Locking stifle

[SEL]

Baby cobs stifle locked yesterday while farrier was trimming opposite hind. One step back and he was fine but with a field full of broken horses I'm paranoid.

I know its common and they grow out of it usually but did anyone do anything specific with their youngsters with this issue?

Trying to get hold of my physio to see what they think.

 

[I'm Dun]

Hill work. The old remedy was to chuck them out into a hilly field for 6months.

Worse case scenario and he doesn't strengthen up and outgrow it, its a minor procedure to snip the ligament, so not going to be career limiting never mind ending

 

[ycbm]

My cob who had it in both stifles is still going strong at 12 after 3.5 years with his"new"owner. Hills are a definite help.
.

 

[dixie]

My horse went “sticky” over the winter.
he would come out of the stable completely lame behind but would go sound after about a minute walking around.
it lasted about 3 months and is now completely fine ?? He did grow up a bit and bulked out in this period and was 5.

I continued to hack him in this time but no schooling or jumping. I do live in Devon, so naturally have steep hills all around.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Dave had it briefly when he was 3. Raised poles was what my vet recommended, given that we were on a very unhilly area of Leics at the time.
He grew out of it & it never did return.

 

[SEL]

Dave had it briefly when he was 3. Raised poles was what my vet recommended, given that we were on a very unhilly area of Leics at the time.
He grew out of it & it never did return.

I'm not exactly surrounded by hills near the yard but poles we can do. I'm now mentally clocking every road that goes even slightly uphill to drag the poor boy out in hand

I'm relieved you're all saying they grew out of it. I wonder if the drop off in workload when he moved home hasn't helped - but he is only just 4

I think I'm probably more upset than I logically should be because I've had such a rough run with horses over the past few years. He's a lovely personality but I'd rather he didn't sign up for field pet status already!

 

[spotty_pony]

Hill work and stepping over raised poles. Also he was ridden 5 times per week to help to build the muscle up. He ended up having an injection aged 7 to tighten the ligament around the joint. He is 9 now and has grown out of the problem.

 

[ahml100]

My horse has it in both legs, didn’t grow out of it and for reasons our vet recommended not to have surgery.
he is now 14, never had any issues with his hind legs and as you can see by the pictures they have certainly not held him back! However, the stronger he is the less likely it occurs. To confirm what others have said hills and raised poles are fantastic.

 

[sport horse]

Hill work, raised poles, water treadmill. Just gradually get him as fit as you possibly can and keep him that way.

 

[nutjob]

I had one who never completely grew out of it, hw cob. In work it hardly occurred but it returned when out of work. It was never really a problem, didn't happen when ridden and could be unlocked by getting him to step back. Vet did discuss ligament snip at the time but I think this is not normally recommended now. I kept him until his 20's when he was PTS for totally unrelated reasons.

 

[GoldenWillow]

J had what the vet described as a weak stifle at vetting although it had never fully locked, when he was 3 1/2. He said not to worry and he should grow out of it and like others said hill work and pole work. Although our field is on a bit of a hill we don't have hills around us so I did inhand pole work 3/4 times a week. He classed it as "normal" in a years time and it's never been a problem. I can totally understand why you're so worried though with the luck you've had recently but hopefully he will not be a problem.

 

[humblepie]

From someone who knew him as a youngster, I found out my horse had really bad locking stifles when a two year old. He went on to event and do top level showing so must have grown out of it. Good luck with your one.