Annular ligament damage/manica flexoria

[BucksFizz]

Hi, just wanted to see if anyone else's horse has damaged their annular ligament and if so what the recovery process was like? Sorry this is my first post and it's a bit of a long one, we have had a tough year.

On the 1st August last year my horse suddenly went extremely lame on her right hind leg in the middle of a hack. The vets were phoned the next day and after a few weeks of box rest and various tests it was concluded that she had torn her manica flexoria and would need surgery. She had the operation on 18th September and they removed the torn manica and also cut her annular ligament which was inflamed. I was told the recovery would be 12 weeks long - 2 weeks complete box rest, 5 mins walking in hand per day on the 3rd week, 10 mins per day the 4th week and so on up to 40 mins and then I could start riding building up slowly. Everything was going to plan and then unfortunately my sister's horse got strangles on 19th November and passed it to my horse and they were then in complete isolation until 31st January when they got the all clear.

I had my vet out to re-check her and it was decided that I could start riding on 12th Feb for 30 mins per day with 5 mins of trotting and slowly increase the trotting each week to build up the strength in her leg. We had a perfect week of riding but unfortunately the following week I turned up one morning and she was extremely lame on her left hind! Vets came out, decided to book in for x-rays as it was so severe but the next morning she was fine again so they were cancelled. One week later she was severely lame again and it was decided that she had a foot abscess so I poulticed it and kept her on box rest on the vets advice. Three weeks later I rode her and the next morning she was completely lame again. We had x-rays done at the yard and everything looked fine. She was booked in for a lameness workup on 3rd April and they thought that this time the manica looked "displaced". They thought that a treatment called PRP could help and so that was tried. Over the next few weeks she was lame on and off so another operation was booked for 4th June - when they went into her leg the manica was absolutely fine and so was left but the annular ligament was severely inflamed and had to be cut. I was told that her recovery should be good and again it would be the 12 week plan the same as before. Then came all the problems...

She wouldn't settle with the bandage and it had to be changed more times than planned. Since then she has been on and off lame, almost continuously on bute. We tried keeping her out in a small paddock the size of her stable 24/7 so she could move a bit more but nothing changed. My vet came out again and nerve blocked the tendon sheath to rule anything else out and thought that it could be scar tissue forming where they cut the ligament - to break these down she needs to walk more but obviously couldn't being so lame so she was booked to have steroids injected into the tendon sheath. That was on 19th July and at first she seemed to improve but has since been lame again on and off every few days.

I'm running out of options to try and just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced anything similar if you have any advice or anything really? When she is lame she is very lame and won't put any weight on her foot at all and I feel so sorry for her. Thank you

 

[meleeka]

My boy had annular ligament surgery and it took a year before he was sound. When he was still lame after a few months a scan was done and they found a bone chip. They decided it was probably done by his antics while hand walking but I believe it was always there and probably the cause of the ligament inflammation. . I can even say when it happened in hindsight. Anyway, the thing that finally brought him sound was a high dose of Bute for a couple of weeks. Hed had it before, but not at such a high dose. That brought all the inflammation down and he was sound quite quickly. He’s been fine ever since, that was 5 years ago.

 

[BucksFizz]

Thanks for your reply, do you remember how much bute you gave him for the couple of weeks? At the moment she is on 2 sachets a day when she is bad but my vet wants to reduce this ideally. But I will speak to him and see if this could be an option for her. Glad your boy has been fine since

 

[windand rain]

Mine did much the same a long time ago she is 23 now, had surgery when she was 8. Initially it was a problem keeping her sound but we turned her away to have a foal (rare breed county champion) after the foal was weaned she was sound and has more or less been sound since. The surgery and recovery has moved on a lot since then the vet who did it says they tend to get much quicker results now. I do however think it takes time for it all to hea and settle down. I do feed turmeric and linseed etc and she does go lame if she dosnt get it but I think that might be it controls the inflamation in the scar tissue. She hasnt had bute for 13 years and has been ridden a lot since it has never limited her work since she had the foal. She jumps, x country and does everything you would expect a pony to do still wins in the show ring and is very happy. One thing that can affect her is the weather when we change from a long spell of dry to wet weather she feels it a bit and needs more turmeric and vice versa

 

[BucksFizz]

Mine did much the same a long time ago she is 23 now, had surgery when she was 8. Initially it was a problem keeping her sound but we turned her away to have a foal (rare breed county champion) after the foal was weaned she was sound and has more or less been sound since. The surgery and recovery has moved on a lot since then the vet who did it says they tend to get much quicker results now. I do however think it takes time for it all to hea and settle down. I do feed turmeric and linseed etc and she does go lame if she dosnt get it but I think that might be it controls the inflamation in the scar tissue. She hasnt had bute for 13 years and has been ridden a lot since it has never limited her work since she had the foal. She jumps, x country and does everything you would expect a pony to do still wins in the show ring and is very happy. One thing that can affect her is the weather when we change from a long spell of dry to wet weather she feels it a bit and needs more turmeric and vice versa

Thank you glad to hear your girl is doing so well! I've heard good things about turmeric, out of interest how much do you feed her on a daily basis?

It was actually a specialist who carried out both operations from the Royal Veterinary College, he specialises in tears of the manica so she was in very good hands. The problem is they can't understand why she is lame to such a bad extent one day and not the next. With the first operation last year everything went smoothly and during the whole recovery process until of course she got strangles and was confined to her stable. This time she doesn't go a week without ending up hopping around. She's also putting a lot of strain on the other leg which could cause further problems

 

[windand rain]

She had a 30 ml scoop of turmeric. a yoghurt pot of linseed and half a dozen or so peppercorns or half a teaspoon freshly ground pepper twice a day. She has a small feed but the idea is to give however much makes a difference by starting slowly and building it up. She was the same fine for a day or two then lame then sound it eventually setttled down to only being lame if the weather changed and no one could suggest why although after all these years my guess is a low grade laminitis hot sun made the grass sugary change to wet it shot up and was very palatable. Wet weather follwed by hot sun the same. That is only my theory as she has never had proper laminitis and it was only in one foot the one she had surgery on which was odd. Vet couldnt understand it her surgery was on a front leg after landing oddly over a meter fence jumping with a small child on board. We have an old arthritic livery who has had a new lease of life since being on turmeric so it does work for some. His owner thought he wouldnt survive last winter without being PTS he can now perform airs above the ground and trot and gallop neither of which he has been able to do for some time he is a very happy boy if not entirely sound

 

[dotty1]

Mine had her annular ligament cut last October, she is still lame, wasn't the best of patients as too lively on box rest and never walked properly, just left around so did most of recovery in a 12 ft square pen moved round the field. She was rescanned at Easter where I was told she had adhesions to the tendon sheath and would probably never be a riding horse again. Her leg looks perfect, not even a tiny bit of swelling but still 1/10 lame. Only had the op as she was insured, I am sure if she had been rested a few months she would have come sound.
I have a friend whose cob has had both hinds cut and never had any problems, I have never seen such awful lumpy bumpy swollen legs but she's sound.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hi, just wanted to see if anyone else's horse has damaged their annular ligament and if so what the recovery process was like? Sorry this is my first post and it's a bit of a long one, we have had a tough year.

On the 1st August last year my horse suddenly went extremely lame on her right hind leg in the middle of a hack. The vets were phoned the next day and after a few weeks of box rest and various tests it was concluded that she had torn her manica flexoria and would need surgery. She had the operation on 18th September and they removed the torn manica and also cut her annular ligament which was inflamed. I was told the recovery would be 12 weeks long - 2 weeks complete box rest, 5 mins walking in hand per day on the 3rd week, 10 mins per day the 4th week and so on up to 40 mins and then I could start riding building up slowly. Everything was going to plan and then unfortunately my sister's horse got strangles on 19th November and passed it to my horse and they were then in complete isolation until 31st January when they got the all clear.

I had my vet out to re-check her and it was decided that I could start riding on 12th Feb for 30 mins per day with 5 mins of trotting and slowly increase the trotting each week to build up the strength in her leg. We had a perfect week of riding but unfortunately the following week I turned up one morning and she was extremely lame on her left hind! Vets came out, decided to book in for x-rays as it was so severe but the next morning she was fine again so they were cancelled. One week later she was severely lame again and it was decided that she had a foot abscess so I poulticed it and kept her on box rest on the vets advice. Three weeks later I rode her and the next morning she was completely lame again. We had x-rays done at the yard and everything looked fine. She was booked in for a lameness workup on 3rd April and they thought that this time the manica looked "displaced". They thought that a treatment called PRP could help and so that was tried. Over the next few weeks she was lame on and off so another operation was booked for 4th June - when they went into her leg the manica was absolutely fine and so was left but the annular ligament was severely inflamed and had to be cut. I was told that her recovery should be good and again it would be the 12 week plan the same as before. Then came all the problems...

She wouldn't settle with the bandage and it had to be changed more times than planned. Since then she has been on and off lame, almost continuously on bute. We tried keeping her out in a small paddock the size of her stable 24/7 so she could move a bit more but nothing changed. My vet came out again and nerve blocked the tendon sheath to rule anything else out and thought that it could be scar tissue forming where they cut the ligament - to break these down she needs to walk more but obviously couldn't being so lame so she was booked to have steroids injected into the tendon sheath. That was on 19th July and at first she seemed to improve but has since been lame again on and off every few days.

I'm running out of options to try and just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced anything similar if you have any advice or anything really? When she is lame she is very lame and won't put any weight on her foot at all and I feel so sorry for her. Thank you

my mare did recover and to my recollection it never went again but weakness was there.

 

[meleeka]

Thanks for your reply, do you remember how much bute you gave him for the couple of weeks? At the moment she is on 2 sachets a day when she is bad but my vet wants to reduce this ideally. But I will speak to him and see if this could be an option for her. Glad your boy has been fine since

I think from memory it was two a day, one morning and night. He’s only 14.1hh though. He did still have swelling but that went within a week of being on Bute.

 

[AandK]

Not the manica flexoria issue, but my 21yo had his annular ligament cut 3yrs ago (11/08/15), he also had a tear in his distal sesamoidian ligament so had this treated with PRP at the time of the op. His recovery time was doubled by the additonal ligament issue, he had 2 weeks box rest until the stitches came out and then went in to a pen for 6 weeks, with walking. 5 mins a day week 1, 10 mins week 2 and so on until 30 mins a day for week 6. At this stage (mid Oct) he was 0.5/10 lame, but vet was happy as scan showed PRP was doing a great job healing. He then had 2 months field rest, and was sound when trotted up for vet mid December. Due to a couple of completely unrelated issues, he had the first half of 2016 off work but I got back on him at the beginning of August, slowly back to work he did some dressage toward the end of that year. He made a return to jumping last summer and we did 3 ODEs in the second half of 2017. Unfortunately he lost an eye at the beginning of this year, but he is back once again and we have an ODE next weekend.

 

[milliepops]

My oldie tore her manica and had surgery which resulted in a lot of adhesions and ongoing lameness. We did a bute trial which made no difference so it was put down to a mechanical lameness. She responded well to movement - I got her turned out quite quickly post op in a progressively bigger pen, and she enjoyed going out and wandering around with my other horse. Then with vet support I rode her hacking and in the school and it was particularly the canterwork which helped to bring her sound.

She was REALLY lame after the HA injection they gave her a few weeks post op, apparently it's not uncommon to have a reaction to that but it was supposed to help!

Really sorry you're going through this, it's so difficult when you are trying so hard to fix them. Mine did come right but unfortunately reinjured a while later and is now retired (but very happy gamboling round the field).

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

A horse i had a couple of years ago tore her manica flexoria and had a very swollen annular ligament - think she did it out hunting or getting caught in a sheep fence. Hers was her near hind.

We went to Newbury to have the annular ligament operated on and when they were in there, they found out about the manica flexoria issue so removed that and cut the annular ligament.

She was pretty lame for quite a long time - she did the box rest then turn out in a small paddock and she probably had about 4 months off in total. The vet came and jabbed her leg a couple of times with something to bring the swelling down but I can't remember what it was.

She came back into work absolutely fine despite starting off lame as vet said there was nothing else to break and to get on with it!! She's been a pc pony ever since - not worked hard but still being ridden properly at age 20 or thereabouts.

The leg still looks weird and never went back to normal around her pastern/fetlock.

 

[BucksFizz]

Not the manica flexoria issue, but my 21yo had his annular ligament cut 3yrs ago (11/08/15), he also had a tear in his distal sesamoidian ligament so had this treated with PRP at the time of the op. His recovery time was doubled by the additonal ligament issue, he had 2 weeks box rest until the stitches came out and then went in to a pen for 6 weeks, with walking. 5 mins a day week 1, 10 mins week 2 and so on until 30 mins a day for week 6. At this stage (mid Oct) he was 0.5/10 lame, but vet was happy as scan showed PRP was doing a great job healing. He then had 2 months field rest, and was sound when trotted up for vet mid December. Due to a couple of completely unrelated issues, he had the first half of 2016 off work but I got back on him at the beginning of August, slowly back to work he did some dressage toward the end of that year. He made a return to jumping last summer and we did 3 ODEs in the second half of 2017. Unfortunately he lost an eye at the beginning of this year, but he is back once again and we have an ODE next weekend.

His recovery plan sounds exactly the same as mine. I wonder maybe if I wasn't advised to start riding straight away after she recovered from the strangles maybe she wouldn't have injured her other leg. It had taken quite a lot of strain already from her favouring it so much, the 2 months field rest makes sense. Sorry to hear about his eye - we also have a pony with one eye, it's amazing how they cope so well!! Good luck to both of you

 

[BucksFizz]

She had a 30 ml scoop of turmeric. a yoghurt pot of linseed and half a dozen or so peppercorns or half a teaspoon freshly ground pepper twice a day. She has a small feed but the idea is to give however much makes a difference by starting slowly and building it up. She was the same fine for a day or two then lame then sound it eventually setttled down to only being lame if the weather changed and no one could suggest why although after all these years my guess is a low grade laminitis hot sun made the grass sugary change to wet it shot up and was very palatable. Wet weather follwed by hot sun the same. That is only my theory as she has never had proper laminitis and it was only in one foot the one she had surgery on which was odd. Vet couldnt understand it her surgery was on a front leg after landing oddly over a meter fence jumping with a small child on board. We have an old arthritic livery who has had a new lease of life since being on turmeric so it does work for some. His owner thought he wouldnt survive last winter without being PTS he can now perform airs above the ground and trot and gallop neither of which he has been able to do for some time he is a very happy boy if not entirely sound

Thank you very much for your advice, I am going to get some turmeric tomorrow and start introducing it to her slowly and hopefully it will help her out too.

 

[BucksFizz]

Mine had her annular ligament cut last October, she is still lame, wasn't the best of patients as too lively on box rest and never walked properly, just left around so did most of recovery in a 12 ft square pen moved round the field. She was rescanned at Easter where I was told she had adhesions to the tendon sheath and would probably never be a riding horse again. Her leg looks perfect, not even a tiny bit of swelling but still 1/10 lame. Only had the op as she was insured, I am sure if she had been rested a few months she would have come sound.
I have a friend whose cob has had both hinds cut and never had any problems, I have never seen such awful lumpy bumpy swollen legs but she's sound.

Sorry to hear she is still lame. Is this now just because of the adhesions? Have you been advised anything to try next that could help her? My vet guessed that my mare could have lesions and that's why he wanted to try injecting steroids into the tendon sheath. At one point I was devastated at being told I might not ever ride her again, all I want now is to see her running around the field with her buddies having fun instead of being cooped up all the time.

 

[meleeka]

Are you under the care of the vet hospital? If not I’d go straight back and get it looked at again.

 

[BucksFizz]

My oldie tore her manica and had surgery which resulted in a lot of adhesions and ongoing lameness. We did a bute trial which made no difference so it was put down to a mechanical lameness. She responded well to movement - I got her turned out quite quickly post op in a progressively bigger pen, and she enjoyed going out and wandering around with my other horse. Then with vet support I rode her hacking and in the school and it was particularly the canterwork which helped to bring her sound.

She was REALLY lame after the HA injection they gave her a few weeks post op, apparently it's not uncommon to have a reaction to that but it was supposed to help!

Really sorry you're going through this, it's so difficult when you are trying so hard to fix them. Mine did come right but unfortunately reinjured a while later and is now retired (but very happy gamboling round the field).

This sounds very similar to my situation, the bute just doesn't seem to touch it. The HA injection - is this steroids? If so I didn't realise it could have a bad reaction. I'm going to phone my vet next week and speak about maybe extending her paddock so that she can move around more. The problem is I was told she needs to move more to break the adhesions down (if that's what she has) but when she can barely walk most days it's impossible. I know there would be the risk of her running around when she's having a good day but thought maybe keeping her moving more outweighs the risk. Thank you so much, sorry to hear she injured herself again but sounds like she has a lovely home with you enjoying the rest of her life

 

[dotty1]

Sorry to hear she is still lame. Is this now just because of the adhesions? Have you been advised anything to try next that could help her? My vet guessed that my mare could have lesions and that's why he wanted to try injecting steroids into the tendon sheath. At one point I was devastated at being told I might not ever ride her again, all I want now is to see her running around the field with her buddies having fun instead of being cooped up all the time.

Vet said highly unlikely to be a riding horse again, we did try dmso for a coupe of weeks which made no difference. Not advised to inject steroids as she as got rather fat doing nothing, living on fresh air. She is about 1/10 lame now, I do wonder if I did just crack on gently it may loosen everything up?. Leg looks perfect.

 

[BucksFizz]

A horse i had a couple of years ago tore her manica flexoria and had a very swollen annular ligament - think she did it out hunting or getting caught in a sheep fence. Hers was her near hind.

We went to Newbury to have the annular ligament operated on and when they were in there, they found out about the manica flexoria issue so removed that and cut the annular ligament.

She was pretty lame for quite a long time - she did the box rest then turn out in a small paddock and she probably had about 4 months off in total. The vet came and jabbed her leg a couple of times with something to bring the swelling down but I can't remember what it was.

She came back into work absolutely fine despite starting off lame as vet said there was nothing else to break and to get on with it!! She's been a pc pony ever since - not worked hard but still being ridden properly at age 20 or thereabouts.

The leg still looks weird and never went back to normal around her pastern/fetlock.

Thanks for your reply, this sounds exactly the same too. I'm hoping that she just needs more time and eventually will get better. Maybe she had steroids too? Glad to hear she's still doing well, gives me hope

 

[BucksFizz]

Are you under the care of the vet hospital? If not I’d go straight back and get it looked at again.

Yes I speak to my vets on a weekly basis and I have had them out too many times to count over the past few months. They are at a loss as to what is wrong. The surgery went perfect both times, the second operation was less invasive than the first (first op she had the manica removed too) so she was in a better position than the first time round. I have followed their plan exactly the same as the first time round. They seem to have run out of ideas what to try next and genuinely can't see why she is so lame

 

[Lyndab22]

Hi, my cob did his annular ligament in July, two week box rest, then vet out, had lameness work up, was 1/10 lame at walk and 3/10 at trot! Then had nerve blocks and scans and showed to be annular ligament, so went to rainbow vet at malton, had the op two week ago to cut the ligament, and vet discovered that at some point the manica (sp) had been damaged and caused adhesions to the annular ligament, anyway vet said now that reduces his ridden chances to 50:50
He’s home after two weeks at vets and had stitches out, we r continuing with bandaging every two days, he’s of Bute etc, but still rests his toe more than i wud like, I know it’s early days, he’s on two mins walking inhand four times a day, am hoping he comes sound even if it takes abyr, I hope he stops toe resting too he looks sound at walk and now on turn he doesn’t appear to limp, I am tied to the stable literally at the moment, is hard going, I don’t drive, either so I have to use my bike!!!im up and down to farm four times a day am wearing away to a whisp lol, I’m dreading when he can get turn out, gonna have to make a pen, hood thing is only three horses in our yard and he’s one of them so don’t honk he’ll go mad , I am finding it hard going still tho

 

[daffy44]

I've had two horses with annular ligament damage. The first got his back leg stuck through a gate and wrenched the ligament pulling the leg back through the gate, he was very lame and non weight baring, this was approx 20yrs ago and my vets at the time were the RVC. They didnt operate, but he had a long time on box rest before he started very controlled exercise, he stayed lame for a long time, longer than the vets expected, but he did make a full recovery. The whole thing probably took a year, but he came back to show jumping and eventing, and he was about 12/13yrs old when he did it and he lived until he was 30, and ridden all that time and it never bothered him again after that initial year of recovery.

My dressage mare had both her hind annular ligaments cut three/four years ago when she was about 13, she wasnt very lame, maybe only 1/10th, but she was starting to be uncomfortable with the higher level work, I was very fortunate in that a European specialist vet happened to be visiting my vets at the time, and she assessed her and decided to cut the annular ligament as a preventative measure. The op went very well and advice was to get her moving asap to make sure she regained a full range of movement, she was on box rest for a week, then she started walking in hand twice a day and it built up from there. Her recovery went pretty quickly and very smoothly (possibly because it was done before the legs got too bad?) She returned to full work and has since competed at Grand Prix, Winter Championships etc, she is 16yrs old now, she is still in full work and competing at GP level, her back legs look at bit weird around the fetlocks, and she is bandaged in her stable at night, but other than that leads a totally normal life, she hacks, is turned out daily and competes Int2/GP.

I really hope in time the OP can have a positive outcome.

 

[muddy_grey]

Not quite the same but my mare injured her ddft and had it operated on in November last year. To access the tendon they had to cut the annular ligament. She was a strange case as she had a swollen tendon sheath for 6 months with no lameness and nothing showed up on scans. She then went lame approx 1-2/10. When they got in there an adhesion had ruptured which is probably what caused the lameness, but the surgeon was shocked she had been sound before.
Recovery was 3 weeks total box rest then hand walking for 6 weeks at increasing to 30 mins, she was great in the stable and pretty good to walk. I then hacked on the roads for 6 weeks which was pretty awful. She then had a check up and was sound so I then had to start trotting and light schooling for 4 weeks and then turn out in a small pen with riding for 4 weeks. The pen was then increased in size until she was in a field during this time she had 6 weeks off.
Then came in and have been slowly getting her fit. She is now cantering and doing pole work. Vet has said she can jump, but I am too worried, though I will have to bite the bullet at some point.
The "controlled exercise" was to help with adhesion formation. They will form, but this should make them long and thin so less likely to rupture. The leg looks pretty horrible, but she is sound.
Sorry this was a bit of an essay and possibly not that relevant to your case 😀

 

[Lyndab22]

Not quite the same but my mare injured her ddft and had it operated on in November last year. To access the tendon they had to cut the annular ligament. She was a strange case as she had a swollen tendon sheath for 6 months with no lameness and nothing showed up on scans. She then went lame approx 1-2/10. When they got in there an adhesion had ruptured which is probably what caused the lameness, but the surgeon was shocked she had been sound before.
Recovery was 3 weeks total box rest then hand walking for 6 weeks at increasing to 30 mins, she was great in the stable and pretty good to walk. I then hacked on the roads for 6 weeks which was pretty awful. She then had a check up and was sound so I then had to start trotting and light schooling for 4 weeks and then turn out in a small pen with riding for 4 weeks. The pen was then increased in size until she was in a field during this time she had 6 weeks off.
Then came in and have been slowly getting her fit. She is now cantering and doing pole work. Vet has said she can jump, but I am too worried, though I will have to bite the bullet at some point.
The "controlled exercise" was to help with adhesion formation. They will form, but this should make them long and thin so less likely to rupture. The leg looks pretty horrible, but she is sound.
Sorry this was a bit of an essay and possibly not that relevant to your case 😀

Aw dear what a carry on, sounds like you have had similar experience to me, in just worried about why fins still standing with his toe up, maybe inside it’s still sore ?its only two weeks since his operation
Did you find the inhand walking a struggle, I don’t work currently but need a job, and am at a loss as to how I can do the walking and go to work if by chance I manage to get a job
When u started the riding during the rehab how many mins inhand were You doing before you got back on her? No ones explained about adhesions to me, I’ve google all this, so I’m theory the hand walking is to stop adhesions from forming and sticking,helping fibres grow correctly is that right?
What was yours like when she was allowed turn out, I’m hoping the farmer were inam can make me a small pen as we only have two big paddocks, there’s a mare and a cob who are on farm so we are a really settled herd, I don’t think he’ll gallop about as he’s more whoa than go lol, plus he’s greedy so hopefully he’ll eat rather than mess about lol

 

[muddy_grey]

Hi Lyndab it is weird as it seems to have gone really quickly, but also seem slow at the time.
Hand walking she was mostly really good. I handwalked her in a bridle and had a bag of chopped carrots in my pocket and fed her while walking. Our yard is quite handy and has a circuit around the barn which takes about 1 minute. I tried to walk her at times when I thought the yard would be quiet, but that didn't always happen. I forgot to say I did passive movement in the stable in week 3 as well. Hand walking started at 5 mins 2x per day, and built up to 30 mins (up 5 mins per week) which is quite boring, but I tried to think of it as not needing to go to the gym
I then started hacking. I was worried as she can be a bit funny so I didn't want to walk down the road and turn around. The first hack I could do that was lollipop shaped was 25 mins so we did that for a couple of weeks as the next was 35 mins. My lovely OH very kindly led us to start with and then walked with us, with carrots, luckily we both work at home so could take the time out of the day as it was winter. I did try hacking with another horse, but it didn't go well and we spent a lot of time airborne.
I made the decision to not hand graze her at all during her box rest. She started in a small pen not much bigger than a stable with a lot of grass and she didn't lift her head for 2 days! Then on day 3 it was like she suddenly realised she was out and had a little buck for about 2.5 mins. We slowly increased the size of the pen until it was about 4 stables long (probably over 4 weeks) and then we made a small field on a grassy patch and once she had eaten that she went in a proper field. She was really good and while there was the occasional explosion, she was mostly pretty settled. I am very lucky as my YO is amazing. Our first pen had post and rail on 2 sides, electric on 1 and stallion pen panels on the other!
My vet explained that adhesion will form no matter what, but it is trying to control how they form ie you want long and thin not short and fat, hence the controlled exercise. I did ask about whether we should scan regularly to check for them, but he told me I would drive myself crazy, just focus on the horse in-front of me.
I hope it all goes well for you keep us updated

 

[Lyndab22]

A horse i had a couple of years ago tore her manica flexoria and had a very swollen annular ligament - think she did it out hunting or getting caught in a sheep fence. Hers was her near hind.

We went to Newbury to have the annular ligament operated on and when they were in there, they found out about the manica flexoria issue so removed that and cut the annular ligament.

She was pretty lame for quite a long time - she did the box rest then turn out in a small paddock and she probably had about 4 months off in total. The vet came and jabbed her leg a couple of times with something to bring the swelling down but I can't remember what it was.

She came back into work absolutely fine despite starting off lame as vet said there was nothing else to break and to get on with it!! She's been a pc pony ever since - not worked hard but still being ridden properly at age 20 or thereabouts.

The leg still looks weird and never went back to normal around her pastern/fetlock.

Did she rest her toe a lot after the operation, I think sort from him doing this he looks great,and isn’t limping, I guess it’s a long haul for recovery, so I’ll be sticking with the plan of walking inhand then building times up, small pen to turn out first
I think mine got his foot in a small rabbit hole or something as he pitched forward I went over top of neck, stayed on tho lol and the next day he was holding the toe up

 

[BucksFizz]

Hi, my cob did his annular ligament in July, two week box rest, then vet out, had lameness work up, was 1/10 lame at walk and 3/10 at trot! Then had nerve blocks and scans and showed to be annular ligament, so went to rainbow vet at malton, had the op two week ago to cut the ligament, and vet discovered that at some point the manica (sp) had been damaged and caused adhesions to the annular ligament, anyway vet said now that reduces his ridden chances to 50:50
He’s home after two weeks at vets and had stitches out, we r continuing with bandaging every two days, he’s of Bute etc, but still rests his toe more than i wud like, I know it’s early days, he’s on two mins walking inhand four times a day, am hoping he comes sound even if it takes abyr, I hope he stops toe resting too he looks sound at walk and now on turn he doesn’t appear to limp, I am tied to the stable literally at the moment, is hard going, I don’t drive, either so I have to use my bike!!!im up and down to farm four times a day am wearing away to a whisp lol, I’m dreading when he can get turn out, gonna have to make a pen, hood thing is only three horses in our yard and he’s one of them so don’t honk he’ll go mad , I am finding it hard going still tho

Hi, did he have the manica removed? Has your vet advised to walk him 4 times a day? I can imagine that must be very hard especially as you don't drive. Maybe you could change it to walking him twice a day for slightly longer instead? When I started walking Fizz it was 5 mins once a day. I would maybe speak to your vet as well as if you think he will be sensible they may suggest you create a small pen sooner - only the size of his stable and as long as the ground is flat and dry.

 

[BucksFizz]

I've had two horses with annular ligament damage. The first got his back leg stuck through a gate and wrenched the ligament pulling the leg back through the gate, he was very lame and non weight baring, this was approx 20yrs ago and my vets at the time were the RVC. They didnt operate, but he had a long time on box rest before he started very controlled exercise, he stayed lame for a long time, longer than the vets expected, but he did make a full recovery. The whole thing probably took a year, but he came back to show jumping and eventing, and he was about 12/13yrs old when he did it and he lived until he was 30, and ridden all that time and it never bothered him again after that initial year of recovery.

My dressage mare had both her hind annular ligaments cut three/four years ago when she was about 13, she wasnt very lame, maybe only 1/10th, but she was starting to be uncomfortable with the higher level work, I was very fortunate in that a European specialist vet happened to be visiting my vets at the time, and she assessed her and decided to cut the annular ligament as a preventative measure. The op went very well and advice was to get her moving asap to make sure she regained a full range of movement, she was on box rest for a week, then she started walking in hand twice a day and it built up from there. Her recovery went pretty quickly and very smoothly (possibly because it was done before the legs got too bad?) She returned to full work and has since competed at Grand Prix, Winter Championships etc, she is 16yrs old now, she is still in full work and competing at GP level, her back legs look at bit weird around the fetlocks, and she is bandaged in her stable at night, but other than that leads a totally normal life, she hacks, is turned out daily and competes Int2/GP.

I really hope in time the OP can have a positive outcome.

Hi, thanks for your reply. So glad to hear both of your horses made a full recovery I'm really hoping that my girl just needs a lot more time to recover this time round.

Since last month my vet suggested we try mixing paracetamol with 2 bute per day to try and make her more comfortable and moving around more . I also made the decision to extend her paddock as I didn't think it was doing her any good turning round continuously in the small pen and I have been putting turmeric, pepper and Flaxseed oil in her feeds. Well we have just cut the paracetamol out last weekend and are looking to reduce the bute this weekend as since the first day I did all of the above she has been weight bearing on both hind legs!! Each week I have extended her paddock slightly and we have been going for daily walks up to 20 minutes now - she's in the biggest field she's been in for over a year and she's so much happier! I still dread going there every morning in case she's not right, especially after seeing her get excited and having a canter round the field. My vet is quite shocked to be honest but obviously happy so we are just taking it one day at a time for now and will see how she goes once we are off the painkillers completely.

 

[Lyndab22]

Thanks for all replies, I’m more worried as to why he still rests his foot up, I’m thinking it’s just a bit habit forming as he’s not in any Bute etc and doesn’t appear to be in pain, he’s pranced and spun this morning so I’ve gave him a naff instant magic and he seems quieter and was more manageable to walk
All these posts are giving me hope, I’m taking this one data tab time

 

[Lyndab22]

Did she rest her toe up whilst in stable, mine is doing this a lot more than when he cane back from vet, but at walk I can see him weight bearing, he’s pranced and dances this morning in the yard and I struggled to get him to walk nice , had to resort to a naff instant calmer, then take him back out