Injecting Stifles

[pwrpfflynn]

My horse had his Stifles injected 9 days ago and he isn't really any better. I know lots of you guys have had your horses injected so I was just wondering how long before you saw a change?

[shawneeAcres]

Injected with what? was this a joint injection or a "blister"? We blistered my gelding about 10 days ago and he is doing fabulously better

[pwrpfflynn]

blistered

[shawneeAcres]

Have you had him in consistent (daily) work since the blistering? That is one thing that makes a huge difference. What issues is he having to be blistered initially?

[pwrpfflynn]

Yes, I have been working him everyday plus he gets daily turn out of about 4 hours.

He started by pinning his ears when I ask him to canter and now he is pretty much trying to refuse to trot or canter. He will do it but acts like he wants to buck dropping his head and pinning his ears. He also isn't jumping with as much effort as he was. He is better in the big outdoor arena than inside in the smaller one. He tries to cut the corners and basically quit me.

The vet is coming back out on Monday to take another look at him.

[CiegoStar]

When I had my horse's stifle done the vet told me it would take two weeks to see true improvement, so you might be a little premature in thinking it hasn't done anything.

Also, my horse was in very light work to start after two days of stall rest immediately following the injection. How much work did your vet tell you to give your horse?

[Ozone]

It take 2 weeks sometimes 3 for the horse to max out with his comfort level after injections. I would ride only lightly for the next two weeks.

[juliet]

Can you explain difference. My mare is currently on Adequan/Legend combination and we have talked about injecting her hocks....what is a blistering?

[Phaxxton]

When I had my horse's stifle done the vet told me it would take two weeks to see true improvement, so you might be a little premature in thinking it hasn't done anything.

Also, my horse was in very light work to start after two days of stall rest immediately following the injection. How much work did your vet tell you to give your horse?
I think you are talking about joint injections, not a blister.

A horse must be worked immediately after a blister and every day thereafter for at least a week.

My horse was blistered a week and a half ago. It definitely took more than a week to see an improvement. He had good days and bad days mixed in there. Additionally, you may still need a while of good work (a couple months even) to truly develop strength back there.

My vet advised just walk/trot work for the first week, no circles or sharp turns, adding in ground poles and hill work when possible. We started cantering on Day 7. We're not jumping yet and probably won't for a while, until we're sure he's built up enough strength behind.

I would work on strengthening his hind end -- lots of work on straight lines, over raised cavalettis, plus trails, and hill work if possible.

[Phaxxton]

Can you explain difference. My mare is currently on Adequan/Legend combination and we have talked about injecting her hocks....what is a blistering?

Blistering helps weak ligaments and muscles around the stifle joint. An iodine solution is injected into the ligaments and muscle groups. (search online for "internal blister stifle" for more information)

Joint injections inject usually HA directly into the joint, to deal with arthritis and other joint problems.

[Phaxxton]

It take 2 weeks sometimes 3 for the horse to max out with his comfort level after injections. I would ride only lightly for the next two weeks.
Are you talking about joint injections or internal blistering?

Horses who are blistered have to work fairly hard (depending on fitness level), even though they are stiff after the procedure. Taking things too easy would be counterproductive.

[pwrpfflynn]

The vet is coming back out tonight to take a look at him. Right after we had him done he told me it was very important during the first 5 days for him to get exercise. Not the same as normal work for the first couple of days so I only did walking for about 10 minutes and very little trotting. I did jump him over the weekend (just very small X's) and he just doesn't seem like he is using him rear end. My next step will be to call the Chiropractor. I ask the vet about that and he said he didn't seem sore but I think we should check. The other issue he has is that he has a club foot on the left and I paid the vet to Xray his feet to help the farrier to get him trimmed right and I am wondering if they are still off because I know the front can cause problems to show up in the rear end sometimes.

[Phaxxton]

Good luck! I hope you get answers from your vet. How frustrating! Did your vet also put your horse on estrone injections?

I guess every blister / vet is different. My vet had me trot him for 20-25 minutes immediately after the blister. Then, he had me do at least 30 minutes of walk/trot (mostly trot) every day for a week. After that, he started cantering again, plus doing cavalettis and hill work. I wouldn't say my guy is 100% yet (it's been a week and a half), but he's close. He's many times better than he was before the blister. He just needs to get stronger now. He was very stiff a couple of days. On other days, he would start out stiff, then stretch out of it. Now, he occasionally takes some stiff steps, but generally comes out sound. He still needs to build up more strength in his hind end, though, but that will come with time.

[Plumcreek]

One gelding I had blistered was pretty sensitive to things and his stifles were hot and swollen for a month. Didn't want them even touched, and I only did easy flat work. Once they settled down and tightened up however, his soundness level was vastly improved.

[thatmoody]

After I had my gelding blistered we did a protocol of trotting/walking for 20-30 minutes a day mostly in straight lines, NO jumping. The trot work was miserable for the first week, as he did NOT want to do it, but I made him, and after the first week he seemed to improve.

So how was the vet visit?

[Ozone]

Are you talking about joint injections or internal blistering?

Horses who are blistered have to work fairly hard (depending on fitness level), even though they are stiff after the procedure. Taking things too easy would be counterproductive.

Nope talking about j-injections. I agree with blistering... they must work ....

[pwrpfflynn]

The vet said the stifles are good now but he found some sharp teeth on the right side of his mouth and a sore. Even thought I just had his teeth done by an equine dentist the end of Aug? Don't know how to explain that one. Anyway, he floated the teeth and told me to give that a week and then we would see if the hocks still need to be injected. He said if if it didn't help he wouldn't charge me for it. He wants to see how much of his issues maybe his mouth being sore. I have decided that I am going to just have to be patient and try one thing at a time since we seem to have so many issues.