Locking stifles?

[teach]

My 3yrold had locking stifles during the winter, which he would unlock by dragging the leg til it 'unclicked'. He has just had (another) groth spurt and is looking stiff and uncomfortable on his right hind, although it is not locking. Could this stiffned be related to the locking stifle? Its not every stride and there is no heat or swelling anywhere on the limb....

Any ideas welcome..

 

[Finlib]

Locking stifles can cause pulls to the muscles over the back.
It might be worth getting a physio to check him over .When my home bred horse was a youngster I got a physio to check him over at the end of the winter and again in autumn as he was constantly running around the field and playing leaping about .You never know if they take a tumble or get a knock .I found it was useful to just keep him fine .
If they are not old enough to work under saddle it is sometimes hard to see the little things.
They usually grow out of locking stifles .But if he had ita lot during the winter he may be a bit tense over the quartersand back area.

 

[teach]

Hey
Thanks, he has had the physio(who sees him every 3months ish) and have chiropractor seeing him this week...making sure I have covered all the bases!

 

[VictoriaEDT]

Hi

My 4yo had locking stifles and it got so bad that he was terrifed to move anywhere in case he locked up. Eventually he became v inflammed and his stifles were v v hot and the stress bought on a bout of laminitis which didnt help matters either!

He had to have an operation becuase vet said at 4 he should have grown out of it but instead was getting worse. He had ligaments on both hinds cut and now he is a different horse! The only way forward for you to find out what the long term prognosis would be is to x ray stifles and and ultrasound the ligaments.

If left too long they develop arthritis and cartilage damage and once they have got to that stage there is no going back. Doughnut (mini in pic) went to Liphook and David Lloyd sorted him out