Stifle Issue? (Double Post)

[Kate18]

I am having an issue with a project that we have at our barn. The BO has taken him in as because his owners ran out of money and he has been with us now for about 6 months. He is 13 so has shown in the hunters for quite a bit but was very well taken care of. We did a full vetting and all X Rays, flexions, blood work, etc. came back good. He had very slight changes in his feet but wasn't off, no reaction to hoof testers and seemed just fine. His hocks had some arthritis but nothing scary so the vet said we would probably have to inject them and we did.

Well once we did that his hocks were great but then he started "falling out" in behind when doing flat work. It feels like slipping on a banana peel. Vet came out and injected his stifles. The falling out/tripping got a lot better after that and now that he is really fit it's a ton better. He still does it though. It's not dramatic at all. I have done tons of cavalettis, hill work, and trot work with him. He does it every ride once we start doing some lateral work and I really push him into the corners, etc.

The vet came out and we tried to show him but of course the one time we did that he didn't do it. The vet said it just sounded like he needed strength.

What are your opinions on what it might be? I think stifles because it seems like once his hocks felt good and he was engaging more that's when we started having the "falling out" problem. He is such a cool horse and I don't know how much more fit we could get him. He isn't sore or lame, no reaction to flexions, etc. Help!

[vanillabean]

It does sound like weak stifles. I have worked with a couple of horses who had this issue, and it honestly takes MUCH longer than you first think to get the ligaments strong. It took a whole year of 6 day a week heavy dressage work to get one of my projects to stop slipping. A dressage trainer that can work on getting him really forward and over his back will help you a lot. They have to strengthen the muscles over their back and around the stifle before they can push like a normal horse.
Another thing that really helped was an excellent farrier. He added egg bars behind and set them back, because my horse was so straight behind that he needed more support behind his heel. (Horse had a steep fetlock angle too). He also added tiny nail heads to the shoe, 1 or 2, on each shoe, to give my horse a little more grip into the ground. BUT, we never did Borium shoes in the winter because that would have been too much torque.
Good luck and hang in there!

[scribbles]

It does sound like weak stifles. I have worked with a couple of horses who had this issue, and it honestly takes MUCH longer than you first think to get the ligaments strong. It took a whole year of 6 day a week heavy dressage work to get one of my projects to stop slipping. A dressage trainer that can work on getting him really forward and over his back will help you a lot. They have to strengthen the muscles over their back and around the stifle before they can push like a normal horse.
Another thing that really helped was an excellent farrier. He added egg bars behind and set them back, because my horse was so straight behind that he needed more support behind his heel. (Horse had a steep fetlock angle too). He also added tiny nail heads to the shoe, 1 or 2, on each shoe, to give my horse a little more grip into the ground. BUT, we never did Borium shoes in the winter because that would have been too much torque.
Good luck and hang in there!

I couldnt agreee more, my horse took so long to get those ligaments strong, but once we did he did great!

[dbadaro]

this is good to hear! my horse has the same issue. three vets and my farrier (whom is excellent) have all agreed to put my horse in onion shoes with trailers on each branch. my horse has dropped fetlocks as well and the shoes help. i much prefer him barefoot but if the shoes help, then it's ok with me