Collateral Ligament Damage

[HopesnDreams]

Can anyone post any experience of Collateral Ligament Damage please?

My horse has this in his front leg. Im waiting 6 months with him on rest before I know whether he will be rideable or not ever.

 

[magic14339]

in my experience ligaments just take a certain amount of time to heal. It is lengthy box rest however there are a few things that can be looked into to maximise the healing i.e. laser, hydrotherapy etc. These options are worth discussing with your vet as they can prove very useful at assisting in the recovery process. Good Luck

 

[HopesnDreams]

I was told initially he needed field rest. But decided myself that I would box rest him with limited turnout only at feed and mucking out times.

He has had 3 Shock Wave Therapy treatments as advised. I see that some cold hose. I wasnt advised to cold hose though.

I wondered if anyone else had any stories about their experiences as well.

 

[misst]

There are lots of threads if you do a search on here and just put collateral ligaments in..... Was it diagnosed by MRI? I assume it is the ligaments within the hoof capsule?

If it is collateral ligament injury then the prognosis is usually very guarded. There are people on here who have had good outcomes but thre are lots who have not. Rest seems to be very important and some people have had good results with IRAP. Sadly we have lost one to this as an 8 year old and have the bad luck to have another 12yo with a poor outlook at the moment, though he did come sound for a while. Foot balance and a good farrier are key to the outcome. Some have tried barefoot with some success.

A specialist equine lameness vet from somewhere like the AHT or Liphook or Rossdales is also the best way to go.

Good luck

 

[Ludi-doodi]

Yes I have, or my horse has experienced of this. Have a look at this thread which includes my reply explaining what we did. Collatoral lig thread

 

[cobwithattitude]

My cob had 5 months rrest and is now as right as rain - just took time and patience - good luck

 

[brightmount]

[ QUOTE ]
... Foot balance and a good farrier are key to the outcome. Some have tried barefoot with some success.

[/ QUOTE ]

^^^ Agree with this, foot balance is absolutely key. My horse had damaged collateral ligaments as part of a package of navicular syndrome issues picked up on MRI. When I was waiting for the results of the MRI scan, I crossed paths with an equine podiatrist who told me just by looking that her immediate lameness was due to the collateral ligaments, and that the prognosis was generally good. No vet had even mentioned collateral ligaments up to then, and lo and behold, that's what showed up on the MRI.

I took her barefoot and she made a complete recovery within a year.

If your vet has advised field rest, you may not necessarily be gaining anything by box rest, with the added risk of explosions when turned out which can do more damage than the continual gentle movements of grazing, though it may depend on your ground conditions. I would discuss that one again with the vet.