Colateral ligament damage- experiences please. very worried

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monstermunch

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My baby who only turned 5 in march has severe colateral ligament damage in both front legs. i have been told it was really un lucky and caused by a slight tilt in her pedal bones (not hereditary) just bad luck. I have backed her my self and brought her on slowly to potentially be my top show jumper for my ambitous dreams. She was the most phenominal jumper and I am now absolutely gutted. The outlook I have been given is very bleak but I do feel like vets normally give you worst case scenario and would really like other peoples experiences of this injury. i have been told she is unlikely to ever come sound. I love her too much to ever part with her and I am therefore worried about her becoming bored long term as she is only 5 and not a horse that enjoys doing nothing.
She is curently completing her 5th month of box rest with a bit of hand grazing when sensible enough - although she is starting to flip out in the stable as well now. I am now questioning what is the point of box rest as no matter what I do now she is going to go mad when I eventualy turn her out. She has had shock wave and IRAP therapy, and has remedial rocker shoes every 5 weeks.
I am desperate to hear from anyone who has had positive experiences. Giving her 2 years off does not bother me if I can get my baby back.
Any experiences would be greatly appreciated
 
My horse had collateral ligament damage amongst other things that showed up on MRI. Before I got the results of the MRI scan, I bumped into an EP who had clients on our yard and got talking and he told me the reason for my horse's lameness was primarily collateral ligament damage which was not necessarily terminal. This was the first time any professional had so much as mentioned the collateral ligament. I'd had 2 vets on the case. The first was treating the fetlock, the second located the lameness lower down and suggested possible DDFT hence the MRI.

The MRI did find some damage to the DDFT but drew particular attention to the collateral ligament of the coffin joint.

So that gave me great confidence in the EP and he took my horse barefoot and onto a complete recovery.

Foot balance is key to healing of collateral ligaments. I don't know where you are geographically but this is who I would highly recommend to advise you:

http://www.equinepodiatry.co.uk
 
I've had two diagnosed. Sammy was diagnosed with a ruptured collateral ligament by Sue Dyson at the AHT over 6yrs ago. He was my 8yr old eventer. The diagnosis took a long time as MRIs weren't common back then and once diagnosed it was too late to treat as the ligament was completely ruptured. He was pts. The following year Sue Dyson did wrote a paper on collateral ligament damage. Sammy was the one of the first nine cases diagnosed at the AHT. I seem to remember six were pts, one was still on rest a year down the line, one was a retired paddock ornament and the other was a light hack.
Jesper was diagnosed with wear and tear to his collateral ligaments at Liphook 2yrs ago. He was 9yrs old. His injury wasn't so severe. We treated with steriod injections in to the coffin joint, shockwave, six weeks box rest and turned him away for nine months. After discussions with my vet we didn't box rest for longer as he's a very stressy horse and was likely to do himself more damage in than out. He returned to work as a light hack but retired in February of this year due to a number of issues including the collateral problems. IRAP wasn't such a well known option 2yrs ago so he didn't have it.
The outlook for most collateral ligament cases long term is poor. The ligament is hidden within the coffin joint making it difficult to medicate and monitor. If you've tried IRAP and shockwave then it's a case of wait and see. A lot more horses do make it back in to work now than they did when Sue did her original report. A good farrier is key. I'm sorry to not be more positive but I think you'd be one of the very lucky ones if your mare returned to eventing. Some do return to dressage and hacking but few return to jumping.
It's interesting because Jesper's was caused by exactly the same problem as your horse. So sorry.
 
my horse had this was told to pts as was so bad had irap all five injection six months box rest and he barefoot hes now sound and riding well and he has djd as well so iv been very lucky but i will never jump him again or trot him on roads not worth the risk
 
my first advanced horse that I produced up through myself ended up with colateral ligament damage in both front feet, primarily caused by confirmation and his foot fall. He is sound enough to hack and dressage and have the odd jump but unfotunately wasn't ever right enough to contine a competitive career. Sorry to be gloomy as well but I echo the others really. She will probably do a job but it may well not be the one you set out for. All the reasearch I have done and people I have spoken to since ahve had similair experiences.
 
my horse suffered collateral ligament damage in both front feet due to typical t.b. feet longish toe low heel ( flat feet). he had a core lesion in one and the other was sprained. he has come back into work , which the vets said he never would. he is presently competing successfully in dressage and showing at riding club level. i will never jump him again and i limit the amount of road work i do, to once a week and only walk. he is shod every 4 weeks to keep on top of his hoof balance. it took me a long time to rehab him slowly and carefully. this in its self was far from easy - how i have survived it - god only knows !!!. i don't know how long he will stay sound for but at the moment he is great. he has been back in work since august 08. i wish you well and hope you are lucky like i have appeared to have been.
 
A horse on our yard had a problem with his 3yrs ago, all I know is that he had a pot on his leg, had IRAP and I think stem cell treatment. He made a full recovery and was back jumping again. I know it was a long job. His owner posts on here, Loodi Doodi, if you can grab her attention on here Im sure she will be able to give you more details.

Good luck for the future, there is hope Im sure for you.
 
My boy was diagnosed in August this year with a lateral collateral ligament strain at Liphook with an MRI scan. He was mis-diagnosed for 4 months prior.I only hacked out and watched what i did so he was sound for 3 months then tripped and hence the MRI. From the amount of research and reading that i have done to get your horse sound it does depend on what damage the horse has done and that the rehab is done correctly and every horse is different and what works for one may not for another. I found this forum with was informative http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/archive/index.php/t-116193.html
And I got a great book on rehabing such injuries called 'BACK TO WORK' by Lucinda Dyer, get it it's brilliant and has a load of case histories some you would not believe. The road is hard and long and I have another 4 months to go before he can go anywhere near a paddock. We are at the moment 24mins hacking at walk, he is totally sound and full of it! I refuse to listen to doom and gloom, Liphook vets were great I had Jane Boswell and she was very nice and positive. I am hoping that i will be able to do everything i did before, dressage, a bit of jumping and some hunting(maybe) i am just greatful that I still have my boy, he's only 7 and it is gutting, I felt as though my world had stopped, but I will learn to live with it and get on with it. I am a fighter and so is he. There is progress all the time in vet science so who knows what is around the corner. Also GOOD FARRIER is a the key and or barefoot, my boy has the latest high tech shoes they are the Natural Balance Performance Leverage Reduction shoes (PLR) in aluminum. They are the latest thinking on reducing collateral strain and they are brilliant and it only costs me an extra £10 for them.
Let us know how you get on and don't despair.
Lx
 
My daughters horse was diagnosed by MRI at Oakham with cld of the right fore we did everything very slowly box rest on sedation as like yours top jumping mare then shockwave walking in hand and so on we did this for about nine months and she was sound until we came to canter work and became lame again decided to take her shoes of six months ago and put her in foal due end of May 2010 she is turned out and will come in at night next month at moment is sound we decided to let nature take its course and see how she is next year.
Like you and many others where gutted when it happened and despite loads of research have not come across any who return to full competition work. We pinned our hopes on her coming sound to compete again like i am sure you are but would not go through all that again and wished we had taken shoes of and turned her away sooner. Only you can decide keep posting to how you go on.
 
My horse has just been diagnosed as having navicular, his lamesness came on suddenly after a be event.

He has only had x rays, so i am not convinced it is just navicular, im pretty sure he has done something like your mare, he has been lame now for 4mths. I like yourself am gutted. He isnt insure and im not having mri's.

As bright mount suggested, look at the barefoot route, i have been trawling the net the last few months and it is astounding the results they have had from it. In particular log on to www.hoofrehab.com there is an amazing article called 'Digging for the truth about Navicular syndrome' please read it it explains everything perfectly.

My horse is turned away now, im sure he may come back to do dressage/hack. I havent the heart to shoot him.
 
OH eventer was diagnosed in June with colateral ligamnet damage. She has had IRAP and shockwave and now has had her shoes taken off....she is currently sound and turned out in a small paddock. She won't come back into work until the spring, so I have my fingers crossed, I don't think she will ever event again, but some hacking and dressage would be fantastic.
 
Thank you very much for all your in put. I have found it very useful. I think like most of us in this position I possibly needed a reality check as I was living in hope that she would make a full recovery. I am hoping to put her in foal next year as I have always wanted to breed and it gives her another 1 1/2 of recovery. I will keep you posted on my progress. Thanks everyone
 
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