Severe stifle lameness - Torn meniscus, advice needed.

ChieTheRider said:

My mare this time. I'm worried sick about her and need a place to vent or something. It's causing me more sleepless nights and wondering if I could have prevented this somehow.

Her vet appointment is Thursday. I've been waiting 2 weeks. It's gotten worse over the past few days and there is heat and swelling in that joint. She's a solid 4/5 lame with bute on board. It's painful just watching her. She's lame at a walk now too. And when I first called it was almost this bad and that was 2 weeks ago. Seems to have gotten way worse over the past couple days though.

I keep trying to figure out what it might be and how much it's going to cost and what if it's something that requires surgery till I'm on the verge of becoming a mental case.

I wouldn't be so scared if I was rich but I'm sadly not and couldn't afford an extravagant trip to Auburn for some ridiculous injury. That's my biggest concern.

Not knowing what it is makes it worse. The fact that she's on bute and still really hurting makes it worse. And I've not ridden her all winter so she did this out in the pasture somehow. I have no clue. It's bad enough to have caused some muscle atrophy in her hind end. She's been favoring it that much.

Sometimes it's just like the universe is out to get my poor horses and they've done nothing to deserve it.

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Sorry to hear this. Let us know how the vet visit goes.

Has she had issues for a long time? Muscle atrophy doesn't happen in 2 weeks. It takes a long time for muscle to atrophy. So that makes me wonder if she's possibly had a stifle injury longer, that has now just taken a turn for the worst.

Can you post a video?

Do you have her on stall rest right now?

Are you going to the vet or is the vet coming to you? If vet is coming to you, they will need to have portable xray and ultrasound devices, at the minimum. Rare to have bony changes/problems with xray on the stifle so usually ultrasound is really important to see what the soft tissues are doing.

True stifle injuries can be so difficult. Jingles.

@wvfarrier it's lameness. The joint is hot and swollen and hurts when I palpate it and she's three legged if you flex it.

@beau159 I'm going to the vet. They're an equine only specialist clinic who focus hugely on performance horse lameness. It's a couple hours away but they are the best in the area.

I suspect this has been an issue for quite some time and has just reared its ugly head now. About a month ago I noticed she was a little off but couldn't even tell which limb it was it was so subtle. She didn't respond to flexing and I guessed it was just her lack of muscle and being out of shape and maybe she needed a chiro adjustment, which this vet does as well.

She's in a small turnout pen. She did nothing but pace around her stall but is perfectly content to stand under the run in shed. However today I'm prepping to expand the stall with a couple more panels so she's got more of a 16x16 instead of 12x12. She hates being shut in and I worried she'd prioritize pacing over letting that limb rest. That and this last big storm system flooded my pole barn so I have to put in a couple loads of dirt before I'd pen a horse up in there. Everything just happens all at once of course.

She has been evaluated by this vet before and showed mild 1/5 lameness in this same leg way back in October. They said it was most likely needing some muscling and work and the fact she has some mild scoliosis exacerbates the issue but they were not worried. Still, makes me wonder if there has been some sneaking thing that has just gotten way worse suddenly. She did have some arthritis.

With how hot and swollen and painful this is it makes me think she tore up some kind of tendon or ligament. Or maybe an ocd lesion? Though my money is on soft tissue. Frankly a small bony change or lesion might be easier to handle than tendon and ligament nonsense. I've been through that rehab time and time again and it is no fun especially when I leave the house at 6:00 in the morning and don't get home till 5:00 so it's not like I can be hand walking and icing her three times a day.

She's going to get whatever she needs to find out what this is and feel better. She'll need xrays and ultrasounds at the minimum

Thanks you guys for thoughts and prayers. This year just hasn't been it.

FWIW my Moonshine had bad arthritis that was managed for years through injections (synthetic synovial fluid and steroids) in one stifle. Then we had to move to injections in both stifles Then she was off and on slightly lame for a month, and then something happened one day, I think in the pasture, and she just blew out that joint. It was just totally shredded. There was a ton of fluid, but not much actual joint there left to fix at that point.

The vet tried PRP treatment, but that didn't work. As a last-ditch effort, he did an injection of Noltrex, and that seems to have fixed the problem for now. She's also on daily Equioxx. This is just to keep her pasture sound. He says she might continue to be pasture sound for years.

I don't know, your mare may have a totally different issue, but this is what happened to my mare.

Not so great update but I guess it could be worse...

She has a nasty tear in her meniscus. The prognosis isn't fantastic. I'm not really upset about the vet being pretty darn sure she'll never run barrels or jump again because there's a million other things to do and my goals were never professional level performance. But it's still not great to hear that. Vet said it's too early to tell what the outcome will be but she's going to be on stall rest for 30 to 45 days with meds and icing till we go back for a recheck. Her joint was so swollen it was hard to see anything clearly.

But hey, at least it's not a pelvic fracture I guess. That would have been worse.

Any helpful advice would be appreciated. Been a long day of driving and dealing with hurt critters and I could stand someone else doing my thinking for me for a little while.

ChieTheRider said:

@walkinthewalk what kind of power does yours put out? I'm seeing many online that put out 660nm to 850nm... whatever that means. Are these units all somewhat created equal? I would definitely use it on me if it helped just wearing different shoes yesterday cause my plantar fasciitis to flare up and today it feels like I have a rock in my boot heel.

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It would seem so as mine is also 660nm to 850nm.

This one is totally made just outside Nashville, TN. They give ten gold stars customer service and
I would still have the original pad I bought in 2004, had I not been careless and dropped it in a bucket of water in 2020. I called them that morning and I had a new one the very next day.

The upshot to the new one is that it has a built-in timer and it’s nearly the same price as the one I bought in 2004👍👍


If you buy this, DON’T buy off Amazon. Buy directly from the company, unless something has changed and they aren’t taking direct orders anymore.

The 6” x 9” pad is sufficient. If you can swing the extra $150 for the battery pack do that, however🤠

It is pricey but still one of the cheapest useful Therapy items out there.

P.S. watch your horse for any reaction. It will tell you if the pad is in an uncomfortable place or if if it feels good in that spot