Frustrated at lack of progress

Birker2020

Birker2020

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Bit of a self indulgent sorry for one self post really. ;)I'm feeling frustrated at the moment and a trifle sorry for myself through lack of progress in the recovery of my horse:p

My horse has been off since June 24th with a slight sprain of one of the branches of his suspensory ligament. Over this period he has had three lots of shockwave, LW ultrasound, pulsed magnetic treatment, ice therapy, bandaging, box rest, bringing back into work.

His recovery has been hampered by the fact that he is a bit of an idiot in the field. Finally went out again 9 days ago and leg seemed sound. He went out on Zyklene sachets which will run out on Sunday. Vet told me at the time of him going out that I could start riding for 30 mins per day in walk which is what I've been doing. Last night I rode in the menage as usual and Bailey seems lame to the point I would have said easily 2/10. He's not extending the leg and the toe appears to be landing differently to the other toe too.

Got off and took in, checked leg for heat/swelling, none there. Beginning to wonder if he will ever get back to the level he was at previously (comp every wk.end, riding club level jumping, unaff dressage, etc).

Have serious doubts he will ever come sound enough. If he's not even sound in walk after almost six months with a slight sprain something is not right somewhere. Have him booked in for Sunday afternoon with my physio friend Nelson11 so will see what she recommends, but right now I feel deflated and defeated and very upset.
 
I am with you applecart.

I too am frustrated with progress with my mare too.

she u prob know has been on box rest since july.

we have had setbacks - rotation - founder- abscesses- low protein- colic - 5 blood tests so far- 5 x rays so far-
must be over 30 vet visits so far -
changed her to emergency diet and the pulse gradually lessened

finally she looks better then she gets colic as a result of her gut returning to normal.

then she starts to improve again, have her shoes on then days later hobbling again


pulse up again no more rotation or founder
poultice nothing come out we now into our 3rd week of poulticing and still though her pulse lessened again
bloods shows low protein and loosing protein fluids

new bloods shows protein up since new diet no more fluid on stomach still no pus .

She is allot brighter now being an angel in her stable doesn't try to come .

laminitis has stabilized now out . Just have to be patient but its hard and wears you down mentally :)
 
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What about turning away for a while?? I had a questionable high suspensory injury orginially in Feb 2011. Followed by steriod injection, box rested, controlled exercise etc. Went lame again in May 2011.
Turned away in a paddock with a friend (gradually made paddock bigger) until end of September and she was sound.
Been in hacking work since and is still sound (fingers crossed) (12 weeks of work).
Vets have warned not to do repetitive school. Expecting that she should be able to do xc/sj and ODEs but she will be doing a lot more hacking day to day than she was previously.
 
No suggestions I am afraid but just wanted to say so sorry you have been very unlucky. Sometimes it is just not fair.:( How about just chucking the horse out for a few months without shoes ?
 
Maybe 30mins riding is too much for him. I do not know what your vet exactly said but after such an injury horses normally have to be started slowly again meaning start off with 5min walk per day for a week, then 10 mins, and slowly build it up to 30mins., then add trott and so on. Also if the ground in the menage is a bit too soft or deep, that might cause more harm then good. Maybe start of walking him on hard ground for a while? Alternatively have you checked everything else? Lameness often comes from the back and a leg injury often leads to problems i the back anyway.
If I were you I would not give up yet :) If you believe in your horse and your horse enjoyed what he did before then he will try his best to be at his best again :) I can say this from experience my mare was a hopeless case apparently and putting down was recommended strongly as she would never be sound again, I can ride her again now and she is as good as new after two years rest! And the vets told me to retire my 5!!! year old gelding as he would never be rideable again, I retired him for four years and he is now back in work since a year and happier than ever. Some horses just do need time off to adjust and to heal! So be patient, its worth it :D
 
Thanks guys for your suggestions. He is turned out during the day for about 5 hours (weather not good at present and just stands there looking stupid, or gets bored and starts batting the fence with the foot of the bad leg).

I suggested to the vet the time before last (when three consecutive scans came back showing no progress had been made) that I was more than prepared to turn the horse away for three months if the vet thought it would make a difference. However his way of thinking (which research backs up) is that this kind of injury needs certain stresses in the way of controlled exercise on varying terrain put upon it in order for it to heal sufficiently and in such a way that the ligament will end up stronger. For this to happen an exercise plan is required to be followed.

Guess I will just have to wait and see what the physio says on Sunday and also ask if she has time if she would mind watching me ride before then to see if she can detect what the problem may be. (She is best mate and on my yard).

To be honest I took shoes off a previous WB when he was on six weeks box rest years ago and needed to be walked in hand twice a day. Within 24 hours the poor horse was lying prone in his stable sweating, groaning and limping like crazy when he was led out. Turned out he just couldn't cope without shoes at all and was in immense pain and sore through lack of them. Would be very reluctant to go through that all over again, although I do understand they adjust within a week or two.

I am thinking I may have to bite the bullet and do as the vet suggested and stick him on a bute a day and just get on with things if this doesn't resolve by spring and at least do a few dressage tests if nothing else.
 
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While I would always advocate taking the shoes off and letting the hooves rebalance to support the instability - it needs to be done right and with preparation.

I don't believe that some horses, "just can't go barefoot" for the purposes of rehabbing (not quoting you specifically, I've heard this a lot) but some hooves are just so damaged (thin soles, long toes that shear on the laminae) that taking the shoes off is too much for them.

Horses like these need lifestyle changes (like diet and conditioning), really sympathetic trimming and the aid of boots with pads in the first instance to keep them comfortable.

Then walking on various surfaces until they lay enough sole down to be comfortable.

If you were interested in taking this step we (the sinister Barefoot Taliban) will be happy to help you.

Alternatively you could look into sending the horse to Rockley Farm for rehab and let them do it all for you.
 
Oberon said:
While I would always advocate taking the shoes off and letting the hooves rebalance to support the instability - it needs to be done right and with preparation.

I don't believe that some horses, "just can't go barefoot" for the purposes of rehabbing (not quoting you specifically, I've heard this a lot) but some hooves are just so damaged (thin soles, long toes that shear on the laminae) that taking the shoes off is too much for them.

Horses like these need lifestyle changes (like diet and conditioning), really sympathetic trimming and the aid of boots with pads in the first instance to keep them comfortable.

Then walking on various surfaces until they lay enough sole down to be comfortable.

If you were interested in taking this step we (the sinister Barefoot Taliban) will be happy to help you.

Alternatively you could look into sending the horse to Rockley Farm for rehab and let them do it all for you.
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agree....
my boy has just gone barefoot, hes had laminitis and his feet have seperated..with in 4 weeks hes looking so much better.. my trimmer came wednesday and lent me some boots...
 
Leviathan said:
I am with you applecart.

I too am frustrated with progress with my mare too.

she u prob know has been on box rest since july.

we have had setbacks - rotation - founder- abscesses- low protein- colic - 5 blood tests so far- 5 x rays so far-
must be over 30 vet visits so far -
changed her to emergency diet and the pulse gradually lessened

finally she looks better then she gets colic as a result of her gut returning to normal.

then she starts to improve again, have her shoes on then days later hobbling again


pulse up again no more rotation or founder
poultice nothing come out we now into our 3rd week of poulticing and still though her pulse lessened again
bloods shows low protein and loosing protein fluids

new bloods shows protein up since new diet no more fluid on stomach still no pus .

She is allot brighter now being an angel in her stable doesn't try to come .

laminitis has stabilized now out . Just have to be patient but its hard and wears you down mentally :)
Click to expand...

i,ve been through all this, i had his shoes removed and hes never looked back, the damage the nails where causeing to the already damaged white line...look up jamie jackson.. well worth the read, even for non barefooters, they might re think...
 
Hi so sorry to hear of your luck :( you helpd me quite alot with advice when my horse was of with a tendon prob dont know if you remerber??!!
i thought about turning my boy away but the vet said for any tendon leg injury been in work is much better then not for the tendon to fix more strongly!
try keep your chin up :) sometimes when you can see no end to things they turn around! i wish you the best of luck :) Xxx
Theres a few horses i know on a bute aday n they carry on with normal life and work load. Have u ever heard of devils root claw??i have heard good reports on that you soak in hot water n add to feed!:)
 
Hi guys thanks for your replies. Rode him Saturday down the lane and wasn't lame at all!!! Hoping it was just a glitch and something to do with surface he was on as it was quite frozen when I rode him when I thought he was lame. I know I wasn't imagining it. But I gave him about four or five days off and rode on saturday down the lane and he was fine. Took him for an hours hack yesterday and he was sound and very well behaved! My physio watched me ride him afterwards in the school and said he was sound too! Very bizarre!!!! Maybe he'd pulled something in the field and the four days off was enough to help.

My physio says the horse is making good progress and she is very pleased with him. Some little areas need working on, got to do some stretching exercises to work on stretching the back, carott stretches and the like, but really well done. Hopefully the vet will pass him fit to start trot work in the New Year.
 
I started mine off (PSD NH high up near hock) on 10 mins of ridden walk, upping by 5 mins every week until I got to 30 mins. I am now up to 40 mins - 30 mins of walk an 10 of trot - vet recommended upping trot by 5 ins a week, but I am taking it a bit slower than that.

I had a lesson on saturday (first time in a school - v solid surface though, so wasn't too worried, tried to keep on straight lines. Fingers crossed he is stil sound. He saw the chiro in october, and is booked in again for january. He has flares on his hind shoes, wears a magnet rug every night, and a magnet boot for half an hour or so a day. I am also giving him a rustox/ruta grav/arnica spray that is meant to help.

He is seeing an osteo in january who is going to help with posturing, as his is a sprain, its a chronic injury, and will just reinjure himself if I don't ride and work him properly from the off. Thats what I'm hoping anyway! :)
 
i would recommend a 3 month fitness programme of pavement punding in straight line on the road! keep off a manege surface if you can! just walking 5 to 6 times a week starting with half hour working up to an hour at 4 weeks. 2nd month 1 hrs walk introducing trot, increasing trot as month goes by. by end og =f second month should be doing 1 and a half hours w/t on roads, 3rd month introduce canter on nice going and some manege work. SURFACES are not the horses friend. treat your injured/box rested recovered horse as a fat hunter that needs to be conditioned. and keep well shod/trimmed and balanced.
 
Surfaces scare me with tendon/ligament injuries :eek:

Mine is doing straight lines on the road, bar the one lesson. He is working on the hacks, not just running on his forehand, which is what he would really like to do :rolleyes:
 
ofcourseyoucan said:
i would recommend a 3 month fitness programme of pavement punding in straight line on the road! keep off a manege surface if you can! just walking 5 to 6 times a week starting with half hour working up to an hour at 4 weeks. 2nd month 1 hrs walk introducing trot, increasing trot as month goes by. by end og =f second month should be doing 1 and a half hours w/t on roads, 3rd month introduce canter on nice going and some manege work. SURFACES are not the horses friend. treat your injured/box rested recovered horse as a fat hunter that needs to be conditioned. and keep well shod/trimmed and balanced.
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Thanks for idea but would never trot on roads as the horse has spavin and arthritis in his coffin joint so that would be the last thing I would do with him but I agree with the road work theory, that and the horse walker is the best way to fitten up a horse. The vet's said we can do unlimited roadwork in walk, the length of hack isn't the problem.
 
Hey, glad your horse hopefully had a "blip".

I there with you, my brothers Appy has had lami since jan 2011 with a bad rotation, we got him back into work in sept with just front shoes on for a while just to see if he stayed sound, he did and was back in full work bar jumping, hour to two hour hacks and hour schooling being ridden twice aday, until a month ago when he went lame, it first came up as short in trot in the school one eve.
Gave him some time off as was worried it was the lami flaring up, had vet out was sound on trot up, 4/10ths lame in trot on 5 meter circle on hard ground on the right rein.
Did all the lami tests, even took shoe off to see if it was an absess even tho he wasn't absessy lame, was fine but did notice heat from the top of his corenet band to the top of his paston.
She said it could be either ringbone or ligament damage or soft tissue, suggested xrays and nerve blocks but after the last year can't really afford them so we went with the cheaper option and rest for two months then i will re lunge on 5 meter circle if better then start ridden again if not I'll have to go rob a bank!!!:D
If it turns out to be ligament then I'm goingt to be a mean mummy and not stable him as he has had nearly 9 months complete box rest this year and the rest is restricked turnout (Untill he tried to come over the stable door the other day and i had to chuck him out all day before he killed himself!!!)

I am hoping next year will be better and i can stop stressing :mad:

Lots of hugs.

xxxxx
 
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