The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Locking stifle on 9mo colt, help?

6K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  JCnGrace 
#1 ·
Anyone have experience with very young horses developing locking stifles?

I'll get a video soon & call the vet. In the meantime, is there anything I can do to help him?

It seems to of cropped up fairly quickly, 2wks since moving buddies away and today, I saw him leave his leg out and eventually 'pop' the leg into proper position. Him and the minis did a lot of trotting around, now he only walks.

I've read that walks and hill work should help somewhat. He lives 24/7 outside in a roughly 1 acre section of pasture and it is hilly with some level spots. He lives w/a mature, lazy gelding. He had 2 mini mares to run with, but his other testicle hasn't dropped, so they need to be kept away from him until he can be castrated.

Anyone have any advice?
 
#5 ·
Could be temporary and he just grew a little faster than his ligaments could stretch. Back when I was dealing with it they were saying a lot of backing exercises with some being backing them uphill if you could. Massaging the stifle would help my mini unlock his. About the same time I was dealing with it a friend had a boarder at her barn who was too and she had put her horse on a joint supplement, pretty sure it was Next Level, and it worked for her. It didn't work for mine, he eventually had surgery but I think yours is too young to be at the point of surgery being your only option.
 
#7 · (Edited)
So< he is a mini himself, or a pony?
It does not look like typical string halt to me.Perhaps an injury, as he was tearing around?
I would also not be keeping him directly across from those mares, as he is being aroused, and might result in a fence wreak.
I assumed he was a mini, as all his legs don't look quite right to me.
 
#9 ·
Interesting the horses I've known learn to swing their leg out and around. Doesn't work great obv but they can at least take a step. It's odd how he can't manage to take a step... Looks better loose though.

Just wanted to say that while I'm not an expert I understand it's not uncommon for it to happen as a youngster then the horse grows out of it (or at least it gets significantly better). So where he's obviously still growing I wouldn't be hugely concerned.
 
#11 ·
It seems to be one of those things no one tells you about raising weanlings, even if you ask. =/

I really do hope he will grow out of it!
It does seem like his shoulders have grown recently. I'll have to put a tape measure to him to know for sure. His hip was 45.5" last I checked and you could really see the difference.
 
#10 ·
Was putting up fencing and brought the pinto mini with me. She and the colt are BFFs, partners in crime, childhood demons if you will. I was working in the gelding & colt's pasture.

Pinto followed me around, as she tends to do, which meant the colt moved around a lot to keep up with her.

About an hour later, I finished and took the pinto out. Then went to have dinner.

After, I went and haltered the colt to lead him to an area that I had moved the hotwire fence over to let him graze the exposed grass. He led very well! Before, it was a massive fight, like he had never been on a lead before. But after, he led like a champ! Only once did he stop because of his leg.

Ugh, really wish he was gelded, as it is clear that having his friend with him helps a ton. =/
 
#12 ·
I had TMJ off and on as a teenager/early 20s to varying degrees. Knock on wood haven't had any trouble in years!

Not that I'm a baby expert but I wouldn't think to tell anyone that either lol most horses don't have an issue but I've heard plenty of stories of horses growing out of it as they grew, joints are funny things!
 
#16 ·
I've known a couple of ponies with locking stifle, something that's completely different to stringhalt.

The ponies have all been youngsters, Welshie types, that are all moderately to severely inbred (from the same rescue). The general consensus has been to let them have as much freedom and movement as possible, and to reassess at two years old, as long as it isn't causing any physical or psychological trauma.

I know it can look pretty scary, but all of the ponies I've known have coped absolutely fine. One of them, Doyle, had both hinds that would lock intermittently, and would lock quite badly. She is now a surgery candidate, as she hasn't grown out of it, and we'll see what happens from there. Others her age have since just slowly grown out of it, until we realised one day that we hadn't seen them lock for months.

So, IMO, don't panic, just keep an eye on it. They learn not to panic when it happens, and will just keep moving until they can unlock themselves. Often if you can make them take a step back it will release the leg.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wallaby
#18 ·
Thanks all.

This is something that showed up suddenly and he hadn't yet figured out what was happening to his leg and how to work it out.

With the short supervised visits with the mini, he improved drastically by the end of the day and now, 2ish wks later(?), it is gone. =/

His other testicle also showed up again and stuck around better, so he should be castrated on the 18th. Was supposed to be the 12th, but all the vets got swamped and things had to be pushed back. Y'all don't know how badly I want these dangling bits to go!

Here he is causing trouble on the 7th. :gallop:
He's so lucky the gelding is highly tolerant!
 

Attachments

#20 ·
As he is young I wouldn't overly stress but would work closely with the vet. It is very common in young horses and those that are unfit. My boy has EPM and intermittent locking stifle (thought to be secondary to the EPM). The EPM is improving but the stifle is getting worse lately. We have had him on a fitness program, but its not going the best. I have read basically a conditioning program including warm up, long trotting, cantering, and cool down along with other exercises like hill work, ground poles etc are good for building up the muscle. Other treatments include, hormones, blistering, and even cutting the ligament.
 
#21 ·
Well, bad news, not related to the leg. Vet had nothing bad to say about the leg, checked teeth and has a slight hook, but wants to wait on that, too.

He won't be gelded until autumn after all.
His second inguinal ring isn't fully closed, so vet is refusing to do it until it is closed, 100%. And even if it does fully close soon, flies will be out...
Or, I can take him into the clinic and they can do it there, so they can watch him in case he herniates. And I don't need that risk!

So, now I got a baby stud to deal with. Not fun having to carry my crop everywhere, already accidentally whacked myself in the face with it, brilliant. =D
He's generally good, but has his spontaneous moments. Thus the crop lives at my side.

So if anyone has tips for that little problem, I'll take it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top