Check ligament help!

B

BlackVelvet

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Sooo after battling lami last year, finally coming through that and guess what! Hes sprained his check ligament, arghh! There is mild heat and swelling there and he is lame in trot, soo has anyone had experiences with this injury? No idea how hes done it as hes only hacked and turned out for minimal time! Hes on box rest and bute for 10 days then we will recess. Any good experiences?
 
My pony did a check and flex tendon years and years ago. Heat and swelling and very lame, did it in the field and was weakend by all the years he did as a riding school pony.

Almost a year box rest, months walking and back into work. He was around 13 at the time. I know the girl who has him now, he is still jumping (but not as big) and hes never had any issues again since. He is now in his late 20s.

Just a long road to recovery. Has the vet confirmed?
 
No vet hasnt scanned as he thinks its a slight sprain more than massive damage. Hes only slightly lame in trot so im hoping this is a good thing? Hopefully with rest and bute he will come sound. All he does in hacking now so im not concerned about jumping or schooling

Should i be bandaging? Putting cooling creams on? Vet didnt seem to think it would make a massive difference
 
BlackVelvet said:
No vet hasnt scanned as he thinks its a slight sprain more than massive damage. Hes only slightly lame in trot so im hoping this is a good thing? Hopefully with rest and bute he will come sound. All he does in hacking now so im not concerned about jumping or schooling

Should i be bandaging? Putting cooling creams on? Vet didnt seem to think it would make a massive difference
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This will probably horrify you, but it's not meant to. My horse came in last summer with a small swelling and some heat - very distinctive 'check lig' injury, yard owner and farrier were both at yard and agreed. Horse was NOT lame. Me being slightly (!) over protective box rested, cold hosed/iced for a few days and called vet out to check.

Vet also agreed that it was a check lig injury, until he scanned.. Yes my horse had damaged his check but had also severely and extensively damaged his sdft :(

Different vets will have different ideas re: bandaging; done badly it can do a lot of damage, done well it may provide a small amount of support. I would also be doing some fairly intensive ice/cold hose therapy, 2 or 3 times a day. I tended to cold hose for 10 mins, let him 'rest' for 10 mins and then apply an ice bandage (the ice cube bags you can buy from the supermarket) over a tubigrip and bandage on to the leg for 20 mins while I mucked out etc. I am not convinced that any of the proprietorial leg gels have any effect, but cold hosing and icing certainly do!

It is most likely that you are right, that it is a minor strain, but I know if I am ever in doubt I'll scan. Had I not last year, the consequences would have been awful, and this was a horse that at no time was even 1/10 lame. Remember you are giving bute which can also mask just how lame and sore they are. FWIW, I've known a few horses with check injuries, and the majority of them haven't been lame.

Fingers crossed it's nothing serious :)
 
Something to cheer you up slightly... pony did her check ligament on our last day's hunting. Realised something was up as leg was slightly filled and felt solid with lack of definition.

Had her on box rest for a week cold hosing, bute and bandaged up. Took her to vets a week later thinking perhaps I'd been silly and was worrying about nothing.

Scan revealed a 20% tear to the outside of the ligament. Vet said 20% tear is classed as a sprain. He wasn't really very concerned and told me to turn her out for 2.5 months (she is very chilled in the field) and literally ignore her. He did give me some DMSO to apply twice a day but she got wise to that and refused to let me catch her so we had to give up on that idea!!

Took her back to be rescanned 3 weeks ago and leg pretty much back to normal. Have got rehab programme of roadbashing for 8 weeks going 5 mins further a day (which does mean you end up going quite far quite quickly!!). Good job she walks out so well otherwise it would be very dull. After 6 weeks I can introduce small amounts of trot. Am going to have her rescanned at 8 weeks and see where to go from there. Vet sees no reason why we won't hunt this season.

She wasn't lame (or not that I could see) and leg still has a small bump at injury site but that will always be there apparently. We are on week 3 and everything seems good so far.

Fingers crossed for you but def. get it scanned!!!
 
Sounds nasty ^^^

He will be scanned if the swelling continues to get worse. He is 21 now so hes no spring chicken, hes only hacked to keep weight down,
 
Thank you caroline! Sounds very similar to B ! Hes already driving me mad in his stable because hes dying to be ridden again!
 
BlackVelvet said:
Sounds nasty ^^^

He will be scanned if the swelling continues to get worse. He is 21 now so hes no spring chicken, hes only hacked to keep weight down,
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It was, but he is now doing very well indeed, and he's the same age as yours! Because of this, we decided not to attempt anything 'medical' but to let time heal. He actually had only 2 weeks complete box rest and was then allowed to walk out in hand (not recommended if your horse is not 100% to handle) twice daily, and then after a couple of months started turnout, firstly in the school and then in a small field. 9 months after the injury he is happy as larry out in his old field, keeping all the young tb's in check, and is still walking miles daily. Vet would be happy for me to ride, but I'm going to wait until the next scan (at 12 months) before I even consider it :)

I know people whose horses had check lig injuries (diagnosed by scanning) who were encouraged to hack out lightly from as soon as a couple of weeks post injury.
 
At 20 years old my boy did a check....no lameness per se, just a slight inflamation and didn't feel quite right coming down hill. Iced (Zamar), box rested for just over a week with anti-inflamms and nothing showed on the scan. However, due to age we treated it as if a check. Turnout in confined space and started walk work at 5 mins under saddle (as in more control!) per week. It was soul destroying for both horse and rider.....working up to 2 hours, so we missed a season when he was 20/21 but he did a full season as per normal when 21/22 and is (hopefully!) up for this coming season....fingers crossed.

The more time you invest in the early stages the quicker you can move on later.
 
One of my Arab mares did both her checks within 6 months. She was 16 at the time.Twelve months later she represented England in the Home internationals (Endurance) completing a 80k ER on day one and a 40k CR on day two this was a combined class were she was placed 4th.

She has not been lame and continues her Endurance . She is 18 now.

I cold hosed her ,bandaged her and gave her a small area around one of my stables. When we stared riding her we walked out for 20mins then half an hour finally building up to an hour. Once we got to an hour we put in a short trot, again building this up by a minute at a time (every other day) until we were doing 30 minutes trotting.
 
Thanks everyone :)

I was grateful at the time it wasnt laminitis, now reality has sunk in that all my hard work getting weight off him and getting him fit has gone down the drain :(

Long term is he going to be prone to injury in this leg?
 
So we are on day 10 and hes so far good. Trotted him up and hes ever so slightly short still but also stiff because of the box rest.

I am hoping to take him off bute and re assess, does this seem a good plan?
 
My horse did his check back in January 2012... he was never lame... we are now in 6 months of his recovery and the check is healing well. He has been scanned every month (6 times) and was on box rest for 3.5 months at the beginning.. i suggest you get it scanned :)
 
Get it scanned either way. One of mine has been out since March 2011 with a check ligament injury. We did box rest all the cold treatment and Shockwave therapy.
He was never lame on it and the swelling was absolutely tiny - but it was still a tear.
Brought him slowly back into work in November 2011 and was working him up to regular flatwork in the arena by March this year. He was also on normal turnout at this stage.

Then in April (probably hooning around the field) he upset it again. Scan showed that he had upset the old injury. At that point platelet therapy was suggested, but out of curiosity we got the opinions of two other vets. As he's not lame or showing any sensitivity on it they have suggested putting shoes with pads to raise his heels and walk him.

So, that's what I have been doing... He got minimal box rest this time and then we were out hacking on the roads for short periods.

Some vets feel that total box rest for this injury is actually not the best thing because the movement helps the fibres to heal correctly to allow for movement.
 
I got my exracehorse with a very mild check ligament strain as a 7 year old. He'd had two weeks box rest and I just turned him out for 6 months and it seemed to come right. Vet checked it and had trouble telling which check ligament had had the strain. Fast foward 8 years and several years eventing and he tweaked it again. After two attempts to get him back sound failed I was left with no option but a check ligament desmotomy. This basically means slicing the check ligament through. The rehab starts straight away to stop the ligament trying to reattach. Eighteen months down the line I have a sound horse. In theory I could still event but I don't dare but he still has a very active life doing dressage and now showing, so there are still options with this kind of injury.
 
A little update - vet has been this morning and is more than happy with his progress. This horse is semi retired anyway, all he does is hack to keep his weight off & because he enjoys getting out and about.
I have no desire to ever jump, hunt, show or event on him anymore. I just need him sound and happy enough to keep the pounds off. He has been off bute a week and is happier than ever. I dont want him messed with in regards to the treatment given above as its not needed. As long as hes happy and healthy thats all im bothered about, like i said hes semi retired anyway and the vet scanned the leg and was happy for him to start controlled exercise.
 
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