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Location: U.S. | My 6 yr old gelding will randomly loose his right hind leg (it feels like it just gives out. (Like when a persons knees give out) He also some times has a popping sound.(From his stifle) Neither issues is a daily occurance but like it happens about once a week. He has had is hocks and stifles x-rayed and he has been seen by two great vets and they say nothing is wrong. But I really think something is wrong. HaS anybody had this happen??? |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
   
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That is what made me realize my horse had a problem in 1992. No one even knew what EPM was. Mine was the first horse in this area with it. I was lucky to have a vet that would research something until she found what the problem.
Right side
Rear foot says EPM to me. |
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Location: U.S. | I forgot to add he has been tested for EPM too... |
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 Draw the Line
Posts: 1371
Location: Too Far North | My mare does this. She just has weak stifles. So, the vet recommended a lot of trotting and hill work to strengthen her stifles.. We started lots and lots of trotting and hill work, found she likes trotting and trail riding and joined endurance riding. After 4 years of 25 to 50 mile endurance rides, She still does it. It's not an issue I worry about anymore. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | rockstarinboots - 2015-03-05 7:20 PM
My 6 yr old gelding will randomly loose his right hind leg (it feels like it just gives out. (Like when a persons knees give out) He also some times has a popping sound.(From his stifle) Neither issues is a daily occurance but like it happens about once a week. He has had is hocks and stifles x-rayed and he has been seen by two great vets and they say nothing is wrong. But I really think something is wrong. HaS anybody had this happen???
My son's mare did this the first two years we had her. I was trail riding her quite a bit in the mountains and he was running barrels on her. It was the right hind also; we would just be going along and it was as if she just kinda gave a slight "buckle" back there. Had two vets look at her and never got a solid answer. I even asked my farrier about it and he said that she was sore and stiff, because when he trimmed or shod her and let that foot down she took a minute to bear weight on it. She doesn't do it now, but we also aren't riding her as hard as we were back then. She was 11 when we got her, 15 now. I just chalked it up to having her legs run off when she was younger on barrels. But never got a definitive answer, like I said. (She did it almost weekly.) |
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 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | weak stifles most likely.. strengthening exercises will help.. |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| rockstarinboots - 2015-03-05 7:55 PM
I forgot to add he has been tested for EPM too...
The paint in my avatar is a different horse. He will probably have to have EPM medicine the rest of his life. He has been treated for EPM in the past. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| Have you blistered them? |
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Location: U.S. | readytorodeo - 2015-03-06 3:55 AM
Have you blistered them?
Please explain how that could be done and how that would help? I don't think I have ever seen or heard of someone blistering stifles? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
| for some reason geldings between ages 6-8 are more likely to have a catchy or sticky stifle - and usually when you go to the vet it doesn't happen so the vet just has to go off of what you tell him - I have a gelding that had to have only the right side blistered twice in his 7year old year and it made a huge difference I could actually see it when I would pony him from my other horse - it would just kind of hang the whole leg back a second or so longer than it should- the blistering helped him to be"normal" - but if you do it you need to know you should stick with straight line work for the first couple weeks and you do have to work them daily because you are actually wanting those ligaments to become a little irritated |
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 Expert
Posts: 1526
Location: Texas | Blistering stifles is when they inject iodine into the stifles to irritate them enough to cause slight scaring which will shorten the stifle ligament. Hence tightening a lose stifle. |
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 Husband Spoiler
Posts: 4151
Location: North Dakota | Lots of strength exercises. You may not need to blister. You may just need to increase your horse's work load and exercise routine. They really should not have any days off and should not be stalled. If you still need help in tightening them up you can blister them but you still need to work them in order for the blister to work or it will be a waste of money. Lots of long trotting, hill work, going over ground poles, backing (once they begin to stregthen). You can also pull the tail to the side a bit until you see the stifle tighten and then have the horse hold that position for about 20 seconds and then release and do it again. About 5 times per side. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1074
| My gelding had the same problem There are three ligaments in the stifle. In some horses the ligaments become lose or "stretchy". When this happens the stifle "gives" out. My gelding had EPM. We tried all the strengthening exercises and they didn't work. We treated him twice for EPM. He had a screw lose afterwards, but that's a different topic. His were so bad, that one of them would slip out of place and his stifle would catch. When it was caught, he couldn't move. I figured out to give him about 1cc to 1.5cc of Ace. It would relax him enough that the ligament would release and he could move around normally. I had his stifles blistered. It seemed to help. The vet injected iodine into both stifles 3 days in a row. It causes the body to make scare tissue there and tighten the ligament up. The next step was to slit the ligament vertically. Idea is the same, cause the body to produce scare tissue there and tighten it up. We didn't have to go that far. The final step is to completely cut the ligament. If you have it cut, they horse stands a chance of chipping his bone from impact when moving. Good luck with your horse. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 787
Location: NE Pa-Gods Country | YES....the stifle cords are loose allowing the joint to 'pop out'...i had my 'track vet' check my mare out...it felt like she was 'turning her ankle'...you need to tighten up the 3 cords below the stifle joint. you can do this by mixing Blue Lotion (liniment) and DMSO and rubbing it briskly crossways of the cords. but this is only a temporary solution, and so are steroid injections. over the winter downtime we did an internal blister of the stifles. 3 mo later so far so good. i will still take care of stifles before and after a run. but the blistering is best for the long run.
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Location: U.S. | Thank you guys! I had no idea about blistering stifles.
Other than long trotting what are some good ideas to strengthen stifles?
I hope I can catch it on video when his stifle makes the popping noise. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 938
Location: Texas | I had the same issue with one of my horses. I put him on Adequan, Polyglycan and gave him weekly estrone shots. I long trotted him for about 45 mins a day and within 3 weeks I saw results. Trotting over cavelletis and backing helps too. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| rockstarinboots - 2015-03-06 11:23 AM
Thank you guys! I had no idea about blistering stifles.
Other than long trotting what are some good ideas to strengthen stifles?
I hope I can catch it on video when his stifle makes the popping noise.
The blister I use is one you paint on. I just got through blistering my mares stifles. |
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Location: U.S. | Has anyone else tried Estrone shots? Did they work? Was there side effects (mood swings)? |
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Member
Posts: 45
| I tried the Estrone shots for a full year . My horse improved but still kept locking. I finally went to another vet an had an internal blister done 3 weeks ago. However, she is still locking . I will probably be getting it done again. There were no side effects from the Estrone . Good luck sticky stifles is a frustrating issue. |
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 Having Smokin Bandits
Posts: 4572
Location: Woodstown, NJ | Yes. The horse in my avatar has been doing this since I got him at 2-years-old and he's still doing it now at 18-years-old. Once in a while, he goes down in the back end. He doesn't "catch." He just goes down and then keeps going. Feels almost as if he stepped into a hole. Sometimes he doesn't do it at all and sometimes he does it a few times during a ride. I always figured it was weak stifles and didn't worry about it because in the past we were only trail riding him once in a while, but the last few years we started barrel racing him and as my daughter rode him more often for conditioning, it became bothersome and worrisome. The vet X-rayed him and said his stifles looked fine. I doubt we'll do any further diagnostics because of his age. We did the exercises and noticed an improvement but it was still happening. Vet said that people don't really do the exercises enough and that when they do, it works. Like that other poster said she did--trotted her horse for 45 minutes. That's a lot of trotting! And she reported good results. Anyway, we also started him on generic Adaquan. Now I have him on monthly shots you give in the neck. It's supposed to lubricate the joints. I can't say for sure whether or not it's helping but it's not real expensive so I'm doing it. You are probably going to have to find out first, if it is the stifle, and if so, is it weak stifles like we think my guy has, or is it actually catching. I believe they are two different issues. |
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Meanest Teacher!!!
Posts: 8552
Location: sunny california | aquatred works great for this |
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A Cool Sharp One
| have heard that Equine Leg Magic works great for stifles, have been thinking about trying it but not sure how herbs and such would help
http://equinelegmagic.net/equine_leg_magic_ingredients.html |
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Stifle "Giving out??"