Bilateral sacroiliac ligament tear

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Jerokee

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My 6yo qh x kwpn 14.2 has been diagnosed with the above. Prognosis varies
He s on 6 months turnout for review then
Has anyone experienced this injury before? Any info stories etc welcome as the only info I can find on the net seems to be very American
Much appreciated.
 
Jerokee said:
My 6yo qh x kwpn 14.2 has been diagnosed with the above. Prognosis varies
He s on 6 months turnout for review then
Has anyone experienced this injury before? Any info stories etc welcome as the only info I can find on the net seems to be very American
Much appreciated.
Click to expand...

I'm actually impressed you got such a detailed diagnosis. We've been rehabbing a mare with a sacro-iliac 'injury' for about 12 months now - and finally seeing a 'result' - but getting a diagnosis of her problem was MUCH harder - even at a leading referral hospital.

I'm not sure I'd want a horse with any sacro-iliac injury turned out over the winter - the risk of falls and more straining of ligaments when fields are muddy, icy, etc. is too high.

My mare STILL doesn't go out in the field. She's being lunged and ridden now but previously she had in-hand walking, then graduated to being turned out in the school for an hour a day before she actually returned to work. This mare's injury wasn't diagnosed at the time she did it - we THINK it was when she was 2 - and obviously living out - when she suddenly lost a shed-load of weight. She wasn't 'lame' at any time and it was only after we backed her that her movement was clearly 'not right'.

Treatment has included two courses of u/s guided steroid injections into the SI, lots of physiotherapy, hacking on straight lines etc etc etc.
 
See vet thinks this injury is over a year old
The pony has worked without a quibble with on off stiffness/lameness always a lot better after a session from the back lady!!!
Was finally diagnosed after a visit from my trainers vet.
Like your horse he had typical associated weight loss but given how poor he was before we got him we just thought it was taking a while for him to know what good food is so to speak!!!!
He obviously won't be turned out once it gets really wet. But vet has advised against ridden work to let the muscle spasm settle down.
I really hope he comes back to some degree of ridden work. Even if he never jumps again. I'd love for my kids to learn to ride on him ;-( x
 
This is really interesting...would you mind sharing a bit more information about the diagnosis and rehab? My mare is clearly sore in her sacroiliac area (muscularly it is like a band of rock!) but because of the difficulty diagnosing this particular area she is on a bute trial, physio and will have acupuncture when she comes home too (currently away having some work done when the discomfort came to light). She is also having a combo of x-rays and nerve blocks to see if it has come from her hind legs up...

She is not insured for vet fees, hence this method of eliminating obvious potential causes first.
 
My horse had a similar injury with that. He was dragging his leg badly and the vet thaught it was a stifle injury and we was gunna have to put him down. But it turned out he bruised his sacsillia thing. And he recovered in 3 weeks box rest. Big releif but it looks like a bad injury
 
Well I have a horse with chronic sacro illiac dysfunction - as diagnosed by Sue Dyson at Newmarket. I have LOU on my horse. He was 6 yrs old when he was diagnosed and all you could see was a rather stuffy gait behind and a horrible temperament.

Sue reckons he had the injury since he was around 2 years old - so long standing. We rehabed him by walking in hand in long lines in a pessoa and then over poles for several weeks over the summer. I had a physio out who stiimulated his dormant nerves and then the muscles using a TENS machine. Interestingly she took muscle measurements and the differences of his 2 sides were really great. I sent him away and I highly recommend this lady to you - to Donna Blinman at Higham - she is a holistic vet - so veterinary qualified and an osteopath and also acupuncturist. She mobilised my boy's sacrum over a 2 week period (he stayed at hers) and he came back movingbetter than ever. She is of the belief that once fully mobilised his sacrum should be self healing and she said turn him out and away for at least 8 months. My physio for him was astounded that he gained 4cm of gluteus muscle on his poor side in just 6 weeks. I put him on human grade MSM and Bromelain and Feedmarks Opti muscle. He went out all winter last year naked (and he is very fine) and he self-exercised up and down the hill in the mud, almost ploughing his field up, but boy it did him good.
His temperament went from downright dangerous and vicious to a loving sweet horse this year. He is now in light work - we are taking it very slowly with him as he has been through ridden abuse as well as his chronic pain.
You are not far from Donna at Higham, I would give her a call. Here are some vids of my boys progress - I can't tell you how close he was to being pts for his temperament - hence he was kept solo all winter. Now he has company and is just lovely. It has been a steep hill to climb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKnAO7B0Fa4&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iueKfgY5Br8&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qriyimc-J7k&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIRRf3NotO0&list=UUN3KicX6aYmkGqnSHQSl13A&index=1&feature=plcp
 
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wow thank you for that story YasandCrystal!
see my boy has been sooooo genuine and was regularly jumping without protest he worked well on the flat and only very occasionally would he get stuffy and lazy behind but was placed prelim and novice dressage etc etc!!!
so you can imagine our astonishment when this was diagnosed!
@akind of magic: well to be fair we were treating him for a back problem. he was so poor when we got him and we just assumed that it was taking him a little longer to put on weight and a vet had told me he was a chronic laminitic and molasses intolerant!!! hence was also hard to get weight on wthout fear of exaccerbating these conditions!!
he went to my trainers while i was away on holiday - he was due to go to a well know showjumper for their son to ride and jump but he started a crab like movement behind in the field, i said to go ahead and get their own vet - to look at him... and low and behold this was his immidiate diagnosis.
There was an injection offered in the initial stages whereby it was said to assist with the reapir of the ligament - but couldnt give any particular odds, so I decided, along with my trainer and vet that just 6 months rest with a much turnout as possible would be the order of the day and then he will be reviewed in march time (kind of good because i am due baby number two end january!!!) and hopefully a gradual re introduction to work - maybe treat with cortico sterioids - only at the time will we be able to tell how best to proceed.
The vet has told me that this is a VERY serious case and the pony has torn the ligament BOTH sides of the spine over his bottom.
I am wiling to give him every chance as he is not just talented but SAFE and SENSIBLE and even if he just comes sound enough to teach my kids to ride ill be happy. Ive got to give the pony a chance as he is only 6 and had SUCH a rotten start in life he just doesnt deserve this :(
 
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