Re-conditioning after stifle injury?

Hey guys,

Soda took a bad step about 8 weeks ago (or so) and injured himself. It appeared to be in his left hind in the stifle area. Anyways, he appears to finally be sound. I'm having a friend come over who is a CVT to help me do another lameness exam. If all goes well I'll finally be able ride again!!!

Long story short, I want to be careful how I bring him back from this injury to avoid re-straining him. I'm assuming that like humans when they injure a muscle/tendon type thing in their knee, horses need to be carefully brought back to condition after this type of injury. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

I probably would have had an xray or ultrasound done. When my horse had a stifle injury (after he was rideable again as evidenced by xray) the prescription was long straight line at an extended trot and walk. Stifle injuries are very sensitive to circle so don't do them for a while.

Definitely get an ultrasound AND an x ray. I just went through this with my mare. She pulled a major muscle in her left stifle and it blew up like a balloon. I did both, because it was really important to me to make sure nothing was fractured.

I agree with hotreddun about circles. HILLS, HILLS, and more HILLS! They are great for building up the hind end. Start with walking for 5 to 10 mins... do that for a week and then bump it up for 5. When you get to 30 minutes, go to 30 mins of walk and 5 mins of trot then bump up trot... you get the idea. It really worked for my horse and it only took a couple of months to get her back up to par with that regimen. She is now back jumping 3'3" with ease and has no signs of re-injuring.

Good luck and keep us posted! I can definitely feel your pain! :)

I wish that I could've done an xray and an ultrasound (and could do another now) unfortunately due to some unforseen circumstances there is no way that I can afford it.... not even close. I did talk to a couple of vets and followed their recommendations on what to do with him to help him heal. I actually think that he has been sound for close to 2 weeks now, but I wanted to give him extra time off to let it heal further. I feel like a terrible horse owner, but it is what it is....

Anyways. He got the go-ahead last night. Not showing any signs of lameness, just a little stiff. She said its probably from him not using the leg to its full potential while it was still hurt. Did you guys do stretches too? I've read about some stretches for horses lately and was thinking that they may help loosen him up. Possibly walk (in a straight line) for 5 mins, stretch and walk for 5 more to start out with. I'll see if I can find a link with the stretches so you get an idea of what I'm talking about. Thanks for your suggestions so far, I'll keep you all updated.

I do stretches prior to every ride with or without injury. It seems to really help the range of motion and with my guys it means "stop eating grass we're about to work." I pull their front legs forward and up to stretch shoulders and pull back legs back and forward to girth line. Of course you have to start gradually like everything else. When I started doing this with my old guy he could barely go 12 inches forward and back.