I was wondering if anyone has successfully managed a horse with a bad knee? I have a two year old with a bone chip that is on the outside of his joint along with arthritis. As a wheenling he layed down and tangled his legs up in a panel and happened to hit his growth plate permanently damaging it. My vet had stated that we wouldnt ever be a performance horse what broke me. I retired my good horse and I do have others but I really have something special with this colt. I broke him this year as a 2yr old and only ride him once maybe twice a week. I have him checked everytime I take my other horses in and he has flexed and travled sound every time. My vet said he is shocked with how good he moves and and you would never guess that its looks that ugly on the inside. I know that he is going to break down at some point and im getting my hopes really high but I am hoping just maybe I can run him for a little while. I do have him on a sta sound and use BOT knee wraps along with DIO.

I think a lot of horses get diagnosed with injuries that end with "will never be" or "will never do..." and a lot of them can and do. As long as he feels good and you want to keep putting the time and money into him then I say more power to you! 

I had a 2 yr old stakes placed filly get kicked in the knee resulting in a bone chip.  Vets warned us that she would not be sound to ride.  She became  a barrel racing state champion and producer of winners with no sign of lameness for 27 years.  Wishing you the best with your colt.

That is amazing! Did you have to do anything special or extra for her to keep her comfortable?

We did not push our 2 yr old until she was 4.  Kept her on good feed, rubbed her legs/knees frequently and always watched for any signs of soreness (never had any).  Also kept her feet trimmed correctly? Vets have to be very cautious with predictions.  Enjoy your boy.

 I have one that broke her front leg. The vet and I were determined to get her well. Vet cleared her this past June and said he felt she could run barrels. She has no limp. Looks great. My trainer is honest to a fault and she laid it on the line that she was worried that the horse would not hold up even though she brings them along slowly. About two weeks ago she was laid out flat and I made her get up. She was three legged lame. I doctor the way I felt was good. Next day she was fine. I guess she hit her leg on something. That was the deciding factor so instead of spending the money to get her broke I am booking her to a nice stallion that will complement her bloodlines. She is Shawnee Bug, Leaving Memories, Streakin Six,Chicks Beduino, Beduino.  All on her papers. Ok. The take home message is if the horse is not going to hold up long term it is really a waste of time unfortunately. 

I think sometimes foals are resilient. I would keep doing what you are doing by monitoring him and making sure he feels ok. 

I am sorry about your filly but she sounds like shes going to be an amazing brood mare with those papers! You cant find any nicer than that. Since his injury happened early on I decided to keep him a stud just incase we couldnt use him for anything else. As fate would have it his sire passed away from a freak accident last year. I was looking forward to purchasing a sibling this year but they were not able to get any mares bred before he had to be put down. =(

Thank you. I was watching her run up to get hay today. She is a very flat mover with a huge stride. It just burst my bubble when both of us agreed that  she just would not hold up. Her name is Streakin Bugsy Bunny and is on allbreed. I have her mother also. Mom is an older broodmare so I guess I will have Bugsy as a replacement for her in the future.