I am relatively new to gaited horses. I've been riding and training for a while but fate has me working on a farm with Mt Pleasure horses. Recently a 3 y/o gelding came in dragging a leg. Fearing the worst I had the vet out and we were informed that he had locked his stiffel. He had never done it before and I had never heard of it in horses (dogs yes) she said it was actually common in gaited horses because their tendons are more laxed and the mechanisms that allowed horses to sleep standing up gets 'stuck' Stall rest was called for with Bute for anti inflammatory and pain relief. After a while I decided to start riding him again, the next day he locked up again. More rest and turnout without work and I tried riding him again this time just across the pasture bareback in a straight line for about 5 minutes, the next day he was locking again. Frustrated I let him go for a few months and tried again. no go. So I started trying to ponying him around every other day, trying to strengthen his legs. He started locking after the 3rd session. I was told hills were good for them so I switched his pastures to one with a slight hill. The owners don't want to try any of the more dramatic remedies (injections and surgery) she's even willing to let him be a pasture ornament but last year he was under saddle without a problem with another trainer. He frustrates me because it seems like when I try to exercise him (avoiding circles and tight turns) he gets worse not better. Any advice?
