Locking stifle

H

Happy Bird

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My mare suffers from locking stifle but literally a few times a year and until today has not had it for about a year. My vet said it's nothing to worry about and the more work she does, the better she will be (which has certainly been the case). I think therefore that due to the weather she's been ridden much less recently. Tonight it's really cold so do you think that could have also been a contributory factor. Do you think leg wraps in her stable at night would help ???
 
My 3 year old got it last winter when he was going through a rather gangly growth spurt. The vet explained to me what was happening within the joint and basically in young horses as they grow they drop the condition etc. I am sure he said something about a pocket of fat in that area which obviously reduces as their condition reduces and this can be one cause of the locking in the patella.

One thing he suggested to me was keeping him moving but trying to keep his condition constant. I was just thinking, with the temperatures being so low recently, could your mare have dropped some condition through keeping warm and this contributing? My mares were fully clipped so in fleeces and heavy weight rugs and yet they still dropped weight quite rapidly when it went so cold.
 
Thanks for your reply. She has dropped weight (like yours, she's fully clipped but is currently wearing 2 heavy weight polys with neck tonight) but is actually better for it as she was a bit porky before (very good doer) I am happy with her weight.... just wondered if the temperature could also affect her stifle. She is only being ridden 4 days per week at the moment .... (two schooling sessions with trainer and two hacks). Just trying everything I can think of....
 
Just make sure to give her as mch turnout as possible - movement is the best preventative so even better if you can turn her out 24/7 when the weather improves.
I did surgery on a 3yo cob who locked both stifles within 24hrs. Just fenstrated the ligament to release the tension and reduce chances of it happening again. So far so good!
 
Yeah I did see a few cases when the snow was around. That particular little cob actually lived out but was a bit on the tubby side and hadnt been getting regular exercise (even before the snow).
Keeping your mare fit also plays an important part in reducing the incidence of the stifle locking.
 
My 2 yr old's stifle was locking when I got her, I think she had just had a growth spurt and lost a bit of condition shortly before I got her. The turning point for her has actually been turning her out all day in the snow when it was deep, the extra effort of walking through it has built enough muscle up to stop it from locking.

Based on that it might be worth doing raised pole work and lots of hill work when you can to tide her over through cold weather.

As far as I know leg wraps won't make much difference as its the muscle that needs to move the ligament off the bone, keeping the quarters warm will probably be most helpful. If it continues with mine I may be tempted to get a magnetic quarter pad and see if it makes any difference.
 
We had pony with locking stifles loads of work and good supplement and it never returned.
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Do you use any supplements might be beneficial
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