RE: For Tom - hocks/stifle

["Kathy Mayeda" <kathy_mayeda@atce.com>]

TI - regarding the stifle issue - I sometimes think that
the "locking" comes from a problem in the lumbo-sacral
area or the iloipsoas or something like that.  I am just
saying this because if I palpate my horses back in a certain
spot on his back, his whole hind leg on that side used to buckle.  
He had been diagnosed with an "upward fixation of the patella"
and was advised to do a lot of uphill trotwork.  Never really
went away until I fixed my saddle problem, and now he only
"drops out" when we have been trotting downhill at the end
of a looong ride (like the last 5 miles of my last 50 mile
ride which was pretty much a lot of downhill). 

But then again, he does have a funny hock action - tends to
hitch up as he swings his foot a little more inward than he
should on that same leg.  Drives my farrier nuts.

What do you think?  This is also causing me to think about
the hock..... Maybe one thing is causing a chain reaction
that appears to be something else.....  This diagnosis
was also done by an well respected lameness expert.

Kathy

-----Original Message-----
From: Tivers@aol.com [mailto:Tivers@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2000 1:14 PM
To: guest@endurance.net; ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RC: For Tom - hocks/stifle


<< Tom,
 
 I thought it was for sure a stifle problem, but the vet
 says no. He said that because the "locking" or stiffness in
 the trailer happens when the horse's leg is "under" him instead
 of out behind him, that rules out the stifle and points to 
 the hock. I originally thought
 that falling out behind at the trot was another stifle symptom,
 but I've been told by numerous (supposedly knowledgable) people
 that that's a hock issue too....I'm not 100% convinced that
 it IS hock instead of stifle, but for now I'm at the mercy of a 
 vet's opinion (albeit a respected "lameness" vet, for what 
 that's worth...)
  >>


The hock can't "lock". At least I've never encountered such a thing.
Maybe a 
fracture or a severely torn ligament might cause something like that in
a 
hock, but I've never seen it. On the other hand, there are several ways
you 
can get a locking effect from a stifle--or even a hip joint.

ti


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