Check ligament treatment advice

[Foxybean]

My 20 yr old gelding has been diagnosed with a torn check ligament today. The vet has prescribed box rest for 1 mth initially with bute twice a day, weekly adequan injections, hosing twice a day and ultrasound 3 times a week. He has mentioned I can walk him out to graze for 30 mins a day, but when I tried this evening it really unsettled him when I put him back in his box. I wondered what other people's experience was? Would I just be better to keep him on total box rest for the first month? I'm worried he will get stiff but equally don't want to risk further injury! Please help

 

[13798]

In my opinion the vets are trying to get all your money!
Walk out and hoseing are good. Adiquan is expensive and with a 20 year old I am not sure how effective that would be.
Basically its rest, but I would try and keep him moving (the grazing) and hosing.
They usually get into a routine quite quickly. If you box rest him you then have the problem later of letting him out!
Check ligaments often heal quite well & quikely.

 

[Emma24]

When my girl did a check ligament I kept her on full box rest for a month and then found somewhere that had a shelter and a little graveled area so she could have a little walk around, but couldn't do too much in there. The left her for several months and then slowly brought her back into work.
I also believe sometimes its better just to turn them out straight away and let them settle out in the field rather then boxing them up and taking them out for a little bit of grass here and there often stresses them more.
Never had injections.

 

[Rana]

My old mare did both check ligaments (at different times). She was 30+ and fully retired, so my vet told me to bute and cold hose until the swelling went down, and keep turning her out unless she was lame. His view was that if she was comfortable to potter around in the paddock, there was little point treating it. She was never lame on it anyway, and both healed really well, despite her age. Never had a problem with them, even with her leaping around the field.

I'd always recommend taking your vets advice, but the treatment plan they've recommended seems like overkill for an older horse. Might be worth another chat with your vet and see if there's any other options. Besides, a stressed horse in a stable will do more damage to itself than a calm horse in a field.

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

Loads of experience with this

My OH's old horse had on/off soundness for 12 years with this and my 16 year old gelding did his check ligament last Dec- was never lame but the leg was swollen.It was diagnosed by ultrasound scan. I asked about Adequan as he had it before for ringbone and my vet said it was useless on ligaments

My boy has never lived in as he goes nuts indoors

so we turned him out in the concrete yard with a tiny bit of paddock electrically fenced off so he could wee/roll and he has recovered really well, we are just starting to introduce canter on hacks

My OH bought me an UltraSound machine off Ebay

(3 mhz) so i could do him twice a day- this really helped it heal and saved £££ on long term hire/paying a physio(she recommended buying one too) to do it. We used Feldene gel from the vet as a carrier as it is an anti-inflamatory and the ultrasound helped it penetrate deeper.

 

[abina]

Much better idea to get them out asap. in a small enclosed area where they can see other horses so not to get stressed and a pick at some grass. Walking gently helps and if you keep on box rest for too long the excitement of coming out is great and they tend to leap around and risk slipping and doing more damage. My mare also refused to go back in her stable after her ' 5 min walk gently out in hand ' recommendation from the vet! so I left her out - let nature and Dr. Green do their work. Keep Cold hosing and I found Ice Tight brilliant for keeping it cold and supported for the first two weeks. Good luck - it does heal quite quickly - Good Luck !

 

[burtie]

My mare did this a few years back. she was never lame, but had a small swelling.

Initially he advised box rest and walking under saddle but when I pointed out she weaved when in he agreed turnout on own in a small paddock would probably be better.

 

[0ldmare]

My middle aged horse knackered her check ligament doing hand stands in the field. The vet advised 4 weeks box rest, but after some discussion we agreed that it would be OK for her to be fenced into a small area to graze. This worked really well and was much much nicer for her. She made a full recovery and has not had any problems since

 

[Foxybean]

Thanks all for your responses! I've walked him out again tonight for 30 mins to graze and he was much calmer and seemed very happy to munch! Hopefully he will get into a routine soon, but I'll get him out in a small paddock as soon as I can...