Rehabbing the mild stifle strain

[Lipsmackerpony88]

So at the end of May, my 4 year old suffered a mild strain in his stifle due to horrid mud. We are working with multiple vets (including two at CSU.) We also were battling sore feet due to change in weather, from extremely wet to horribly hot and dry. Plus Colorado has hard, rocky ground. He's a bit thin soled with white feet so things got rough.

Feet are slowly getting better. He's had time off but been in light work lately. Mostly walk work with light trot and pole work for stifle. This week he gets PRP just to help things along a little.

No real hills unless we haul to the mountains lol. But we have trails, poles and cavaletti.

I'd love any other advice! The vets aren't really concerned to be honest. I'm just an over paranoid mother. But I'd love any advice on how to best get him strong again.

[Ponichiwa]

What helped my mare with (relatively) weak stifles the most was just backing, in hand, 10ish steps a couple times a day. Whenever I led her anywhere, I did a couple steps backwards before heading off to the wash rack/pasture/stall/whatever. Doesn't look like much but made a big difference in her.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

What helped my mare with (relatively) weak stifles the most was just backing, in hand, 10ish steps a couple times a day. Whenever I led her anywhere, I did a couple steps backwards before heading off to the wash rack/pasture/stall/whatever. Doesn't look like much but made a big difference in her.

Oh thank you! That's one piece that I had not thought about. Easy to do too and I'm glad to hear that it helps your horse so much!

He gets PRP today. It's not super necessary but I just wanted to help him out a little bit. Basically we think there was an injury in the right stifle but now the vet thinks because he was out of work for a bit and he's young that it's kind of turned into more just weak stifles all around.

[piedmontfields]

Ditto what Ponichiwa describes. Some backing plus even mild hills at walk makes a huge difference for many horses.

[Ryeissa]

yes, agree to above but GO SLOWLY. Do about half what you want to do. It took my horse 7 months to come back to work.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Ok I would love for you guys to watch this and tell me what you think. This is not me riding it's the trainer. She is riding him bareback cuz I currently don't have a saddle since I had to cancel it twice because it kept pulling a shoe in the hind. Grr. They have a saddle that fits him but it's used on a lot of the training horses so they have to share with the assistant trainer lol. The trainer is also rehabbing from a pretty intense knee injury herself.

He's also very very fussy in the contact in this video. I'm sure part of it's just being young but also the weakness in the hind doesn't help. But to be honest the biggest reason he's fussy is because he is highly dramatic about the horrible flies. I've seen how he acts when you're just trying to lead him somewhere and he really takes it to a different level. Very sensitive skin! If you guys have any suggestions on how to battle that while being ridden I would love to hear it. And if you have found a fly spray that actually is working this season!

I am aware that he doesn't look necessarily sound and I can see the stifle issue in this video but I have to say he looks better than I thought... I've been terrified about what could happen for if we were on the right path.

The trainer is doing mostly just walking in the rides and this was the whole trot for the ride. She also is doing a lot of poles.

Anyways I would love to hear thoughts if you can make out much of anything in this video because I know it's kind of a mess.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

https://youtu.be/JbfXgqRJQRM

[Lipsmackerpony88]

And he is wearing hoof boots and behind currently since we couldn't get his right hind to hold a shoe! We're going to try glueons but it's going to be a little bit till I can get someone out. It's hard to find someone around here that does them.

[Ryeissa]

I see something, yes, but nothing severe. If you haven't had his neck checked I would do that, too.
He is a very pretty boy!

[Chisamba]

he looks so much like my mare who also had chronic stifle issues but has had a long productive riding life.

I**added, specifically to evaluate soundness I,would prefer to see a trot with a draped rein and no attempt to connect because natural neck carriage is an important tell.

His stride is " almost" even but from the side it is hard to see the swing out or in that often accompanies stifle soreness

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I see something, yes, but nothing severe. If you haven't had his neck checked I would do that, too.
He is a very pretty boy!

May I ask why you think to check his neck? He had very obvious swelling and heat in his stifle.

But I agree It doesn't look as severe anymore but it definitely has improved. Poor boy definitely had tweaked something

[Lipsmackerpony88]

he looks so much like my mare who also had chronic stifle issues but has had a long productive riding life.

I would prefer to see a trot with a draped rein and no attempt to connect because natural neck carriage is an important tell.

His stride is " almost" even but from the side it is hard to see the swing out or in that often accompanies stifle soreness

Glad to hear your mare was able to still go on. His was definitely an injury from the mud. It was a pretty distinct change and swelling in the stifle. He also was pretty reactive in his SI area but that has gone away as far as palpitation. So I'm hoping it doesn't become chronic since we caught it early.

I also agree about the rein. She usually rides her horses very up and open and I think she's kind of battling the flies and him wanting to kind of whip around then truly get him connected. But regardless I do agree.

[StraightForward]

It is hard with young horses when there are not as many training tools in the toolbox to rehab them, but my thought is that he looks pretty quick, and if he could be slowed a little so the back feet stay a little more grounded in each stride, that might help to build him up to help carry over time. If he can do a little SI at the walk and build up to SF in a small trot, I think that could be helpful.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I will admit any rehab is a little bit hard mentally for me to deal with after losing two young horses to neurologic issues. I know this is nothing in that ballpark but it's hard not to feel so bummed.

But I think we are on the right path. I do think I am going to insist on some ultrasounds just so I know kind of where we are at.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

It is hard with young horses when there are not as many training tools in the toolbox to rehab them, but my thought is that he looks pretty quick, and if he could be slowed a little so the back feet stay a little more grounded in each stride, that might help to build him up to help carry over time. If he can do a little SI at the walk and build up to SF in a small trot, I think that could be helpful.

Yes it's definitely tricky with how green he is and then the flies are really making it hard. We are all ready for fall!!

Slowing him down I'm working on a little shoulder in sounds good. He's pretty smart too. Although I will say he's been uber lazy with the heat flies and then of course not feeling great.

We are also dealing with some eye goop from the flies. It's seriously a battle right now lol.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I almost think that she should just leave his fly boots on while they ride. And I'm going to bring his fly bonnet out there. It won't eliminate all of his sensitivity but might help a little bit.

[Moutaineer]

Have you done the PRP yet? It will be interesting to see how he feels a couple of weeks after that.

He looks tight and guarded in his back, which could well be from the after effects of the stifles being sore, but bear in mind it could be from being trotted bareback without any carrying muscles. (Because Potters has lost so much of his top line, I'm being very careful to ride him in a light, somewhat more forward seat until he's got something to support me.) That could be why he's a bit fussy, too. But he's really not being that fussy for a green bean with a weak hind end!

What does he look like on the lunge or in hand?

He's very cute indeed and once you are over this hurdle, I think you are going to have a ton of fun with him!

[blob]

I'd be curious to see him turning the other direction, because a lot of this looks like it's coming from a bend that is not really through. Meaning, in bend the outside half of the body should be elongated and that does not seem to be the case.

The other thing I would say is: he's still young and sometimes young horses have wonky moments. MM had a weird NQR thing when she was 5. I couldn't figure it out. I felt insane because it wasn't really LAME but it wasn't right and wasn't the way she was earlier. After spending a lot of money and emotional energy on trying to figure it out. I just let dr. green do its work. She got about 4-5 months where i didn't even look at her progress. she got turn out, I kept grooming her and interacting with her (I didn't want her to get feral after all). But i didn't ride or lunge or trot down isles to check. I just needed to not look at it and see if time would heal. Sure enough whatever was going on went away and hasn't resurfaced.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Have you done the PRP yet? It will be interesting to see how he feels a couple of weeks after that.

He looks tight and guarded in his back, which could well be from the after effects of the stifles being sore, but bear in mind it could be from being trotted bareback without any carrying muscles. (Because Potters has lost so much of his top line, I'm being very careful to ride him in a light, somewhat more forward seat until he's got something to support me.) That could be why he's a bit fussy, too. But he's really not being that fussy for a green bean with a weak hind end!

What does he look like on the lunge or in hand?

He's very cute indeed and once you are over this hurdle, I think you are going to have a ton of fun with him!

Yes we did the PRP so this is his first ride back from that. He had a little bit of time off from that. I do agree that being trotted bareback is probably not helping him. Like I said they usually use a jumping saddle on him but sometimes I think they're using it on other horses. She does do probably about 20 or so minutes of walk work only and then about 5 minutes of trot right now. Hopefully I can finally get a saddle which would help. I feel like we are playing wack a mole right now which is various issues, just bad luck really. But I hope you're right and that once we get through this we can start to have some fun.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I forgot to add that when he's on the lunge and can be encouraged to stretch down a little bit more He looks better. He does always start off looking kind of icky and really off behind but after just a few strides it's like he warms up and looks better.

Blob, I agree that he's not really through. I don't think it's the best video because I know the flies are really bothering him there lol But it's the only video I have at the moment since he has had some rehab.

Dr Green wouldn't be a bad idea but it is really hard to find pasture here. And CSU and the local that are all very insistent that they want him in work right now for that stifle. He had obvious swelling and it was definitely like an injury that was acute at the time. I do wish we had ultrasound and I think I'm going to push for that at the next checkup. I've already kind of been pushing it but everybody thinks that while there was clearly an injury that with the rate of recovery, it was mild. I will definitely keep that in mind if things don't improve and just hopefully find a place to kind of let him hang out.

[Ryeissa]

I see something, yes, but nothing severe. If you haven't had his neck checked I would do that, too.
He is a very pretty boy!

May I ask why you think to check his neck? He had very obvious swelling and heat in his stifle.

But I agree It doesn't look as severe anymore but it definitely has improved. Poor boy definitely had tweaked something

Yes, I see the stifle as I said. He looks a bit locked in the neck. There is just a look about it that makes me wonder.

I do horse massage professionally so I tend to check out everything. It might be just the bugs, but worth a check. Sometimes the horse is injured in more than 1 place, sometimes it's compensation for other soreness, or some horses like mine also have a shorter neck and just hold tension there vs the back or hips. Most horses I work on have neck tension so not a big deal, however, always want to make sure its not arthritis or injury. Good luck!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I see something, yes, but nothing severe. If you haven't had his neck checked I would do that, too.
He is a very pretty boy!

May I ask why you think to check his neck? He had very obvious swelling and heat in his stifle.

But I agree It doesn't look as severe anymore but it definitely has improved. Poor boy definitely had tweaked something

Yes, I see the stifle as I said. He looks a bit locked in the neck. There is just a look about it that makes me wonder.

I do horse massage professionally so I tend to check out everything. It might be just the bugs, but worth a check. Sometimes the horse is injured in more than 1 place, sometimes it's compensation for other soreness, or some horses like mine also have a shorter neck and just hold tension there vs the back or hips. Most horses I work on have neck tension so not a big deal, however, always want to make sure its not arthritis or injury. Good luck!

The local vet that has seen them twice is also a body worker as far as chiropractic and acupuncture. She initially said he was sore in his SI and also sore in his right wither a month ago. But at the recheck last week she did not find any soreness and thought that he was much improved body wise.

I am having a massage therapist hopefully come out in the next week or so just to help him out a little bit. I personally think that the tightness is the flies/weakness behind/ and like Mountaineer said being ridden bareback at the trot. But I will definitely have the massage therapist check out his neck as well.

[Ryeissa]

sounds good! keep us posted.

[khall]

Try the cashel quiet ride fly mask. Living in Georgia we have horrid gnats so my horses go in these masks all summer long

Work is the best for stifles as long as the injury is not too severe. While Gallie did not have an injury she did have bilateral stifle OCD. Injection did not help. This was before irap etc so I started using feed through ha the liquid ones and she went sound. That and work kept her going for years and working 2ns/3rd level. Then she had to be stalled for 10 months after she foundered (dex) and was dead lame. IRap and she is sound in the field not in work now at 26

Good luck! I think you are in the right track and he is going to be fun to work with

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Will do! I'm definitely interested in seeing how he does in the next few weeks. Hopefully the PRP, massage, and eventually glue on shoes will all help. He comes back from training at the beginning of September. Obviously things didn't go as I had envisioned but he is still gotten a good amount of exposure in training. And he's been introduced to poles, been on some trail rides (just field/prairie ones) and will be trailered out a little bit. Just down the road but it's more exposure!

I'm kind of eager to have him back home so I can be more involved in this rehab process. That's really hard being 45 minutes away right now!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Try the cashel quiet ride fly mask. Living in Georgia we have horrid gnats so my horses go in these masks all summer long

Work is the best for stifles as long as the injury is not too severe. While Gallie did not have an injury she did have bilateral stifle OCD. Injection did not help. This was before irap etc so I started using feed through ha the liquid ones and she went sound. That and work kept her going for years and working 2ns/3rd level. Then she had to be stalled for 10 months after she foundered (dex) and was dead lame. IRap and she is sound in the field not in work now at 26

Good luck! I think you are in the right track and he is going to be fun to work with

I was looking at those and wondering if that might help! I'm bringing out the fly bonnet but obviously if his eye is bugging him then a more mask like thing would be better. He is wearing a fly mask now other wise.

The vets really didn't think that the injury was severe and thought that ultrasound was unnecessary. I think part of it was how the swelling presented itself or something? I'm not sure but I do think I am going to push for ultrasound sometime this month. I think it'll just make me feel better. But we are seeing improvement with getting him back into work so I think that means we are on the right track! I think he will be fun once we get through this rough patch. He's definitely a barn favorite! I always get asked if he's a thoroughbred or something which I think is funny because to me he looks straight up like a quarter horse!

[Ryeissa]

The vets really didn't think that the injury was severe and thought that ultrasound was unnecessary. I think part of it was how the swelling presented itself or something? I'm not sure but I do think I am going to push for ultrasound sometime this month. I think it'll just make me feel better. But we are seeing improvement with getting him back into work so I think that means we are on the right track! I think he will be fun once we get through this rough patch. He's definitely a barn favorite! I always get asked if he's a thoroughbred or something which I think is funny because to me he looks straight up like a quarter horse!

Isn't ultrasound fairly standard? that surprises me that they didn't suggest one before. I would definitely get more diagnostics to see where he is at.
I'm glad he is doing better!
I had a horse with a stifle injury and it took 7 months to get better, most of that in a stall or small pen. No riding but I tend to be a wuss and give my horse months off vs pushing anything.

[Chisamba]

not trying to poach your thread, but my horse that reminds me of Lynx.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

The vets really didn't think that the injury was severe and thought that ultrasound was unnecessary. I think part of it was how the swelling presented itself or something? I'm not sure

Isn't ultrasound fairly standard? that surprises me that they didn't suggest one before. I would definitely get more diagnostics to see where he is at.
I'm glad he is doing better!
I had a horse with a stifle injury and it took 7 months to get better, most of that in a stall or small pen. No riding but I tend to be a wuss and give my horse months off vs pushing anything.

I would think so! That's why I had CSU out as well but at the time he was very footsore, which they thought it was more important than the stifled the time. In fact I thought the stifle was no big deal.

I did ask the local vet again about ultrasound but she said if she thought it was serious, she would definitely ultrasound. She thought it was overkill... I don't know. Sometimes I think it's worth the peace of mind lol.

What type of stifle injury did your horse have? I've always heard initially some time off/rest but then work is good for stifle issues.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Chisamba! They look very similar! This is the mare you were talking about? I'd love to hear more about her. Very pretty. Similar hind end for sure

[Ponichiwa]

I've had knee injuries before, and it's a similar rehab plan. Strengthening after the acute pain phase is over, risk of relapse if you overdo it, etc.

With everything going on (saddle, shoes/soles issues, stifle), hard to say if the vague unsteadiness is pain or other. Recommend in-hand backing up (benefits include: can see what he does when the affected stifle swings backwards-- does he avoid stepping straight backwards with the weaker side? and also very low likelihood of overdoing it).

I'd be remiss if I didn't comment about how absolutely adorable he is. Super cutie!

[Moutaineer]

It's quite a hard area to get good ultrasound images of.

When Laddie stuffed up his stifle, which was I think 4 years ago now, we did ultrasound, but found nothing significant, but it was obviously where the problem was from the way he moved. Any further diagnostics would have been quite invasive, so my vet was of the "treat it and see what happens rather than poking holes in him" school of thought. So that might be the vets reasoning.

And yes, you've got a few things to sort out before you can really see what going on there.

[Ryeissa]

Massage will help- I have had success with that and chiro as my two treatments both for my horse and my clients' horses.

[blob]

Blob, I agree that he's not really through.

Dr Green wouldn't be a bad idea but it is really hard to find pasture here. And CSU and the local that are all very insistent that they want him in work right now for that stifle. He had obvious swelling and it was definitely like an injury that was acute at the time. I do wish we had ultrasound and I think I'm going to push for that at the next checkup. I've already kind of been pushing it but everybody thinks that while there was clearly an injury that with the rate of recovery, it was mild. I will definitely keep that in mind if things don't improve and just hopefully find a place to kind of let him hang out.

I don't think Dr. Green necessarily means a horse needs to be on 24/7 pasture. I think it means that the horse gets time to recover with ample turnout. How much turnout does he currently get? I'm sure part of the reason CSU wants him in work is also keep it moving.

But I would say that if he's not in correct work, you're not going to get the benefit. I'm not saying the clip demonstrated anything terrible. But if a horse is not bending correctly and you are trying to rehab them back, it might be better to not ask for bend at all at this stage. Because if the outside half of the body is staying short then you are not going to correctly strengthen the stifle, which is the point of work. At early stages a lot of quiet work is going to make the biggest difference--raised poles at the walk (where there are no strides between), long walks, walk--halts where he is staying very still, trot sets that are forward and into contact (but not in a longer frame), etc.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

He's always lived out in a dry paddock in a herd so he's out 24/7 which CSU was happy with.

I understand your suggestions Blob and will take note. Like I said before 95% of his work is walk only and is including pole work. He also is starting to do mini trail rides, just walk rides in the field/prairie trails.

The trainer is not a dressage trainer. She's an eventer who specializes in starting young horses. Her specialty is exposure. She creates calm and confident. Yes could the rehab work be better? Yes but now my schedule is changing I can be a little more hands on. I'm trying not to micromanage for 45 minutes away.

I did get the cashel quiet ride and different fly spray so hopefully that helps.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I only posted the clip more in regards to the weakness/soundness not about anything the trainer was doing. I think it's hard to judge the entire ride off of a 21 second clip, especially on a green horse who is just now starting trot work after time off. I totally get what a lot of people are suggesting here though. But the clip sent to me was more of "He's doing okay so far after PRP, the flies are a problem though" text from the trainer.

[StraightForward]

Have you seen Jec Ballou's book 55 Corrective Exercises? She has a FB group and shows some of the exercises in there as well. Much of it is pole exercises that can be done in hand.

It's a totally different thing, but Tesla had an OCD chip removed from her coffin joint when she was three, and was lame longer than expected afterwards, so we eventually did PRP. At about the two week point there was a really major improvement and she was perfect a month after PRP. I hope it kicks in soon for Lynx as well!

[blob]

LS, to be clear--I am not being critical of your trainer. I do not think she is riding the horse badly. I think she is riding the horse well. It's more a reflection of where I think Lynx is having trouble. It's why I asked to see him go the other way. Is he struggling to lengthen a particular side of the body or is he struggling to get a correct bend either way? That gives us input. I don't think that's a criticism of the ride (particularly in a short clip), but it is a reflection of how the horse is going.

SF's suggestion of 55 corrective exercises is a great one. I use many of the exercises and SHOULD use them more often.

Yes, the 24/7 turnout is great whether there is grass or not. Dr. Green in this case would be just giving him time off from work to be a horse and grow/heal. The thing about bodies is that they are designed to be self-healing and sometimes letting them do that is the most effective way. But of course if vets strongly feel otherwise you should do what feels best to you.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Have you seen Jec Ballou's book 55 Corrective Exercises? She has a FB group and shows some of the exercises in there as well. Much of it is pole exercises that can be done in hand.

It's a totally different thing, but Tesla had an OCD chip removed from her coffin joint when she was three, and was lame longer than expected afterwards, so we eventually did PRP. At about the two week point there was a really major improvement and she was perfect a month after PRP. I hope it kicks in soon for Lynx as well!

I've actually been watching some of her little video clips on YouTube! Definitely will need to pick up that book. I have heard nothing but good things about her work.

That's exactly what the vet told me. To expect to see the actual improvement around the two or three week mark. So it will be really interesting to see him in a few weeks!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

LS, to be clear--I am not being critical of your trainer. I do not think she is riding the horse badly. I think she is riding the horse well. It's more a reflection of where I think Lynx is having trouble. It's why I asked to see him go the other way. Is he struggling to lengthen a particular side of the body or is he struggling to get a correct bend either way? That gives us input. I don't think that's a criticism of the ride (particularly in a short clip), but it is a reflection of how the horse is going.

SF's suggestion of 55 corrective exercises is a great one. I use many of the exercises and SHOULD use them more often.

Yes, the 24/7 turnout is great whether there is grass or not. Dr. Green in this case would be just giving him time off from work to be a horse and grow/heal. The thing about bodies is that they are designed to be self-healing and sometimes letting them do that is the most effective way. But of course if vets strongly feel otherwise you should do what feels best to you.

Oh yes that makes sense. Well hopefully I can get more video and actually be there to see how he's doing. I also will be able to get a few rides on him myself as well which will be really helpful.

As far as Dr Greene I only made the distinction because it's very different out west versus other parts of the country. I grew up in the Midwest and there was a lot of pasture and large plots of land. Here not only is it mostly dry a lot but it is smaller sized lots. So not a lot of large spaces although better than being in a stall for sure.

I think right now since the vet's think he has improved while being in work that we will keep slowly trudging along carefully and if something changes then I absolutely have no problem giving him time off.

[Sue B]

When Tio hurt his stifle (being an idjit on the lunge line on spring) I gave him a few weeks of down time and then put him back in work. He lives 24/7 in a large, hilly pasture with Rudy and now, Rabbit. At first, he was only walking up the hills, but by a week in, he would resort to cantering cuz walking was too slow. By 2, maybe 3 weeks in, he was trotting carefully so that's when I put him back to work. I had to lunge him in order to be safe on his back, so initially our lunge "circles" had a lot of longer, straight lines. He always looked lame at the start of work but warmed up out of it within 5 minutes. the same would happen under saddle too, and I could feel immediately when he was getting tired on that stifle. I did not ride any steep hills for a year, nor did I do any raised cavalletis or even jump. I only cantered if he offered. So I tailored his rides to how his stifle felt. It took a year to fully recover and now he has absolutely no sign of stifle weakness or pain.

My friend's horse injured his stifle in his paddock. She does not have hills or turn out but she did put him back in work as soon as he wasn't lame in the walk. She did eventually wind up getting prp, I think about 6mos post injury, and now, 2 years on, he is going Training Level eventing. She did a lot of poles on the ground at walk and trot and used a Pessoa type device on the lunge using the full arena for he "circle." Bottom line, most stifle injuries do heal up, good exercise is key to full recovery, and patience is your friend.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Thank you Sue B. This is very encouraging to hear and your timeline with your horse sounds a bit similar. We don't do any lunging now as my horse does not need it. We will stay the course very carefully!

[Kyra's Mom]

LSP, I don't think he looks too off at all. I think in the short video snippet, he is quick and so hard to tell anything when he is so bothered by the flies.
He is handsome, I know that .

Kyra has never had an injury but is weak in the stifles (rt>left). It showed up as soon as I started riding her. I had this one vet evaluate her and he tells me to ride (a 4 yo green bean) in collection . Of course I didn't do that. I don't have any hills where I am at so I did a lot of backing. Now I routinely do 3 sets of about 7-8 steps of backing up a slight slope (maybe 5 degree angle). I do it under saddle but you can certainly do it in-hand. The other thing I am adamant about is that she is straight. She is very willing to let the left hind do all the work...just no.

It is a complex joint and it just takes time. I do think that once they are over the acute phase, movement is very important so if he can be out 24/7, that would help. Take your time now so you can enjoy him for years to come.

Susan

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Susan, thanks! I'm so interested to see how he does with continued (light) work, the PRP, and massage. Fingers crossed.
I definitely will make sure to incorporate backing in hand for now. That seems to be some universal advice I keep getting so I am going to really make sure we do that!

I'm definitely in no rush. I had honestly thought about chucking him out and seeing what I have in a few months. But the vets are seeing a lot of progress right now so I guess we will at least see if things keep going well for now.

Before this all happened, we were doing a lot of in hand work so I will continue to incorporate that as well.

[piedmontfields]

Fingers crossed! Mostly, he looks weak and not ready for the frame expectation he is being offered (see Exvet's Brandon thread for a good ex. of young horse riding).

I hope he continues to improve. And yes, he is absolutely handsome and adorable!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Thank you guys!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

https://youtu.be/AfxVAyLG0kc
Here is an another video with some canter work. He's not in the hind boots if she wanted to just play a little bit of the canter before sending him away. And the boots are great for walk trot but start coming off of the canter :/

[Lipsmackerpony88]

https://youtu.be/5-kGoL3caTI
Actually I think I got the videos mixed up and this is the direction he is a bit stiffer. I think we will probably drop the work down a touch when I bring him home although I understand her wanting to just see what was in there before sending him away from her training.

Still figuring out the hind feet too. Which CSU felt was actually a bigger issue than the stifle but I'm not sure on that. It certainly doesn't help!! I want to try glue ons but it sounds like I will not be able to get someone to do that for another 6 weeks. Thinking of trying hoof armor.

[blob]

LS--if I saw those videos without any context of a stifle injury I would not see any issue with the stifle. Do I see a horse who is a bit stiffer one direction than the other? Sure, but isn't that nearly every horse? Do I see a horse who could potentially reach under more in the canter? Sure, but it's exactly what I'd expect from a horse who is fairly green.

The only part of the video that gave me pause was the going over the poles. But since I don't have a reference from prior to the injury, I would still tend to think of this as a horse who doesn't have a ton of coordination over poles rather than a horse that has something going on.

He is a lovely mover who looks like he is trying very hard for his rider. I do think some more pole work in hand/on the ground could benefit him, not just for stifles but in general as that seemed to be an area in the video where he struggled some. But it looks like he is doing quite well.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Blob thank you. I agree with the poles although that's hard to say because he had definitely never done poles before recently. When I go out I usually hand walk them over some poles and he usually does well. But I can tell that it does push him a little bit both physically and mentally lol.


I definitely will be incorporating a lot of groundwork and kind of slow and things down a bit with him. That is a great benefit of having him 7 minutes away from me. I'm really looking forward to it and happy to be more involved in his rehab.

We have a new farrier coming the 11th and are still going to explore the possibility of glue on shoes for the hinds. Next week he gets a massage and PEMF session. And on the 20th the chiropractor vet is coming.

I'm pretty excited and hope that things can only go up from here!!