Stifle issue in my 4 year old cob

[Irene211]

Hi everyone, hope you can help with some advice here.

I bought a four year old cob from Ireland who had had vetted ( 5 star but it wasn't nearly as expensive as a UK one...so not sure it would have been as thorough). He passed and I was delighted...he arrived on the 23rd August...was in quarantine for 2 weeks and then joined his new pals , had to take his back shoes off for safety reasons).

I started schooling and small hacks to get him used to his new home, found he was very unsteady going down hill...everyone put that down to him being young and not having much muscle at the back end. Advice was lots of pole work and hills to build him up.

He went lame 10th september..vet called, box rest for two weeks and bute...no change.

He then was sedated and relays taken of his stifle which was swollen. Showed no bone fragments which was good...so next week we had him nerveblocked, no change...scanned...couldnt see anything in the soft tissue.

Referred to the vet hospital for a bone scan..had this on the 4th Dec...and they re xrayed and rescanned and discovered he has a flattened bone..femur I think...and abnormally thick cartilage.
Two options, send him home with steroids and wait for him to go lame (or not) or do an arthroscopic procedure to see how bad the damage is and reduce the thickness of the cartilage if possible.

I have opted to go for the procedure , which he is getting on Monday . My insurance claim has been maxed out with my own vet and the treatment he's had at the hospital.

I am having to pay 3k for the ops and no doubt he will be on steroids when he comes home. I dont know if I will be able to ride him , I hope so , as I meant him to have the best life possible and for us to have fun together.

Has anyone had a similar situation and their horse has recovered ? Please say yes

Secondly... as for the vetting they took bloods ..im wondering if they would show if he had any painkillers in his blood ?

This hasn't happened overnight and I feel as if I've been mis sold . I doubt there's any danger they will admit they knew about it..but would like to know for sure.

He is not going back eleven if they offered to refund me...he is the most lovely boy and he has already stolen my heart.

Any advice would be great .ty

 

[Fransurrey]

Can't advice on the procedure, but hope it works for him. With regards to the vendor, though, they most likely didn't know if he's only 4. No vetting does downhill work and any imbalance would be put down to his age, as you did. He's a beautiful boy!

 

[Irene211]

@Fransurrey thank you for this, its really helped put my mind at rest regarding the vetting. I think its just sod's law and I just need to get him better .

 

[SEL]

I did my paper for my bodywork diploma on stifles (& what can be done to strengthen them) and there are an absolute tonne of issues which can arise in young horses and then never rear their ugly heads again. I had a 4yo cob myself who cleared the 5 stage vetting with a glowing report then as soon as the spring grass came through and he had a growth spurt had horrible problems with his stifles. They only tend to come back now if his hoof balance is off or he's been stabled for too long (24:7 turnout unless the weather is vile)

The surgical procedure will find out if there is anything really untoward going on so is worth it. One of the horses I knew at the time was an import and the surgeon told his UK owner that he found scar tissue which would suggest that wasn't the first time the stifle had been operated on - the horse was just 4 at the time but 4 years down the line is happy, healthy and jumping. His owner took it very slowly with lots of hacking to build him up.

Posture and hoof balance is really important. They need a strong core and strong quad muscles to really support the stifle. I like poles but hillwork can be hard on them until the muscles are strong and you need to manage that fine balance between exerting the muscles to strengthen them but not so tired that everything gets sore.

He's a super looking little cob so fingers crossed the surgery helps

 

[Irene211]

@SEL thank you so much for this. This is really helpful.. and much appreciated. its so hard with them being young, no idea what possessed me to buy a youngster. My last horse was 25 and had to be put to sleep in April this year. My friend found Finn on a website and i fell in love with him.. just ignored all the warnings of buying a youngster. lol.

I will just take it really slowly.. no rushing here... will let you know what they find next week.

 

[sbloom]

Pole and hill work is great once correct movement (VERY simplified this means they move on two tracks ie straight, not hollowing without contact) is established but it's too easily recommended by vets and even bodyworkers. Pole work (generally in walk) should be done with great care, watching HOW the horse moves over them and never tiring them, this takes developing the eye for most people. We only strengthen once the posture and movement patterns are good.

Have a look at equitopiacenter.com for some great cheap resources to learn more, and for free programmes there have been some good ones from Diana Waters Responsive Equine and Patrick King Horsemanship recently. Good posture is not imo achieved through long and low, so any method that focuses on that isn't going to be ideal.

 

[Irene211]

thank you .. will have a look.

 

[Bangagin]

Any update? I've just been searching stifle problems as I bought an Irish cob in May and a few months later once we got a saddle sorted and started ridden work she was struggling going uphill - so completely different from your boy. I've got the vet coming out next week to do a lameness work up and hopefully x-rays, but equine physio and farrier both think the problem is with her stifle. I'm trying to stay positive until I get a proper diagnosis, but am worried that it might be something serious rather than just being related to growth spurts. At the moment she is hooning around in the field like a lunatic so it's obviously not holding her back. Just got everything crossed that she doesn't make things worse.

 

[Irene211]

@Bangagin

Hi...we are literally home today. Bone scan showed nothing very obvious do they did more xray and then nerve blocked his stifles .

Showed thickened cartilage. They did an arthroscopy on both stifles, and found in the leg he had been most lane on a small fragments of bone which the cartilage had grown over.

They didnt feel it warranted trimming the cartlidge so they flushed it out and he is on bute for 5 days..stereoid injection in two weeks, box rest for a month, and a restricted paddock for two months. He can be walked in hand for 5 mins a day ..upping to 30 mins over a month and then light hacking at a walk...for 30 mins.

I have to say that although he was very lame he still managed to tear round the field so that doesn't help

Note ..he went in for a bone scan...and also had xrays and scanning...which came to 2700 and then 3000 on top for the xray.

Insurance only pays up to 5000.


Hope you have better luck with your horse

 

[Bangagin]

@Bangagin

Hi...we are literally home today. Bone scan showed nothing very obvious do they did more xray and then nerve blocked his stifles .

Showed thickened cartilage. They did an arthroscopy on both stifles, and found in the leg he had been most lane on a small fragments of bone which the cartilage had grown over.

They didnt feel it warranted trimming the cartlidge so they flushed it out and he is on bute for 5 days..stereoid injection in two weeks, box rest for a month, and a restricted paddock for two months. He can be walked in hand for 5 mins a day ..upping to 30 mins over a month and then light hacking at a walk...for 30 mins.

I have to say that although he was very lame he still managed to tear round the field so that doesn't help

Note ..he went in for a bone scan...and also had xrays and scanning...which came to 2700 and then 3000 on top for the xray.

Insurance only pays up to 5000.


Hope you have better luck with your horse

Oh gosh. I had the vet out this morning and she has diagnosed bilateral hind limb lameness (we thought it was just one hind) and has recommended a bone scan to show up the hot spots rather than a lameness work up with nerve blocks and x-rays - as both are roughly same cost. Now I've read your experience she could come back from that with no obvious diagnosis. I've just been through an awful experience with one of my dogs where they failed to diagnose his problem so I really don't have a lot of faith in vets right now.

This is such a dilemma.

I hope the treatment plan works for your boy. Keeping everything crossed.

 

[Bangagin]

@Irene211 - my vet has estimated the cost of bone scan to be £1500 but your costs seem much higher. I'm feeling quite worried now about the cost. As of course there will be a lot more expense once we finally get a diagnosis - eek!!

 

[Irene211]

@Bangagin I still think it eas worth getting the bone scan to rule everything out. My friend was in at the same time with her horse and it showed he had kissing spine.

The 2700 comprised the bone scan...xrays ...nerve blocking and scanning .and bed and board...hope this helps