October: Taking Matters into his Own Hooves

Harold, a large draft horse, came in from the field one day with a rather peculiar lameness: he couldn’t extend his right hind leg to bear weight on it. He walked with the leg in a flexed position, and on closer inspection it was obvious his stifle was the source of the problem. There was a firm mass protruding to the outside of his stifle- it was his patella!

There is a condition called upper fixation of the patella in which the patella (kneecap) can ‘lock’ the limb in extension when it gets caught or trapped on the lower portion of the femur, just above the stifle joint. In  Harold’s case however, his patella became luxated laterally, to the outside of the leg, preventing it from sitting in its normal position at the front of the stifle joint, thus preventing him from extending his leg. Lateral luxation of the patella is rare, and typically found in foals due to underdevelopment of the lateral trochlear ridge of the femur. These foals are seen standing in a crouching position because they cannot extend their hind limbs. In adult horses, it is typically caused by trauma. Although there have been a few reported cases of successful surgical corrections in foals, the prognosis in adult horses is poor. And in  Harold’s case, being a large draft horse, surgical correction was going to be near impossible.

Even with a grave prognosis,  Harold didn’t seem troubled, he still happily hobbled around the field, unphased by his laxed limb. And while Dr Danica was reaching out to various surgeons to figure out options,  Harold decided to take matters into his own ‘hooves’. We suspect he placed himself over a tree large stump, likely in the same situation that caused his patella to luxate in the first place, and ‘popped’ his patella back into place. Since that time, it’s managed to stay in place most of the time and his caregivers have been diligently doing passive stretches and exercises to keep it there. It’s truly a miracle.