annular ligament problem.

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arthurkonig

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Hi,I have been offered a very well bred 7yr old dressage horse.He has had an opperation on his annular ligament in November ,has been turned away ,is now sound but not in work.Has anyone had experience with this problem? I realise every case is different,but would like to know of any outcomes good or bad ,I would intend to train this horse to high level dressage,has this been possible with other sports horses???
 
hi,

my horse did his annular ligament years ago. he did not have it operated on just a long period of box rest.

he was in his late teans at the time and is now in his early 20's and still jumping, hacking, sponsored rides and riding club level dressage. doesnt seem to cause him any problems but if the ground is hard and he hoonys around the field it does flare up a bit (not lame, just causes puffyness above it i assume where it is restricting and there is scar tissue)

hes not been lame on it since, however i am very carefully with the ground and he is not worked as hard as you will be wanting to.

i think for the level you want there would be a strong possibility of future problems, sorry (however bare in mind mine was not operated on so outcome may be slightly different)
 
My mare had this problem - she was actually operated on (annular ligament destotomy) as a period of rest did not put it right. She was about 13 at the time and didnt come right again very quickly, so we put her in foal. After the foal was weaned, she was ridden again and was sound for light hacking/schooling, but would not have stood hard work. But I know each case is different, and although she didnt have a perfect outcome from her operation, my vet said it was successful in many cases.
 
wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. my old boy had this problem, didn't come right with rest, was getting worse, had him operated on, managed 6mths slowly bringing him back into full work until he trod on a rut in the field and flared it up again. took him another 2yrs of rest to come fully sound but it doesn't take much for him to flare it up and go lame again.
 
Friend of mine has one with it, had it op on. Its the scar tissue that is causeing the problem.Everytime he plays in field or over does the schooling he goes lame. He has a large swelling anyway that will swell if irritated. She has to keep having the joint injected to keep him sound. He is working at Med, not sure how long he will keep going?
 
My cob mare injured her annular ligament four years ago. She was non weightbearing on it when first injured. She had 2 steroid injections into in and came sound after a short while. She was off for 18months (had a foal in the meantime) and has been sound eversince. She is a fairly heavy cob, doing nothing too strenuous, just a happy hacker. I am careful with her on rough ground though.
 
My chap did annular ligament. Has large fetlock but was able to continue hunting with no real issue. However, now a few years later owing to him being out of work last winter as I was broken, the thickening of the ligaments etc means that he is tripping quite a lot as he cannot seem to flex the fetlock fully. Due to his age 18 and size a big heavy boy having an op is not an option. He is being ridden and is on bute but time will tell whether he will come right. Again worse on rough uneven ground. Seems mechanical rather than pain related. If horse you are offered is v cheap or free would give it a go but make sure you keep it in work, if not would steer clear.
 
minmax said:
Friend of mine has one with it, had it op on. Its the scar tissue that is causeing the problem.Everytime he plays in field or over does the schooling he goes lame. He has a large swelling anyway that will swell if irritated. She has to keep having the joint injected to keep him sound. He is working at Med, not sure how long he will keep going?
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This is my horse mentioned here so I think clarification is required. The op was 3 years ago on RF. During the winter (from Aug to June) he had no problems and was competing at Med / Adv Med, also at home - working towards tempi changes and canter pirouettes. During the summer the hard ground has caused us problems and he has had 2 injections during the summer to reduce inflammation around the tendon sheath where there is scar tissue that has become inflamed from concussion. The vet believes he will be much better off now that the ground is starting to soften up. As for how long he lasts, I think you could ask that about any horse, nothing holds any guarantees.

On another point, I had a TB mare who had the op too, some years ago - 1994 to be precise, on her LF, she returned to advanced level eventing after 18 months lay off and never had another day's problem with it.
 
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