Locking stifles

A horse I used to ride suffered quite badly on one side. He was evented as a 4yo and kept in for the majority of the day. The woman I rode him for bought him for peanuts, chucked him out 24/7 and he's got a lot better. She competes him up to BD ele, and as long as he's out for the majority of the day (24/7 in summer for as long as yard will allow), and warms up well, he's fine. She doesn't jump him much/at all though, and only schools a few times a week, so unsure how he would hold up under a heavier workload. He used to struggle with the farrier, but their farrier was incredibly patient, and did his bad leg very slowly.

Wouldn't personally take on a horse with locking stifles, but have heard they grow out of this, so might not be a problem if you can manage it, and aren't going to work it into the ground.
 
I can't really help but my 4 year old has just been diagnosed with locking stifles so watching this thread with interest. At the moment my vet is just recommending as much turnout as possible, and a good leg stretch in the school/hacking if she can't go out for whatever reason.
 
I had a mild case in a tbx grow out of it. I've got one now that completely locks solid on one side then releases with a bang who is also growing out of it as he gets stronger. He's coming up five, a cob type.
 
I did a bit of research on them last night and it does seem more of a young horse problem. Hill work and strengthening seems to help, failing that it's surgery.

Thanks for the replies. It's a small pony that's past the "youngster" stage, so perhaps it's a stay clear.
 
I m beginning to think that I am the only person in the world who has had the offending ligament cut ... It's a useless one and took 15mins to do. Pony has never had a days bother since.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top