What is the Stifle?
I want to continue my anatomy education series today with the stifle. Let’s go over some signs of stifle weakness, as well as stifle strengthening exercises that you can do with your horses. Did you know that the stifle is the horse’s knee? Their leg setup is a little different than ours – sometimes I’m asked if the stifle is the same thing as our hip, and the hock is the same as our knee – not so 🙂 See the graphic below to get some better knowledge of this bone anatomy.
Muscles surround the stifle help to support the joint. This “stay apparatus ” also includes ligaments and tendons, and helps the joint stabilize while the horse stands, even while they are sleeping.
Signs of Stifle Weakness
If the stifle area becomes weak, you may see your horse tripping or dragging their toe in the hind end, particularly when doing downward transitions. They may have difficulty stopping smoothly. Horses with stifle weakness often struggle with the canter as well.
On observation, you may also see the leg moving in a circular motion when walking (circumduction). Another vague symptom can be spasms along the topline, as the horse uses these muscles to compensate for any pain he is experiencing from the weakened stifle area.
While all of these symptoms can also be related to other issues, if you do see these things happening, it’s definitely worth investigating before the issues worsen!
Stifle Strengthening Exercises
Now, how do we strengthen the stifles? For the sake of keeping this blog post brief, I’ll just give some headliner ideas here for you! Hill work, cavaletti poles (starting with ground poles and progress to raised) and backing your horse more than a step or two are all great exercises to help with stifle strength. Start small – think walking up those hills, then progress to trotting as your horse gains strength.
As your bodyworker, application of kinesiology tape in the stifle sling, as shown above, has been quite successful in helping resolve some stifle problems. Of course, regular bodywork will also help keep those muscles we were talking about free moving and unrestricted to help with proper movement. If your horse is experiencing stifle weakness, I can also show you some great stretches to help in this area.
And of course, if you are seeing questionable problems in ANY area of your horse that are not improving, please don’t hesitate to consult your vet!