Turns out Cisco has EPM. It is a neurological disease. All info below did not apply to Cisco. We are in the midst of fighting that disease now. We are expecting 100% recovery.
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5/8/2018 More EPM Learning- more than a year has passed
Cisco remains lame when I ride him. Finally I got to take him to Dr. Randy again. Yes, most of the limping is on the right rear. But here is the deal:
The muscle in the hind end that is most affected by EPM has gotten weaker. Other muscles have to pick up the slack. On Cisco it is his hamstring muscles (which start above the tail and then splits up and goes down each leg) and the muscles of his stifle (which looks like the knee on the back leg).
The stifle soreness is amazing as we thought this was a stifle problem in the beginning. In the beginning, we finally determined his stifles were not sore and the problem was neurological EPM.
When this all started, it became difficult to get Cisco to pick up his back feet. Well, now I know his hamstring muscles were affected by this horrid disease.
Cisco had a chiropractic adjustment. He had a lot of out-of-place parts of his head, neck and rear body parts.
Next was his teeth with a power float. He had lesions in his mouth, so that had been uncomfortable.
After his teeth were smoothed, Dr Randy injected pain killer in all the “points” of the body where the hamstring and stifle muscles run. There was a bunch of shots into that black body which he didn’t feel because of the sedation.
Also, Cisco’s tear ducts had gotten plugged and his “eyes have been draining/running” for a year. Dr Randy unplugged the blockage. Insert an instrument into his nose which squirts water up till it comes out of his eyes. This is a layman explanation. The nose is a conduit to esophagus and tear ducts. Good Lordy!
Last, Dr Randy drew his blood for another EPM check.
I’m to wait 5 days and then ride him. I feel that Cisco was in a hurricane of pain relief!
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I was a beginning human in “stifle” when Cisco became lame on his right back leg this past February. Lame means limping in this instance. I had confusion about where the stifle is located in the horse. It was explained to me it was the horse’s knee. I’ve always been confused about the horse’s knee and the hock. I thought they must be the same, but from millions of conversations, I had my doubts. I always just pretended to know the different parts of the horse’s hind leg. Being in horses 20 plus years would make one assume that they understood horses’ joints. I was just too embarrassed to ask anyone about my knee and hock confusion. Normally I don’t mind showing my uneducation, but not on this subject! It sounded so easy. Oh was I dead wrong!
Here are parts of the horse-labeled
Here is a good article to start with except it doesn’t have a picture of a real horse. This article is just slightly frightening!
Here is the best article so far that I have read by immensely respected Nancy S. Loving. And it is frightening….
Here is an article with pictures and beginner understandable language. This article is followed by many many links to other informative stifle articles. Also this article has pictures which really help our beginner understanding.
Here is a detailed written explanation of how vet medicine is coming along with stifle lameness.
Here is the web site of a human and horse physical therapist who specializes in rehabilitation of the horse stifle. I bought her DVD and now understand more of what is going on. Also there is a great discussion amount different people who have tried most of the treatments that are done with the stifle. These treatments are what your vet will recommend for your horse. Horse and Hound Physical Therapy
The stifle lameness took me highs and lows from February to August. Lameness and seemingly recovery and then lameness again. Plus I was sick during this time. I was found to have an internal blood leaking problem which I self-diagnosed as a vitamin defiancy until I thought my heart would explode and went to emergency room! It has been a rough first half. There were tears about Cisco. Stifle! I hate that word and all the anguish.
Thank you good friend Mindy who guided me to The Horse and Hound DVD and now finding and reading these articles above. Thank you Tony Vaught for continue to improve Cisco’s body and leg balance with his shoes. Tony is a Healthy Stride Farrier and works with Linda Parelli’s horses when they are located in Florida.
I think we need to keep Cisco’s shoes on this coming winter!
I am still confused, but Cisco is now 85% sound in my opinion. I might be an intermediate beginning stifle learning human now.
Note: I was riding Cisco and put my feet out of the stirrups and pretended to ride bareback. Immediately, my toes went up and heels down. Then I felt it! I felt the wobble at the right leg stifle. Aha! Now I can feel it when my feet are in the stirrups. Try it.
Trail riding was going great with Cisco. His gaits were strong. I felt no wobbles for around a month. I left town for 10 days. His pasture situation is static. He and other horses walk occasionally about a football field to graze twice a day.
When we had our first trail ride his back feet were slipping like a very short slide stop. Hmmmm. Second ride we increased our distance from 5 miles to 7 miles. We were on about 4 miles when something went very wrong and a lameness napped for about 4 steps. He recovered, but I thought I felt a slight wobble. On the third ride at about a mile, he started laboring to walk. It didn’t feel lame. But it felt awful. We turned around and headed back to,trailer and he commenced to pace at a regular walk. That is an awful feeling.
I became hysterical. At home I saw him dragging his back toes. Stifle was back!
I called our local Magna wave person and after his treatment, his toes no longer dragged. He was using his hind end and picking up his feet. Yesterday I had the she replaced. Today is a massage.
I asked a Facebook horse friend group to tell me their stifle experience. Here goes:
>I had a little horse who had stifle issues and had the tendons in both hind legs cut. he was 7 or 8 when we had the surgery he did great lived to be 34 and never took a bad step after that. I used him for competitive trail rides and then my nephew rode him and then my niece rode him.
>I have a liitle mare with a stifle problem. It comes and goes. Right now I am using Magna Wave Therapy on her. It still comes and goes, but, it has really helped and so far she hasn’t been a candidate foe surgery or shots.
>my vet says cut it there will be no issues later no more then there is in any old horse they all get some arthritis he has never had any horses with issues later down the road i do believe this cause my barrel horse was clipped he did so good afterwards and my uncle bought him from me yrs later, he rode him in the mountains hunting then yrs later he was sold to a family to be a kids horse he never had any issues. yes gaited horses seem to have it more i have snip a couple it healed in a couple days and was riding in 4 days
>I know several that had the tendon cut and never had problems because of it. A couple lived to 30 and didn’t have arthritis in their stifles and several are late 20s now
>Chatted with a fox trotter show horse owner who had the tendons cut on their horse. Horse was soon recovered and doing great. The horse relapsed when shown in a small arena. Later horse was shown at World Show and won ribbons.
Talked to another that had stifle tendon cut. Horse is also a show horse and is doing great.
Chatted a couple months ago with a person who had gaited horse tendons cut. Horse went thru a lot of rehab and finally ended up with a rideable horse with a correct, but short stride.
>Dr. Frees at Wilhite and Frees veterinary is one of the few vets skilled at treating upward fixation of the patella. Instead of cutting the tendon horizontally, it is cut vertically in small inscesions: Medial patella ligament splitting .Works very well and the horse is still able to lock its leg at rest.
9/25/2017. Took Cisco to Dr Randy today. I was expecting Open heart surgery, kidney transplant, and brain surgery.
Instead he had a chiropractic treatment.
His left hip was locked. He had TMJ. His lower neck acupressure point tested positive.
All his muscles are tense. Back legs are stiff.
We are to switch to lower starch feed, start a magnesium supplement, exercise starting Wednesday, keep a diary and come back in a month.
I’ll let you know what feed we switch too later.
I’m not to expect immediate change for a week, so arena riding will work best. Also his history that I have recounted might signal EPM. (Don’t worry about that. I know it’s not EPM.). No pain was felt in stifle. Dr Randy asked me why stifle was diagnosed. He hasn’t cut a stifle for years. (It is the gaited horse magic cure.)
I’m having an extra large margarita in Celebration
