[RC] Question about a stifle injury - Jennifer Fleet
Hi all,
I was wondering if anybody on here has experience with stifle
injuries? And by injury, I mean a torn ligament. My mare, Mahriah,
tore her medial collateral ligament away from the end of her tibia
about 7 years ago. X-rays and a nuclear scintigraphy showed the
damage, and bone spurs formed on the end of her tibia from the joint
being unstable. The vets told me at that time to retire her and just
let her be a pasture potato for the rest of her life, because riding
her would cripple her up in no time. She was 11 at the time.
Well, she is now 18 years old, has had 7 years off, and other than
sometimes *maybe* showing a wee bit of stiffness while walking (nobody
sees it except me), she gets around very well. By that, I mean she
runs full speed up and down the hills in her current pasture, does
sliding stops, takes off again, etc. Everybody who sees her asks me
"tell me again why you don't ride her???".
Has anybody here put a horse back to work successfully after the horse
tearing such a large ligament in the stifle joint? The vets at the
clinic basically told me she would be crippled up within a few years,
and even faster than that if I didn't stop riding her (which I did, and
then bought my gelding, Shahtahr, to replace her as my riding horse).
I'm asking this question because I think Shahtahr might be showing the
very beginnings of hock problems (which I will address with the vet),
and I really can't afford a third horse. I was wondering if I'd be
crazy to maybe try Mahriah on some LDs and maybe ride both horses,
giving Shahtahr a break....but would that be selfish of me, considering
what the vet told me when she was originally injured? I watch her
galloping by me at top speed with no problem and it makes me wonder if
I've wasted 7 years of her life. ??
Any sharing of long-term experiences with torn stifle ligaments would
be appreciated!
