Collateral ligament damage in the hock. Any experiences?

[Allykat]

My 18 year old TB has just been diagnosed with this. He presented with swelling and a tiny pin point area of heat but no lameness whatsoever. We rested but after showing no signs of change for the better or worse we went off to the vets.

Initially vets thought he may have a bone chip or foreign body in there as he had come in from the field a few weeks earlier with a small cut in the area. Xrays showed no chips or extra bits that shouldn't be there and the scan showed that he had actually pinged one of the collateral ligaments off the bone. Even the vets we're surprised at the amount of damage for the little amount of lameness shown. He is crippled on flexion but only very very marginally short normally. Vets initially weren't sure what the best course of treatment is to be but have now suggested medicating the hock joint as the inflamed ligament has been constricting the joint. This is to be followed with a course of laser therapy to stimulate healing. He's to stay in for a month with 10 mins in had walking then review.

Anyone been through this? Any good or bad stories please. Vets are hopeful that he will need 3 months rest. He's not insured and there is no time limit on him coming right but this kind of injury is something I have no knowledge of and I would be grateful of any other experiences if there are any.

Thank you all.

 

[wkiwi]

Not the hock, but I have had two horses with joint ligament injuries, one in the knee and one in the stifle.
The knee one was an 8yo competition horse that was only very very slightly lame after a gallop or lots of cantering. Lilke yours, he had more damage than showed in his lameness. He had a year off at grass but he always did laps of the paddock at the gallop every day for the whole of his life and he wasn't going to stop now. When he started jumping the fences to follow other horses out on hacks we called it a day because he was obviously bored out of his tree and had no quality of life.

The stifle horse was only 5 and had a shifting lameness. Tried to get her sound enough to be a brood mare but she was just too young and active. Each time she would do something in the paddock like bucking and leaping about and ended up lamer each time (keyboard warriors - yes she had rest and gradual intro to tiny paddock over a long time etc etc etc).

If the second horse had been only as lame as the first and older (assuming she mellowed in the paddock with age!) then she would have been fine as a non-ridden. Fingers crossed for your guy.
PS they were both TB's

 

[Allykat]

That you for replying. Sorry to hear you have been through similar twice. You have outlined what has been racing round my head already. My boy may not box rest once the others go out in the summer field so he will have to go out as it will be safer (it's entirely possible he did the injury in his stable in the first place having a stress about something) If he won't settle out he won't heal.

I guess I don't know until I try.

Thank you again.

 

[wkiwi]

I come from NZ originally and a lot of horses are never box rested because they don't have stables anyway. So many TBs with normal leg ligament probs etc. are always in the paddock, usually starting with just a small area electric fenced off and they heal ok (sometimes think it is better than having the extreme rebound effect that some horses have from box rest).
Ironically, in NZ if a horse has to stay in a box overnight then a lot of people put boots/bandages on to protect their legs whereas in the UK a lot of people put boots/bandages on to turn out. And in both countries horses still get injured despite all we do to protect them.
You can only do what you can, and sometimes no matter what you do they will heal or not heal. Have seen some horses that are completely neglected heal very well while others that get optimal care don't - bit of a lottery I think but worth a go.

 

[MuffettMischief]

We had a 22 year old do this. He was absolutely hopping lame it was horrendous. He had 3 months box rest with no improvement and vet said there isnt an awful lot we could do about it. He had just had them medicated for OA too!
We lost him but he did have a whole host of other issues too so it just pushed the decision.

 

[Allykat]

Sorry to hear you lost yours MM.

He's had the hock medicated today and a session of laser therapy. He never presented as lame and even the vets can't fathom that out. They say he should have been hopping. We will see how we get on.

 

[Leanne1980]

Hi Allykat, how is your horse now? My horse has also been diagnosed with a potential sprain to his collatoral ligament in the hock. She was very lame and the hock was extremely swollen. The swelling is starting to go down and we have a puffy small lump appeared on both sides of the hock. Can I ask what treatment you have used? Any improvement? Rehab plan? Thanks