My horse is swollen around the joint of her stifle. She is sore to the touch but isn't lame to walk on it. She still runs and bucks in the pasture as normal but doesn't want to be touched in the area. Should I call a vet to look at her? If it's not too necessary. What would be my road to recovery?

I do think that the next best step would be to call your veterinarian. Without being able to see her, it is difficult to say what might be happening. Your veterinarian will be to look at her, assess her gait and her joints, and see what might be going on.

My new horse of a month has begun making up and down stabbing movements with his left hind at the trot, once in the paddock and once under saddle. What does this mean? I am assuming stifle, but I don't know whether to rest it or "do hills" as everyone says.

Thank you for your question. I apologize for the delay, this venue is not set up for urgent emails. I hope that your pet is feeling better. If they are still having problems, It would be best to have your pet seen by a veterinarian, as they can examine them, see what might be going on, and get any testing or treatment taken care of that might be needed.

Hi, My gelding had his back done a little over a month ago, and I was told he was a little sore in his stifle and pelvis. I did think he had something going on in his hind but I'm not hugely experienced. He was great after that but the last few days he seems to be a little sore again. He is not lame and is fine to ride even jumping no problem (small jumps) I also asked my instructor while I was having a lesson and she said he looked fine. But he seems to always be resting that hind leg and when picking out his feet he will pick it up but not keen on keeping it up and he slams it back down. Should I get the

Without examining Harvey myself, I cannot say specifically what is going on with his stifle; if he is showing discomfort during picking out his feet or is reluctant to put weight on the leg I would call out your Veterinarian/Chiropractor/Physiotherapist for a follow up examination to be on the safe side. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM

Hi, I've got a 15 year old welsh cob who we noticed approx 4 weeks ago wasn't using his off hind properly in canter, he almost feels disunited on the right rein. He feels fine in trot at the minute. We did some flexion tests on his hind legs today and when we flexed his off hind including the stifle he trotted off lame! He has no heat, swelling etc to see! He's not dragging his toes or anything obvious

Lameness in horses can be tricky to pin down especially when only evident during canter or trot; if you’re unable to identify a cause yourself I would suggest calling out your Veterinarian for an examination to help narrow in on a cause. In the meantime, you should keep Jackson rested and give gentle walks. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM

Hi, I'm considering buying a 4 year old Thoroughbred (raced once) and the vet check came back inconclusive. As to the horse's hind legs, the vet was "Unable to perform whole/upper limb flexion test, not willing to flex leg up more than 10 seconds. No heat, swelling, tenderness or other abnormalities detected, except mild fetlock joint effusion. Hoof testers=negative; Static flexion=negative." Also, the vet found "Moderate reactivity to palpation of sacral/SI region, horse almost kicked out." What can be done to get more conclusive data to help me make a decision on whether to buy the horse which has a wonderful disposition, conformation and performance in walk, trot, canter and jumps?

For me, if there is any doubt you should not proceed with the purchase of the horse; however if you are wanting to proceed with pre purchase examinations I would call out another Veterinarian to examine Ax to get another hands on opinion before going down more expensive methods of examination which may be just as unrewarding. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM