Check ligament - is it the end?

[Shel]

Advice, stories, experiences, good or bad wanted please.....

Our beautiful dressage horse has come back from his loan home (only been there a couple of months) as he has done his check ligament. Vet has scanned it and advised 6 months box rest. Is this the norm?? Not experienced this type of injury before, in fact, in all the years we have had him, we have been lucky enough not to have had any time-off injuries!

He's no spring chicken, hes 15 now, but was competed up to advanced medium, then given semi-retirement a year ago. The loanee just wanted something to do long and low, maximum novice level dressage with him, so seemed like a perfect scenario.

Do you think he would be able to just quietly hack around for the rest of his days, or is this it???? He's a big 17hh plus warmblood, so not sure if that will hinder his recovery.

Gutted!!

 

[paulineh]

One of my Arab mares has done both her front Check ligaments.

She was never lame and when she did the first one she was in training (Endurance). She had field rest ( we built a small area around one of the stables , she does not do box rest) She had shock wave treatment and injections. The second one was done in the field so again I gave her shock wave treatment.

After the second one I put her in foal ,so she did have some time off from real work. I walked her out until she felt uncomfortable.

Since coming back into work two years ago she has completed the Golden Horse Shoe (160km) and been placed in races and last year was part of the England team at the Home Internationals where she did 120km over the hills of Wales.

Do not dispare My mare was 17 when she did the Horse Shoe and the England team.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Fronts heal better than hinds.

My boy did a hind, big hole in it. Ten months in a small barn, hole healed to a 1mm tear, started rehab, scar tissue started to split and he was lame again.

Sadly that is it for him. 17.2h M/W show hunter/medium dressage horse. We are now trying to turn him out in a small paddock in the hope he can enjoy a peaceful retirement, but that is proving tricky for him to adapt to after a life of competing, travelling and being a very special horse.

I sincerely hope your horse does better than mine has. Good luck.

 

[lmuir]

Have a look at ARCequine.com and talk to Ian. I'm just 3 weeks into treatment for tenosynivitis so not the same injury but it might be worth you having a look?

 

[Shel]

Thanks guys......good to hear both sides.

Sorry Alice your boy didn't come sound, fingers crossed our chap will come back, even if its just enough to pop on him now and again quietly.

 

[Shel]

Thanks Imuir....will do.

 

[cptrayes]

Two friends, two different horses. One four months off, sound since and affiliated eventing. Second longer off but the owner didn't do what she was told to by the vet and the horse got adhesions but is now competing and winning elementary schooling advanced medium.

Both in front legs, hope that helps.

 

[star]

check is probably one of the better injuries to get. most of them seem to heal quite well. 6mths box rest seems a little excessive unless horse is likely to be a complete nutter in a small paddock but you are definitely looking at 6mths of restricted turnout - should be small enough paddock so no cantering.

 

[mjcssjw2]

I hope not, mine has been diagnosed with damaged check ligament today, vet suggested turnout in very small paddock since he won't stay in, ha ha! he has run round and round threatening to jump out until I submitted and let him back out in big paddock! the git then stood contentedly grazing! Vet also wanted him excercise bandaged whilst out, but I am concerned if it rains they will dry and tighten on his legs. Someone remind me why we do this?

 

[AdorableAlice]

Time and plenty of it is key OP. Listen to your vets. If it is a significant tear you are very likely to be looking at a 9 to 12 months off and then a long slow rehab period.

Box rest is soul destroying but depending on what your scan is showing your horse could be facing a long spell inside. I posed the very same question as you just have,on the forum a year ago, and many people said they rested their horses in the field. The injury did heal in some cases but took a lot longer than those on box rest.

The damaged fibres need to knit back together and get strong again. We scanned every 3 months to monitor the healing process and at month ten the rehab started. That was very difficult and needed sedative and very careful handling even though he was beautifully mannered throughout the box rest period, at 17.2h and 700kg+ he was quite a handful when he stepped outside. Obviously the last thing he needed to do was turn himself inside out. My vet was very hands on with helping the horse remain calm and focused on his rehabbing, using both medication and calming products.

Horses are not designed to be imprisoned and you need to factor in all the possible problems - gut mobility, stiffness, mental state etc etc.

My horse turned 19 in May and has competed at the very top level, so it was very frustrating that he injured himself in the field just a fews weeks after he had been retired from the competitive life he was used to. The vets have not ruled out him coming sound next year and being able to hack out a little. All I hope is he adapts and enjoys a painfree retirement in the paddocks.

Your vet is by far the best guidance, every horse is different in the way they cope with confinement. I found a product called Calmex made by Vetplus very helpful. It is available from the vet.

 

[showjump]

My boy managed to put a 2cm hole in his check ligament about 5 years back. I can't remember his exact recovery stages, but he was built up slow with loads of hacking (as per vets instructions) he has been back competing BSJA for 2/3 years since, and had no problems with it since. (touch wood)

I do remember tho, that as we built the work up the leg would sometimes swell up a little more, so we would know we had pushed it a little too hard.. And so drop back to hacking for a couple of days. It would settle again, and we would built up the schooling again. Sure I will have posted about it before in more detail.

Good luck.

Just to add this was before he qualified HOYS so not all doom and gloom! He's coming up 16 now.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I hope not!! My mare did a 20% tear on her near fore CL on our last day's hunting in April. She had a week in the stable then turned out in field for 2.5 months where we rescanned and I started walking starting at 25 mins a day adding a little bit of time every day.

We rescanned today at 7 weeks because I was worried about some heat in leg. Scan all fine and walking to continue for another 4 weeks. Am erring on side of caution as horse is 15 and want her to last!!! Best thing is to have regular scans and you can see how its healing.

 

[gunnergundog]

19 year old did OF check; initially, cold, box rest for a week and anti-inflamms then scan, turn out in VERY small area (size of two-three loose boxes) plus starting with 5 mins walking under saddle, increasing by 5 mins per week up to 2 hours. Very soul destroying for both horse and rider but I firmly believe that the more work you put in in the early stages the quicker you can progress later on.

Horse did 10 light-ish days hunting as a 20 year old and over 20 days last season as a 21 year old, including a very 'vigorous' 5 hour day.

 

[Cynorian]

Find your local equine spa as this aids the healing and the fibres repair better and quicker. Hydro therapy is excellant for these kind of injuries. The horses do enjoy their sessions

 

[luce1]

I think it really depends on how bad they have torn the check ligament to..My 18year Dutch Warmblood Eventer did his check ligament in January this year. He was on box rest for 2 months initially, then was allowed to start walk work for another month (whilst still on box rest) and then was allowed to be turned out. He had to be heavily sedated for a good few weeks when being turned out and ridden as he was just a nightmare!! We then did a month of trot and so on.. he should of been ready to start competing a couple of months ago but had another problem (another story!) but all in all vet is happy with how his check ligament has healed. Will I ever jump him again? Hmm no, I don’t think so. He doesn’t owe me anything and I couldn’t live with myself if he was to injury himself again . He has amazing movement so we have joined BD and we have our first party in 2 weeks time!!! I have no idea how he is going to react as this will be his first trip out in the lorry in 8 months!!!
Good luck to you, hope you get out the other side ok... Just another note as hindsight is a wonder thing, I wouldn’t go through the whole box rest thing again.. if I knew then what I know now about how much of a handful he was to being back into work then I would have turned him away for 6 months...

 

[lyndsayberesford]

my 16.3hh 19 yr old warmblood still doing dressage/flatwork schooling and he has done both check ligaments (one when he was 12 and one at 15 yrs old).

still moves lovely for his age so yours should come right again soon!

 

[luce1]

would yu to see a picture of your boy lyndsay!

 

[lyndsayberesford]

and he still jumps for fun (not competitive)

 

[mjcssjw2]

oh he's nice, I am struggling with my horses check ligament injury at the moment.so it gives me a bit of a lift.
Don't know if he is reacting to the bandaging or the stuff the vet has given me to put on, but the whole of his tendon area is swollen, looks for all the world like a bowed tendon, its very hot I can see the skin is red where the vet has clipped and the skin is peeling. One of those situations where I can't do right for doing wrong. Anybody any advice?

 

[AdorableAlice]

What are you putting on it ?

Apart from an ice boot for short period of times there is nothing that can be rubbed in or painted on that will have much effect on a check ligament injury.

 

[mjcssjw2]

something the vet gave me to take away bruising/swelling, think its called compagel?

 

[AdorableAlice]

Yellow tube. It cools the leg a bit. I had the same stuff during the first week of the injury. Sounds like your horse has reacted to it slightly. It made my hands go cold and tingle when I put it on the horse.

 

[mjcssjw2]

yes yellow tube! hope it is a reaction to it and not that he's managed to something else.
Have stopped it now so I guess time will tell.

 

[stevieg]

Experiences seem to differ. We had a 9 year old BWB who was eventing until she did her check ligament. She went to Newmarket, had stem cell therapy and was turned out within a matter of weeks. She came back in after 6 months and was scanned again and her legs looked as good as new.
The downside was we never did quite have the courage to event her again and she went to a friend to do a little bit of everything with the emphasis on dressage.

 

[lyndsayberesford]

I never bandaged for the check ligament injury. I cold hosed several times a day and bought an ice boot and had that in for periods of time.

 

[Brigadoon]

My 17.2 middleweight did her check after being chased to bolt proportions by a collie in deep mud.
She was on box rest for about 6 months but was back in "work" after about 2 months as she could not be walked out in hand after nearly kicking me to death and a concussion incident. Rather than walk her out I rode her out around the yard under vet instruction.
She was only 1/10 lame for about 5 days. She was cold hosed for about a month, from memory, twice a day. She was bandaged in the stable. I took the vets advice to the letter. She was allowed out for short periods after 6 months in a small paddock.
I cried everyday as I always had taken such great care of her beautiful legs and she was blemish free... and thankfully still is.
I gave her NAF 5-star superflex at the time but not anymore. I used magnetic boots at the time as well. I massaged her daily as well so she did not lose too much muscle tone and it broke up her day. I also bought her the thick spongy matting for extra cushioning in her stable. And at the risk of sounding a complete religious freak...popped holy water from Lourdes in her feed. My farrier was his usual pro-active self and suggested rolled toes to help with the breakover.
I use exercise bandages or medicine boots on her. I don't go through "sucking" type mud. If it's hot when I ride her I cold hose her legs or put cooling gel on them. After heavier work I will happily get up in the night and check her legs are cold and hard. I am vigilant about warming her up, cooling her off and getting her properly fit...but I always was in the first place!
My vet was really pleased with her and she has had no problems since. She is now 18 and that was 5 years ago. She is as elastic, bendy and powerful as she was before she had it. You would not know what leg it was to look at her.
Perhaps my girl was lucky but it was a bad injury at the time and she is a big horse.
Even thought I cried a lot I still kept really positive about it as I could not believe my invinsible girl could have such an injury. Positive mental attitude does work.
Do as your vet advises as per each scan, stay positive and with a bit of luck things will go your way.

 

[Tnavas]

A horse I had many years ago had damaged the check ligament and to be honest he would constantly trip and stumble. He was not rested properly - injury was prior to me owning him.

Box rest is really he best thing to do. You may feel really mean about it but have your horse boxed where he can see all the activity in the yard. Feed only meadow hay - nothing else and have a mineral block in the box.

My 6yr old is on his 4th week of total box rest as he cut his hock badly - he has taken to confinement well and it's really helped to heal the wound quicker as it can't open up with movement. He's not lost any condition, just muscle tone.

With the ligament it does truly need complete rest to heal well. Mine was also out on lease been there only a couple of months - I bred him and he's never had even a small cut in his whole life.