nonnyno
New User
Hi everyone
Does anybody have experience of adhesions in fetlock joints? I am in desperate need of some kind of reassurance/guidance
Ill start from the beginning! I bought my 6 year old warmblood in July last year and he passed the 5 stage vetting though it was noted he was slightly toe out behind. With the intention of doing mostly school work over the winter, I decided to take his shoes off as Id be on the surface. Big mistake due to the way he was distributing his weight, his hooves wore incredibly unevenly in both his hinds. The right was far worse than the left and he wore away the outside wall very quickly. We put the shoes back on straight away but by this point the damage had been done and it either compounded matters or made it more obvious that there was a problem, and as a result he became 2/10 lame on his hind left.
I got the vet out the next day and after 10 days bute and grass rest, he still didnt feel right. Not really visibly lame but didnt want to strike off on to left lead canter and seemed generally tense and reluctant to work which is very unlike him. I got the back man out wondering if hed put his back out due to the imbalance of his feet. The back man corrected this but my horse still didnt feel quite right. I got the vet back out and he suggested X-Rays to see what was going on in the back legs to cause him to carry himself that way. We also noticed him twisting his hind hooves inwards as he walked.
X-rays showed chips in both hind fetlocks due to OCD, the right chip was larger than the left. Thankfully it hadnt started causing any damage to ligaments etc. This was about 2 months ago and he went in for surgery straight away. Everything went well, he came home and as per the surgeons instructions, we built up to 25 mins on the horse walker twice a day over the space of 6 weeks. He was sound and everything was fine, he seemed happy and comfortable and was moving a lot straighter than he had been before surgery (less twisting of his hooves.) The farrier was happy with his progress, legs seemed to be coming straighter and hooves were starting to grow back to be more even, though he still builds out the shoe to the right of the right hand hoof to provide support until it has come fully right again.
We then progressed on to ridden walk and I could tell something wasn't right on day 1. On day 2 he was similar, didn't seem to want to move forwards and then his hind right leg slipped under him. I got off straight away and walked him out of the school and he was back to twisting his legs (this was about 3 weeks ago now.)
The vet told me it didnt mean the surgery had been unsuccessful but that he may have adhesions after the surgery. He told me to discontinue the ridden work and walker work and put him on restricted turnout (a pen 2-3 times the size of a stable) so that he could move around in his own time and hopefully break down the adhesions at his own pace. However, the yard owner wouldnt let me make a pen (she said he wouldnt respect electric tape) so the poor boy has had to spend most of his time stuck in the box. Ive now moved him to a new yard and new yard owner is much more helpful, though he has only been in his new pen (with electric fencing!) 1 day, and is already starting to churn up the ground from pacing around, so Im not sure how sustainable this is going to be and if she will allow him to stay in there. The vet is due to come out and review progress in 2 weeks but I dont think much will have changed given that hes been stuck in. Im so down about the whole thing I just really want some other peoples experiences.
The main questions playing on my mind: Would he have been less likely to get adhesions if he had been on box rest for longer, i.e. are they a result of movement when the area was healing? Or is it simply scar tissue after the surgery? Are adhesions after this kind of surgery common? How long did it take for other horses adhesions to break down? And were they on restricted turnout or box rest and what kind of daily exercise? Surely if movement alone can break the adhesions down and they didn't do so after 6 weeks of built up work on the walker, there is something wrong? What else can I do to help him?
I'm really sorry for the essay. If anyone could tell me this is completely usual after surgery and will go away with time, and that my boy will be completely sound and well live happily ever after . Id really appreciate it!!!!

Does anybody have experience of adhesions in fetlock joints? I am in desperate need of some kind of reassurance/guidance
Ill start from the beginning! I bought my 6 year old warmblood in July last year and he passed the 5 stage vetting though it was noted he was slightly toe out behind. With the intention of doing mostly school work over the winter, I decided to take his shoes off as Id be on the surface. Big mistake due to the way he was distributing his weight, his hooves wore incredibly unevenly in both his hinds. The right was far worse than the left and he wore away the outside wall very quickly. We put the shoes back on straight away but by this point the damage had been done and it either compounded matters or made it more obvious that there was a problem, and as a result he became 2/10 lame on his hind left.
I got the vet out the next day and after 10 days bute and grass rest, he still didnt feel right. Not really visibly lame but didnt want to strike off on to left lead canter and seemed generally tense and reluctant to work which is very unlike him. I got the back man out wondering if hed put his back out due to the imbalance of his feet. The back man corrected this but my horse still didnt feel quite right. I got the vet back out and he suggested X-Rays to see what was going on in the back legs to cause him to carry himself that way. We also noticed him twisting his hind hooves inwards as he walked.
X-rays showed chips in both hind fetlocks due to OCD, the right chip was larger than the left. Thankfully it hadnt started causing any damage to ligaments etc. This was about 2 months ago and he went in for surgery straight away. Everything went well, he came home and as per the surgeons instructions, we built up to 25 mins on the horse walker twice a day over the space of 6 weeks. He was sound and everything was fine, he seemed happy and comfortable and was moving a lot straighter than he had been before surgery (less twisting of his hooves.) The farrier was happy with his progress, legs seemed to be coming straighter and hooves were starting to grow back to be more even, though he still builds out the shoe to the right of the right hand hoof to provide support until it has come fully right again.
We then progressed on to ridden walk and I could tell something wasn't right on day 1. On day 2 he was similar, didn't seem to want to move forwards and then his hind right leg slipped under him. I got off straight away and walked him out of the school and he was back to twisting his legs (this was about 3 weeks ago now.)
The vet told me it didnt mean the surgery had been unsuccessful but that he may have adhesions after the surgery. He told me to discontinue the ridden work and walker work and put him on restricted turnout (a pen 2-3 times the size of a stable) so that he could move around in his own time and hopefully break down the adhesions at his own pace. However, the yard owner wouldnt let me make a pen (she said he wouldnt respect electric tape) so the poor boy has had to spend most of his time stuck in the box. Ive now moved him to a new yard and new yard owner is much more helpful, though he has only been in his new pen (with electric fencing!) 1 day, and is already starting to churn up the ground from pacing around, so Im not sure how sustainable this is going to be and if she will allow him to stay in there. The vet is due to come out and review progress in 2 weeks but I dont think much will have changed given that hes been stuck in. Im so down about the whole thing I just really want some other peoples experiences.
The main questions playing on my mind: Would he have been less likely to get adhesions if he had been on box rest for longer, i.e. are they a result of movement when the area was healing? Or is it simply scar tissue after the surgery? Are adhesions after this kind of surgery common? How long did it take for other horses adhesions to break down? And were they on restricted turnout or box rest and what kind of daily exercise? Surely if movement alone can break the adhesions down and they didn't do so after 6 weeks of built up work on the walker, there is something wrong? What else can I do to help him?
I'm really sorry for the essay. If anyone could tell me this is completely usual after surgery and will go away with time, and that my boy will be completely sound and well live happily ever after . Id really appreciate it!!!!
