Treatment options for locked stifle joint.

[starsnip]

Hi again,
I have a horse that locks up in the stifle, the vet has recommended giving her a quarterzone injection which he says lasts from 6 to 12 months. This mare has finished competing and is soon to become a broodmare. I was wondering if anyone has had this injection for the locking stifle and how did the treatment go? I was wanting to know of any other treatment options like herbal remedies and their effectiveness and safety for a broodmare?
Thanks.

[Tweety]

I have several holistic horse care books, this is what it says:

A locked stifle happens when 1 of the 3 tendons that holds the stifle in place slips over a prominence on the bone but can't go back into place. Horses nautrally do this to sleep while standing up so they don't fall over. A stifle conformation that is too straight is what usually causes this.

Says there are 2 main treatments for this, exercise to strengthen the stifle and in severe cases surgery to cut the tendon that has slipped into the wrong position.

Exercise: To strengthen the stifle itself, trot up hill, horse should be lightly on the bit to engage the correct muscles, trot should be reg. working trot not a jog or fast trot. If your horse is outa shape you should start slowly, you can start off at a walk at first and build up to a trot. Do this exercise 3 times a week. This is a controlled exercise and you should see results in 3 or 4 weeks.

Acupuncture: helps decrease inflammation.

Homeopathy: Give both
Arnica montana 30c / 3 times a day
Ruta graveolens 6c / 3 times a day to prevent extra bone formation.
Lists no cautions for mommies to be.

Another book says: stretching the medial ligament of the stifle in a passive adductor stretch, active stretching in lateral work with overall improvement in muscle condition and strengthening should alleviate this condition. Basicly there are some exercises and stretches you can do to your horse to help this condition too.

Tweety

[Trishay]

I had a mare with severe locking stifles. Every time she laid down a stifle would lock. Every time she had to pick up a back leg to have the hoof trimmed, the opposite leg would lock. I finally put her on a supplement called Platinum Performance. I saw small changes fairly soon, but it took several months for it to completely make a difference.

[starsnip]

Thanks for your replies. The vet didn't recommend cutting as this can cause arthritis. Iam exercising her to help build up muscle. I wonder how effective acupuncture is for long term treatment or is it just a short term remedy?

I've never heard of these before:
Arnica montana
Ruta graveolens
What actually are they and what do they do?

My mare is on mitavite breeda, can you use Platinum Performance with this?
Thanks for your help

[Tweety]

These are herbs:

Arnica montana (Arnica) is used to treat injury, trauma, bruising, & sprain.
It also reduces inflammation.

Ruta graveolens (Rue, common) is used to treat sprains, dislocations, and injuries that damage fibrous structures like tendons, ligaments, or connective tissues.

I do have the PDR for Herbal Medicines and it does say that (humans) people should not use Ruta graveolens (Rue) during pregnancy, however, the holistic veterinary guide for horses does not list any cautions during pregnancy so if your mare is preggers you might want to call your vet and check how safe it is before you give it to her.
I can also give you the compounds which makes up the pharmacology of each of these herbs but trust me when I say most likly you will not understand them...lol...I don't and I have a truck load of herbal book.

Tweety

[Tweety]

Oh, as far as acupuncture goes I have never used it myself or had it used on any of my own animals but we have used it on several of our (House Rabbit Society) rabbits and it's done wonders at helping some of the ones that come in with bad injuries to be able to move around alot better and with alot less pain.

Acupuncture is not something you can do yourself unless you've been trained to do it, therefor, some things that you can do yourself with the aid of books and a trained person to show you how a time or two is massage, magnetic therapy and acupressure, this works the same way only without the needles. Please understand that if you attempt to do acupuncture yourself you could damage or kill a nerve where it can not be corrected or repaired.

Tweety

[starsnip]

Hi tweety,
Thanks for the info, I will look into those products and liase with my vet about them and hopefully come up with a long term solution as I don't really want her to have a quartizone injection every year.
Thanks a lot for your help.