Annular ligament help!

[ashro]

Hi all my cob has strained his annular ligament and I need some advice as to what it should be looking like during the recovery process.

The injury was misdiagnosed and I was told to keep him on full turnout however he was later scanned and correctly diagnosed, so he is now turned out in a TINY paddock for two hours a day, stabled for the rest and I'm up to 12mins of inhand walking a night. This has been his routine for the past two weeks.

I am getting worried as the affected hind leg is still looking rather swollen in comparison to the good one, is this normal? What are other people's experiences of how long this takes to heal?

TIA!

 

[Northern Hare]

Has the vet recommended cold hosing or using a bonner bandage to deep chill the area?

When my horse strained his a/l, he stood with his foot/leg in a tub trug up to his knee with the hose turned on. I did this at least 4 or 5 times a day interspersed with using the Bonner Bandage over the fetlock region.

Honestly, it is a bit of a faff but so worth the investment of your time because it will help to reduce the swelling and heat from the joint and ligament which has contracted around the rear of the fetlock.

Hopefully your horse will be able to return to controlled exercise soon.

 

[Birker2020]

Has the vet recommended cold hosing or using a bonner bandage to deep chill the area?

When my horse strained his a/l, he stood with his foot/leg in a tub trug up to his knee with the hose turned on. I did this at least 4 or 5 times a day interspersed with using the Bonner Bandage over the fetlock region.

Honestly, it is a bit of a faff but so worth the investment of your time because it will help to reduce the swelling and heat from the joint and ligament which has contracted around the rear of the fetlock.

Hopefully your horse will be able to return to controlled exercise soon.

Couldn't agree more. Ice/cool therapy is definetely the first port of call with this type of injury. Ice cups are really good and I have a polystyrene cup in the freezer at the yard filled with water and frozen. You slowly rub the open end of the cup over the injury in a circular motion, until the cup has melted (peel the polystyrene off as you go down). Initially a single ice cup normally lasts me two applications of 20 mins at a time. When the injury is out of the acute phase and the leg isn't so hot and therefore the ice melts slower the ice cup can last four of five applications.

When my horse re aggravated his first suspensory branch injury after getting his leg caught in a wheelbarrow it was huge, and really swelled up. That day I must have iced it three times, I also tubbed his leg with very cold water to replicate a stream by swishing the water around, I used ice boots as well and ice cups, and also cold hosed the leg. The following day repeated all four cold therapy items about three times again. I did this then twice a day for a week, and then every day for two or thee weeks afterwards. The vet said my early intervention of cold therapy really helped his chances of making a full recovery.