Common Signs of Stifle Pain
The origin of hindend pain is often difficult to determine, but the following signs should make you suspicious of the stifle:
- Toe dragging and wearing of the shoes at the toe.
- Stumbling, reluctance to elevate the leg very far off the ground when traveling.
- If worse on one side, that leg may be rested more than the other when the horse is standing still.
- Swinging the leg in an outside arc rather than tracking straight, easiest to see at a walk and trot.
- Quivering of the quadriceps muscle after exercise.
- Heat or swelling in the stifle area.
- Reluctance to allow you to touch, or brush, the stifle area.
- Problems with the canter, including resistance to cantering, rough or overly bouncy canter, cross cantering, frequent lead changes.
- Hard, muscular knot in the gluteal muscle in the middle of the rump.
It's important to remember, though, that in many cases it will be impossible to say for sure the stifle is the cause of the lameness, or the only cause of the lameness. A thorough formal lameness exam will more often than not involve systematic nerve blocks starting in the lower leg and working up.
Soft-tissue damage that is not severe enough to cause instability in the joint has a much better prognosis, but only if it is diagnosed before progressing to the point of instability.
Don't ignore hind-end problems until they reach the point the horse's performance is severely compromised. Diagnosis will likely require a thorough and painstaking ultrasound evaluation. This may be something you need a lameness specialist or university clinic to do, but it's well worth the investment. Once the problem is defined, the veterinarian can give you a much more accurate idea of prognosis, and you can follow the healing process with serial ultrasounds, just like you would for an injury in the suspensory ligament or flexor tendons.
It's also important to realize that healing in ligaments and tendons takes a long time. A few days of stall rest and a short course of bute probably won't get the job done. Some general tips are:
- First, get a diagnosis.
- A short period of stall rest or paddock turnout, with local cold hosing or anti-inflammatory drugs, if the treating vet thinks this is advisable, should be used to get control of any active inflammation in the joint.
- Liniment topically is also helpful, or the vet may recommend local injections.
- Unless the vet feels there is a mechanical problem that requires special shoeing, most horses are most comfortable barefoot, with a carefully balanced foot, short toe and rounded hoof wall at ground surface to aide with easy breakover. Avoid studs, borium, trailers or any traction devices that tend to hold the foot to the ground.
- As with tendon and ligament injuries in the lower leg, controlled exercise during the healing period is important to the strength of the structures supporting the stifle and holding everything in place. Work with your veterinarian on this. Serial examinations of the joint and ultrasounds will allow you to make wise decisions about what level of exercise is safe and beneficial for the horse.
