Friday, April 17, 2009

Bella is going to be fine! It's just a locking stifle! I never would have thought it, because the most obvious sign was that her leg was giving out, not locking. But in reality it was locking and unexpectedly unlocking. There are a couple different types of very minor surgery that can be done, but Bella shouldn't need that. She just needs conditioning to get her quadriceps strengthened, and it should stop happening. "Start riding her," was the suggested treatment. :)

Dr. Dave Rustebakke is "gifted with lameness" is what my sister told me. Well, I know I'm happy with him! And his prices are about the best I've personally seen. I'm really glad I didn't go to WSU. Their quote was 500% to 1000% more (yep that's a thousand), and I bet they would have been twitching their little student fingers to do the surgery, and probably would have told me it was the best thing to do.

Oh, and going down the grade with the trailer was no problem at all. Last time I must have had my trailer brakes adjusted incorrectly.

5 comments:

froglander said...

Gotta love it when the suggested treatment is "go ride"! Hope you get Miss Bella nice and fit :)

Kara said...

Good news! I've used Dave Rustebakke before. I like him. He has great mannerisms with the horses. He did the dental work and trimmed the mustangs hooves for the first time while they were still under anesthetic...and prices are great!

Anonymous said...

My mare has exactly the same problem, and your vet is right - conditioning, particularly slow conditioning to build up muscle, is the best solution. Once she's fit, it's rarely an issue, although I don't gallop her on the trails anymore after having a hind leg give out once where she and I almost fell! She'll never be a competition horse, but she's now able to do everything I want her to do. Great news!

Lea and her Mustangs said...

Oh wahooooooooooo. I am so glad that the answer to her problem is to go ride. Bob doesn't mind driving down the Lewiston grade with a full horse trailer but I would.

Linda said...

Wow. That is good news. I figured you meant Rustebakke. He is a good guy and has been taking care of horses forever. I used him quite a bit--geldings, shots, colic, and a broken shoulder. I'm glad he was able to definitively diagnos for you. I didn't think he'd be able to.