Check Ligament stories?

[KINDMARE]

My 10 year old mare has torn her check ligament! i use her for low level jumping and hacking. With occasional showing.
She has been on box rest for the last 2 weeks and is due for a rescan next week with the hope that she can go out in a pen for a couple of hours a day soon.
The vets were happy that she would be ok in time. they have stressed that slow progress is required though.
please could i hear of others whos horses have recovered (or not) from this - how long did it take and did they come as good as before?
thank you

 

[milliepops]

One of my horses did 2 legs on separate occasions, yes she did make a full recovery and that never bothered her again. we did take it very slow and scanned before upping the work each time, she was older than your mare and the healing was a bit slower as a result. Don't panic, follow the rehab to the letter and if you can afford to scan now and then, do so... you should have a good result.

 

[KINDMARE]

One of my horses did 2 legs on separate occasions, yes she did make a full recovery and that never bothered her again. we did take it very slow and scanned before upping the work each time, she was older than your mare and the healing was a bit slower as a result. Don't panic, follow the rehab to the letter and if you can afford to scan now and then, do so... you should have a good result.

Thank you Milliepops - thats good to hear. how long did it take? She is a 16.2 TB so very delicate LOL

 

[milliepops]

the first one, she did in probably April and I was beginning schooling again by christmas, but she did a proper job on that (foot down a hole on the gallops ) she did the other hooleying in the field, was a bit shorter as only a small injury but I was very cautious anyway, you never regret taking longer on a rehab whereas you might regret going too fast.

 

[mustardsmum]

Our mare did a check ligament Jan 2919. It developed a tear and we had PRP therapy, and box rest for about a month. Then we started the rehab. We kept her penned for nine months with daily walking - starting with five mins a day for a week then ten… built it up very slowly, inhand walking then progressing to being ridden in walk. Through the summer we introduced a few mins trotting in 45 min walks and we had her first canter nearly a year after the initial injury. The key is don’t be tempted to rush, you will need to build strength back into the tendon regularly by building up the length of time she is exercised each day. I was given a sheet with what I had to do at each stage. At first I was utterly overwhelmed and sad she would br off so long. But I stuck to it. The last scan she had you cannot even see where the injury was. I think the problem with these injuries is that they can actually come sound quite quickly - our mare was only lame for a a few days, but the tell tale swelling was there. It’s about getting the tendon strong enough to withstand exercise, and that can only be done with rehab. Oh and see if there’s a reason why it happened. Our mare has a broken back hoof plaster axis, so is now in wedges. This was discovered after the injury because although she was “sound” she was clearly sore in her feet turning. X-ray of her front feet showed the HPA issue - which may have been putting a strain on the tendon in the first place. Our mare is an 18 year old (16 at the time if injury) 14.2 BRP, so basically very fine small TB. She is now back jumping, doing a bit of endurance, hacking and jumping. If you want to chat pm me ?

 

[milliepops]

agree they can come sound very quickly, on the second one my mare was barely noticeably lame at all, she didn't object if you pinched the injured area at all and we had to scan it twice to find it. The swelling was textbook though so we all knew it was there somewhere. if we hadn't rescanned throughout her recovery you'd have thought it safe to up the work more quickly but the scan showed she just wasn't ready for it.

it's one of the least-bad soft tissue injuries you can get OP so although it's a PITA it should heal well and not cause any more bother.

 

[KINDMARE]

Our mare did a check ligament Jan 2919. It developed a tear and we had PRP therapy, and box rest for about a month. Then we started the rehab. We kept her penned for nine months with daily walking - starting with five mins a day for a week then ten… built it up very slowly, inhand walking then progressing to being ridden in walk. Through the summer we introduced a few mins trotting in 45 min walks and we had her first canter nearly a year after the initial injury. The key is don’t be tempted to rush, you will need to build strength back into the tendon regularly by building up the length of time she is exercised each day. I was given a sheet with what I had to do at each stage. At first I was utterly overwhelmed and sad she would br off so long. But I stuck to it. The last scan she had you cannot even see where the injury was. I think the problem with these injuries is that they can actually come sound quite quickly - our mare was only lame for a a few days, but the tell tale swelling was there. It’s about getting the tendon strong enough to withstand exercise, and that can only be done with rehab. Oh and see if there’s a reason why it happened. Our mare has a broken back hoof plaster axis, so is now in wedges. This was discovered after the injury because although she was “sound” she was clearly sore in her feet turning. X-ray of her front feet showed the HPA issue - which may have been putting a strain on the tendon in the first place. Our mare is an 18 year old (16 at the time if injury) 14.2 BRP, so basically very fine small TB. She is now back jumping, doing a bit of endurance, hacking and jumping. If you want to chat pm me ?

Thankyou Mustardsmum for taking the time to reply - its reassuring to hear the good stories. Yes I do feel rather overwelmed with the rehab walking once it starts. its the time frame that has me worried - all that inhand stuff for so long! i will of course do it as she means the world to me, but months and months!!!
im sure she and I will settle into a routine once it starts and will be ok

 

[mustardsmum]

@KINDMARE We felt the same re length of time - but it actually went by surprisingly fast and inhand walking is an amazing way to bond with your horse! I swear our rehab brought a new dimension to the relationship we had with our girl. Wishing you all the best with her recovery

 

[ycbm]

If I had to have a horse pull a ligament it would be the check. I have known possibly a dozen over the years and all made a full recovery. I hope you're is the same.
.

 

[AFB]

Mine tweaked his about 10 years ago - only a slight lameness initially but he was insured at the time so we scanned regularly and he had a course of Cartrophen injections. He came field sound almost immediately but we took him very slowly in terms of rest and controlled walking and he was probably back in full work by the 6 month mark (don't quote me on that though, 10 years is a long time!)

He's never had any issues since, although he does get some residual swelling in that area on very hot days - doesn't cause him any problems.

 

[eggs]

Mine did his April last year. Pulled him out of his stable for the farrier and he was lame (the horse, not the farrier). Phoned my vet and described it and she thought it sounded like a check ligament and said she would be out the next day to scan once the initial swelling had subsided a bit.

Next day he was totally sound in walk when we pulled him out of his stable but the scan did show that he had a tear in his check ligament. My vets words were along the lines of 'thank goodness it is his check ligament and not anything else'. On her advice we turned him out for two weeks and then he was rescanned which showed it had healed really well and we were able to start riding him again. Two months later he was back schooling at Inter 1 and has not had any issue with it since.

Good luck with your horse but I do think you are most likely to have a good outcome.

 

[exracehorse]

Check ligament 6 years ago. Went lame on a hack. Field ornament for 14 months. Came back sound for light hacking but was always wonky in trot as the ligament had repaired tight. Two years later the annular ligament went on same leg. She’s now retired.