check ligament lameness?

[H-J]

Do horses have to be lame at all when damaged a heck ligament?

Also could there be a slight swelling that goes down after working them or would the sweeling stay there?

thx

 

[Halfstep]

No, lameness is not necessarily present even with fairly bad check ligament damage. But I would think that the swelling would not change after exercise if it is a check ligament; I'm not a vet though!

 

[showjump]

My horse managed to put a 2cm hole in his check (so pretty bad!) he wasnt lame at all. The swelling didnt got down tho, until after the treatment ect.

 

[Gladioli]

Horse not always lame with a check ligament injury however the surrounding swelling may reduce due to the fluid being moved by exercise, however I would still expect the ligament itself to be full and thick and to not return to 'normal' after exercise.

 

[chestnutcob]

My horse has had swelling around the check ligament ! He wasn't lame at all. I took him to the vets for a scan, it showed no damage to the ligament or tendons but did show a slight bleed (Larger dark gap between DDSFT and Check ligament) This was due to him tweaking it in the field. Vet suggested 6 weeks box rest with daily hacking. There is still a slight thickening there. Which I'm not sure if this is normal but will ring the vet and enquire.

 

[debradley]

My daughters pony did it's check ligament in last year. She's now fully back into work. She was both lame and has a swelling. Was given 6-7 months off in a very small pasture. but she's come back lovely. The swelling is still there tho and doesn't go down, just stays there. Vet advised that this may always be the case and as long as it doesn't get any heat in it or increase in size after exercise then it's ok.