CHECK LIGAMENT

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chestnutcob

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Hi
My horse has never been lame but had a swelling on the inside of his foreleg around the check ligament area !
I took him straight to the vet to get it scanned, he checked it all and said there had been a slight bleed into the area but no damage, the bleed is apparently normal when the ligament has been tweaked ?
Well the area still has the same level of swelling and this is 6 months later, he's still not lame and there is no heat.
Can anyone tell me if this is normal swelling or should I go for another scan ?
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Sounds quite similar to my old boy who 'did' his check ligament many years ago. He had minmal lameness for a day or two then was always sound but the slight swelling persisted, as far as I remember you could still detect a slight thickening to the day he was PTS (unrelated) some ten years later.
 
My Mickey ruptured his check ligament; vet told us he needed 9 months box rest. After three months, the swelling was gone and he was sound in walk, although I never did anything more than walk him out, so he may still have been lame in trot. Unfortunately he died really suddenly, so I'll never know how long it would have taken him to come sound
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Our old boy did his check ligament when he was 10; he came totally sound within a few months, and was back hunting and team chasing the next year. He never went lame on it again, but he did always have a visible thickening in the area.
 
Thanks for the responses, like I said he hasn't been lame and I have jumped him etc ................ Its just that this thickening is still there and it makes me paranoid everytime I look at his leg.
 
My intermediate endurance mare has done both her front check ligaments 6 months apart.

She was never lame on either occation, just the swelling on the outer part of her legs just below the knee.

With the first one she was in full work for a 40 mile ride (Including trotting along some hard tracks.) With the first one the only reason I had the vet come and scan her was that I thought that the vets at the ride would make comments and ? not allow her to do the ride (Although she was sound)

She was treated with shock wave thearpy etc and I also gave her some heomopathic treatment.

She was out of work for only 6 weeks while the SWT was being done as my vet felt that the rest would be helpful.

Even now after 18months there are still some thickening in both legs.
 
Thanks for that I am finding it reassuring, his swelling is on the inside of his one leg and about 1" below the knee.
What homeopathic treatment did you use ? Do you think magnets would help ? I'm not really one for these options but he is so special I am prepared to try anything.
 
mydass-you might not want to recommend them as definitely helping when magnets have no proven benefits
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but some people do swear by them
Is it a hard or soft swelling?
 
The thickening is soft, he has throughbred legs and a vein that also runs along the same line ! But I would definately describe it as a soft thickening about 2" in length and about 5mm in depth at the top tapering down to nothing ? I hope this makes sense ?
 
My boy has done both check ligaments. First time he had 9 months off, shock wave therapy and was slowly brought back into work. Second time he was off for about 3 months, but had no SWT but brought slowly back into work after time off. He was lame for about a week, then not obviously lame at all! He had obvious swellings and thickening of the tendons both times, but after time off and slow reintroduction to work, the swellings went down. He still has slight thickening now that can be felt not seen - a vet would pick it up in a vetting.

My vet told me that time off is really the best answer. It is frustrating because the horse is not lame and not in pain, but if you want the swelling to go down, i would not be tempted to carry on riding as normal!!
 
My old girl did her check ligament when she was 22 out hunting and had 6 mths rest and walking out. She was never lame but there is a visible thickening. I know lots of horses with the same & it's not a problem. My mare is back jumping big hedges & rails same as always - by the way, she still thinks she's 3 & is not your typical oldie!
 
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