stifle/hock injury???

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titchymoo

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Helloo

Just wondering if theres any experts on stifle/hock injuries.

I have a two and half year old 16.1hh coloured gelding whos gone from being lovely and floaty to stiff in his hind. His right knee(stifle) is ever so slightly swollen, he's also very slightly lame in his right also. When at walk/trot his right hind crosses under his tummy. Not drastic but its noticable.

I've just moved him closer to home so he's had to go through the whole stress of being introduced to new boys. This ofcourse was done with caution, he was isolated for 2 weeks in a seperate field next to them then introduced slowly. Horses are horses through and I think this may be the cause, maybe he's slipped with his back end when having a fly around.

I'm chewing myself rotten about it. The vets been out to visit him twice and he thinks that there is a visible improvment from the last time he was out. (he had two weeks rest) He's advised that I carry on the way he first advised box rest on night, turn out in confined paddock during the day. However I've read quite a few articals online as you do, and lots have suggested that if it is damage to the ligment tendon etc that the bone can be effected if not rested prop. I can see why my vet has suggested he is still turned out. due to his age and temperment (he's full of beans) he's be even more demented if locked up and more than likely do a hooly and hurt himself further when finally turned out. But he's a bugger and there's no keeping him still he just bounces of all fours at times.

He's also tight in his back (hind) I have andrea bainbridge paying me a visit next week to evaluate this and also has an old injury on his hock, a scar, with no swelling or pain. I worry this could be the cause of his inward motion with right hind, howeveer I have never noticed it before.

For the first time ever I've turned to calmer. Just to settle him down while on rest, I've bought super kalm plus by cortaflex for him. its magnesium based. (I hope this works!)

any info would be much appreciated, spesh from anyone whos had a similar problem
 
My horse had a swollen stifle and surspected stifle or hock injury in right leg as was looking short behind. After having the whole of her right leg nerve blocked nothing showed up. The vet has now said that he is pretty certain it is in her back either pelvis, sacroiliac or lower spine.

I am not suggesting your young horse has this he may just need some physio.
it would be a good idea to get a physio out as I did before i called the vet and she said from the start that it was her pelvis.

Also vet said to keep my horse turned out to stop her from getting stiff and she can be lightly worked or lunged to get rid of excess energy and to keep her moving.

Hope that helps :)
 
Also my horse has got an old hock injury as she got kicked in the hock two years ago. So vet thought it could be premature artheritus but nerve block showed the hock isn't to blame..
 
hiyaaaa

Yeh I have the physio coming next Wednesday so hopefully this will make a big difference. He's looking lots better this week, so i've stopped panicking so much. They're a nightmare haha
 
Our yearling took a horrible stifle injury from a kick in the field... Sliced open a hair above the knee, severed two of the patella ligaments and was leaking synovial fluid - the vet could slide fingers into the actual joint... It was a mess and he was going to put her to sleep knowing the joint capsule had been ruptured - but she was still standing and so stoic (and young) that he gave her a chance...

She was completely box rested for a while then we discovered she could still lie down and get back up... Lying down with an open wound on her bedding vs letting her out in the field with some fresh air and flushing on the way out and in... We hummed and hahhed and decided to let her out in a small paddock with a friend - vet didn't have a clue which option to suggest as the best because the injury was so dramatic he couldn't believe she was still standing... She was off bute by then but still having some IM anti b's (she hated me for that :)) so had to balance her mobility with her pain levels herself...

Over the summer the wound shrank with lots of tlc and continual cleaning as it drained for a while and the area above it took ages for the swelling to settle... Unbelievably, we went from wondering if she'd ever be sound enough to live as a field ornament to seeing her amble around with a nice walk (cue sigh of relief) to seeing her trot perfectly (cue jaws dropping) to hurtling around in a canter with nothing more than a slight bunny hop at the back end instead of a totally smooth movement (cue nearly fainting)... When she tried to jump the full size stock gate we figured she was just fine and dandy... Even though she bent the top as she went through rather than over... She was a bit dim... :D

Unfortunately, after all that, she had to be PTS at 16mths due to a total gut torsion and we never did find out if she'd be a lady of leisure or would ever be ridden... That she somehow managed to heal to nigh on full ability though was indisputable...

So long as someone is careful not to cross the line between giving a chance and quality of life I don't think it's possible to over estimate the body's power of healing - particularly in a youngster... Keeping them calmly in the stable can be akin to trying to keep a sick but feeling better toddler in bed... A bit of a losing battle...

Take some photos or video of him now and resist doing it for at least a few clear days so you can see any improvement you might miss when you're tending to him every day...

Good luck and I hope he improves... :)
 
thankyou. He was well on the way to recovery and completely sound. So it gave me hope, and still has that its fixable and he can be completely back to normal. However my friends new youngster arrived two days ago and the plan way to have them both in a separate field from the others for 2 weeks whilst she settled and just for a probation period really. All was going well. i thought this would give him another few weeks of rest too just to be completely sure. he was fine just eating grass settled as I had him out with boys for a few days beforehand too. then we introduced her. It went the worst of the worst any introduction can ever go. My gelding was mortified at her reaction not just us. She just ran straight through about 6 fences and tore them all down. God knows how she is still in one bit but she is and has got away with just minor cuts and bruises. of course my gelding was terrified as he respects an knows what an electric fence does. so he bolted as they do at the the fence coming down. were on an estate so luckily they couldn't really go anywhere, but they both p**ed off for a nice adventure around it. Luckily he stuck to the tracks and didn't copy her and start diving through fences. It was one of the most awful experience I've ever had. I just felt helpless. I caught my gelding but catching her was another story. its the worst when there so frightened. he's not dog lame, but his knee(stifle) has sweled back up now. so frustrating. I hope it goes back down and i suppose it could have been so much worse. i was so proud that he was so sensible and avoided fencing. accidents happen though. obviously this is going to be something she needs lots of work on. and doesn't have any respect for fencing yet. I felt extremely sorry for my pal who felt a really bad mother. She's not though a fab one just obvs her new mare doesn't have much respect for fencing as of yet. lesson learnt she needs to be taught
 
titchymoo said:
thankyou. He was well on the way to recovery and completely sound. So it gave me hope, and still has that its fixable and he can be completely back to normal.
Click to expand...

The first bit sounds really hopeful... The rest, Eeeek...what a nightmare...:(

Hopefully he's just done a bit of soft tissue damage and some cool washing of the area and a few days peace and quiet, or at least not hurtling around like a lunatic, might help bring that down - easier said than done in sub zero temps at the moment though...

Does he appear to have a good range of movement in the stifle as he pootles about?
 
No he's so poorly, were back to square one now. I've changed vets as the vet I'm now using is more of a expert in his sort of area, he's just more black and white when giving you the truth. We did xrays today but unfortunately the cold seemed to have a negative effect on the xray machine and the vet and nurse had issues trying to get a clear picture. He said its very unusual so the machine must have an issue. We managed to get a few decent xrays however the vet that's treating him (more expierenced one or gaffa i would say haha) is off on a Wednesday so his stand in vet did xrays for him today. He's a horse vet just younger so probs less experienced. Therefore I'm waiting for my vet to look through xrays he took and get back in touch. He thinks its possibly OCD though or a fracture or less seriously a ligament. It really upset me at first the thought of him having OCD at the worst but I've come to terms with it all now and I'll do whatever I can to help him. I've only owned him 8 months so its a bit of a shock, but i knew i was possibly dicing with OCD when taking him on due to his size and sport horse breed. (He's a big baby. 16.1hh) Its a shame as I've been an absolute fanny with his diet. However it might not be this how one arth he's fractured his leg tho is this is the case I'm oblivious. fingers crossed its a ligament. I never thought i'd here myself say that. I am not looking forward to the box rest. :(
 
Hi,

My (recently turned) 6 - yr old gelding (cob) has injured his hock. Vet , physio and myself think hekind of twisted it hacking out. The hock was swollen with heat at the front and outside. I initially put him on 2 days box rest - swelling went - back out into field but he ran and jumped around too much and as a result it flarred up again. Discussion with vet - 7-14 days box rest - he had 11, then turn out in small p addock for 3/4 days then back in his own paddock. Stabled at night. All swelling was practically gone apart from a tiny littlepocket of fluid in the outside grove above the capsule. Vet said to start rehab work - 1-2 per week, 20-30min in walk on the flat, no hills. We did this twice but the hock flarred up again and swlling retunred - equally disappeared again over a couple of days. Vet out again, ultrsound done. No injection needed, fluid pocket not even big enough to inject. 2 fluid pockets inside his capsule on either side showed up in ultrasound, no fragments or other damage. Vet said same - retstart. work. Ridden 4 x naow - first 2 times with hock boot, second times without (over a period of 2.5 weeks) - swelling returned, small amount and heat. After 3 days gone again.
I have been takeing him swimming once a fortnight which seems to help.
Sorry about hijacking the thread....

Questions -
- does swelling return with work?
- should i be working him if swelling returns?
- how long will it take to fully heal?

He is barefoot but wears hoofboots when hacking.

- should i try hacking without hind boots?

Have been cold hosing/cold wrap, magnetic wrap, gets joint and multi vit /min supplement

Any advise suggestions help would be welcomed
Thank you
 
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