Mt horses back leg locked up?

Question

Last wendsday my horse came out of her stall dragging her back leg, it looked like a peg leg. She was fine when she went in her stall the night before, and it doesnt look like she got cast. She acts like she cant bend her hock and when she puts her hoof down, its upside down, with the front of her hoof on the ground, and she is putting weight on it when her foot is turned like this, almost like she doesnt know its upsidedown. You can manually turn her hoof so it is right side up, and she will put her weight on that leg when she is standing still, or pivoting, but wont bend her leg. The next morning her leg wasnt locked up but she still seemed off. The vet looked at her and wasnt sure what was wrong, so she put her on bute, stall rest, with hand walks. She looks ok at a walk, maybe a little stiff, but last night she pulled out of my hand and ran a little, and it seemed like she wasnt putting much weight on that leg at all. Has anyone had this happen, what is it, will it go away?

Answer 1

It sounds like she's stifled, and her patella is getting "stuck" in an upward position, which immobilizes the stifle joint movement.  Don't reposition her hoof when this happens....you risk damaging the pastern/fetlock joint if you do that.  They also have difficulty bending the hock when they are stifled.

I'm not sure, though , why your vet didn't identify it as that, so maybe it is something in the hock joint, with nerve compression that causes her to lose feeling from the hock down and would explain the dragging hoof.  If the hock wouldn't bend, it may have a muscle or tendon origin.

If she has a post legged conformation, then the likely cause is locking of the patella.  If not, it could have been a nerve pinch somewhere like in the hock, which may or may not occur again.  Just keep a close watch on her stifle and hock joints on that side to see how they function.

Answer 2

She is badly stifled.  Get the vet out.  My horse's went away but was not as bad and I at least had a neighbor who KNOWS horses very well (son a horse vet) look at him and tell me what happened.

Here is what happened to you horse (same as mine).  It rolled over at night but wound up in a corner.  She could not roll back over so she started kicking.  The wall was in the way and she kept kicking.  She hurt what is referred to as her stifle joint.  Since she is worse than my horse and is really putting her foot down upside down like that, call the vet.  They need to make sure it is not dislocated.  If you go to the stall you will probably see faint indentions where she kicked.

If all is well, it will take 2 or 3 weeks for her to get to where the only has a minor limp, and perhaps that much longer for the limp to become unnoticeable.  It may take up to 2 or 3 months  for it to be as strong as it was before she hurt it.

BTW  They make a railing to prevent this that you can put up in your stall.  I simply pulled my horse out of the stall but you may consider it if you still want to stall her at night.

Answer 3

This sounds like it is Upward Fixation Of The Patella. In other words stifle. It can occur without injury. It can be from putting a horse on a dry lot or a small stall also. The best thing you can do for it is exercise, climbing  small hills & backing the horse. The Vets can do a series of Iodine-Almond injections or they can do surgery which one consists of cutting the ligiment.  The other is a newer one where they make several slits in the ligiment. This is a common thing in miniature horses because of their comfirmation. You might need to get a different Vet to look at her. Keep us posted.