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I was told by the vet to excercise - uphill trots.  I think vet assessment is definitely necessary.  I found that Beau is worse after a layout, and is much better with his upward fixation of the patella when he's in shape.

 

However, we had an overweight Morgan lock her stifle at the ranch and she has a torn ligament now as well - on top of arthritic changes.  The owner was trying to get her into shape, but probably pushed her too hard too soon.

 

K.

On Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 7:29 PM, Lucy Chaplin Trumbull <elsietee@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Barbara - I have a mare who had this problem. Alas, she
has a different, unrelated lameness problem now, so I can't
tell if she's cured, but this is what was recommended to me:

First of all, get the horse comfortable again. Please don't
try and push him through it. My vet recommended putting Surpass
on the stifle to reduce inflammation and giving her some time 
off (she was sore to palpation and tried to kick the vet).

In the mare's case, we tried estrogen shots (supposed to loosen
up the ligaments as in a mare that is about to give birth) to
help with the locking. Again, I can't tell if these helped.

He also recommended a little wedge in her back shoes to help
her with break over - so definitely check his back feet and
make sure his toes are short.

 This problem can show up in an unfit horse who is asked 
to do too much too soon and doesn't have the quad development 
to cope with it. So really work those quads. Exercises that 
are supposed to help are things like walking over cavalettis.
Walking uphill, I believe, is also supposed to be good. 

Some people do things like put poles around food or water 
stations/in the stall doorway so the horse is regularly 
required to step up over - this will help strengthen that 
area. 

Another thing I heard (anecdotal) was a lady who, while
her horse was out, taught him to do spanish walk and (I
think?) the rocking back on the hocks required to do this
helped strengthen the area and the problem went away.

My mare was x-rayed and the vet could see the notch in the
bone that her stifle was getting hung up on. A popular 
surgery for this was to cut the ligament to release it,
however my vet said this often results in arthritis later
on, so isn't a great option. Instead, he likes to blister
the ligament (internally), which serves to shorten it up
a little and move the stifle to a slightly better location.

Had my mare not gone lame in a different place, that was
going to be the last thing I tried once I'd given her time
off to reduce the inflammation, followed by careful work. 

HTHs

Anyone have any experience with
upward pateller fixation? I have an 
almost 5-year old Polish arab gelding who exhibits this by dragging his 
hind toes, and sort of "locking up." I've heard exercise is the
first 
thing to try and I'm ponying him. He's getting started under saddle. A 
trainer (200 lbs) got on him on the other day and the poor horse didn't 
want to
move!

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Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
elsietee AT foothill DOT net
Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, CA
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