Broken Pony

Don't you love those early morning phone calls... "Something's wrong with your horse."? It's only that much more exciting when the man who takes care of the horses speaks no English & tries to relay that information to the barn owner... who in turn tries to relay it to you. It was just a big jumbled mess... I had NO idea what was wrong. When I got out to the barn she was in cross ties & I couldn't see anything wrong with her leg. Quickly enough I realized it was probably the same stifle issue as before. Sure enough when I went to walk her out of the cross ties her back left leg was left dragging behind her. Thank God I had been witness to this before otherwise I would have had the same horrible panic attack I did when it first happened. Poor girls back leg was literally paralyzed she couldn't bear any weight & it dragged behind her & she hopped & hobbled around on 3 legs.

Last time we called the vet out & before she got there it corrected itself. She said it if happened again to back her up and it should unlock. Problem was I COULD NOT get her to back. Three of us tried, including Alamon who literally barrelled into her chest and pushed with all his strength. So after many unsuccessful attempts I called the vet who said he couldn't do anything, the only way to fix it is to back her out of it. He suggested I give her some bute to ease the discomfort & that she might weight bear & back if I did that. A friend of the barn owner suggested massaging the area with vetrolin to help loosen it up. Cheyenne LOVED that... not. It was pretty funny to see her hobble away from me as best she could on three legs... a little sad too. After an hour of massaging I gave up. I picked up some bute & made it back to the barn at 6 pm (mind you this had been going on since early in the morning.) I gave her some bute with dinner & as she was eating decided to try massaging again. I felt around the good and the bad stifle & found a little spot that seemed to pop in & out as I massaged. So I went with my gut & just applied pressure to see if it wouldn't pop whatever was out of place back into place. And wouldn't you know it, it worked!! I was so relieved & she seemed pretty thrilled (though a bit wobbly) to have the use of all 4 legs back.

I wish I had gotten video of how sad she looked on 3 legs. I couldn't find any videos of locked stifles online that even compared to the severity of hers. I hope this isn't a recurring issue. The first time is happened she was in a stall all night... but this time she was turned out so I'm not sure what triggered it. I certainly can't complain since I was able to fix it without having to have the vet out & now I know what to do if it happens again.

I gave her a day off since I'm sure if nothing else she was sore secondarily from accidentally putting weight on her bad leg incorrectly yesterday. She kept inverting her foot & putting weight on it since it was dragging behind. I lunged her lightly today & she did well... she was great one direction, better than she ever has been! She was a bit of a snot the other direction, but eventually complied. I'm going out to ride tomorrow, hope she's feeling up to it!

& If anyone is interested in learning more about locking stifles I found a handy little website here that gives the abbreviated version on the condition. http://www.equi-therapy.net/equi-therapy/horse-veterinary/sticky-stifle.shtml