well worth looking into.
 
I've got a Dartmoor with a locking stifle (and general arthritis now he's getting on a bit), he's too small for the bioflow horse boots which I was looking at so I ended up getting him one of their magnetic dog collars and putting that on him fitted just above the hock. It never moved or rubbed and was on snug enough not to get caught up in anything, and this is a pony that would shimmy under or through fencing/hedging if he fancied the look of the grass the other side... Could be worth a try?
 
oooh thank you for suggestions, def going to look in to the dog collar and i have a hand held massager so can do that straight away, thanks!

has anyone had any success with a magnetic rug for this? if i knew if would def work i wouldnt mind shelling out the cash!
 
ooooh good to know.....how tough is it? star can be a bit hard on stable rugs, and i dont want to waste ££££££££ only to have the little sod shred it the minute my back is turned! obv wouldnt leave on overnight but he's a master at trashing sheets/coolers in 5mins flat!
 
Wally can be a proper rug trasher as well, and so far hasn't got a mark on it. It does seem quite tough, but i couldn't promise that it won't get ripped.

ETA - i am pretty sure Bioflow will repair/replace rugs that are damaged, they are a fab company to deal with. Maybe have a chat with them and ask about damages?
 
thanks! do remember wally being a rug thug too, so if he hasnt managed to kill it........

also wondering about the Funnell one, as cheaper to replace if it DOES get killed, any experience?
 
What is causing the stiffle to lock?

Because he is young I assume the patellar ligament is catching on the femur, which can show great improvement with more work, especially hill work, as the ligaments and muscles tighten and stop the 'hitch'. If that is the problem, I am not too sure why warmth would help, but maybe I am missing something.

I don't want to alarm you but Thomas's locking stiffles were a symptom of his OCD. He was a slightly older horse (6) coming into more serious dressage work and his stiffles were just not up to it.
 
booboos-was seen by vet as a 4yo, who was happy there were no symptoms of OCD at that point, and that he would grow out of it. advised me to get him as fit as possible and not let him down totally at any point, so no long breaks etc.
did (and still do) loads of hill work and raised polework and at the end of last year/up until now he hasnt had any episodes at all. he also feels more than happy in his work, no objections to really sitting behind etc.

last 2 times it has happened(yesterday and summer 09) were on random damp/chilly days when it was too warm to put a HW on,but very wet, so it may be coincidence or it could be the damp doesnt help.i know its *shouldnt* make a diffference, but somehow it seems to?????

so no, you arent missing anything, its a weird one!!!!
 
We had vet out to our 4yr old when she had a locking stiffle a few months ago. Vet advised same as yours but also to put pony on a good joint supplement, the newmarket one was what she advised.

Pony was stabled over night in winter and when first walking out in the morning would sometimes snatch her back leg up. Vet said this was it locking and her quickly unlocking it, she never did it more than 2 or 3 times, but would do this a couple of times a week.

We started on the newmarket joint supplement and the snatching of the leg stopped! And pony has not done it since. Although pony only had one time when it completly locked it hasnt happend again being on the supplement.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
booboos-was seen by vet as a 4yo, who was happy there were no symptoms of OCD at that point, and that he would grow out of it. advised me to get him as fit as possible and not let him down totally at any point, so no long breaks etc.
did (and still do) loads of hill work and raised polework and at the end of last year/up until now he hasnt had any episodes at all. he also feels more than happy in his work, no objections to really sitting behind etc.

last 2 times it has happened(yesterday and summer 09) were on random damp/chilly days when it was too warm to put a HW on,but very wet, so it may be coincidence or it could be the damp doesnt help.i know its *shouldnt* make a diffference, but somehow it seems to?????

so no, you arent missing anything, its a weird one!!!!
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I am so glad!!!! :D I read the thread when it first came up and kept umming and aaaahing, should I mention Thomas and his OCD nightmare, or should I keep my big mouth shut??? In the end I decided to say something just in case you had not looked into it because early diagnosis can be helpful with these things, but I am so pleased it's been discounted by the vet!! :D :D :D
 
no probs, im glad you mentioned it because it always best to keep an open mind and if it gets more frequent ill def get the vet out to check again.thanks :)

good news is that today he was utterly 200% fine, never took a bad step (and my friend was at the yard all afternoon and kept an eagle eye on him, and then i rode and he was just fabulous, felt awesome, gush gush etc etc!)
 
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