help. Who should I listen too???

[KL93]

well my lad has this old injury to his superfical ligament, which I re-injured having not been told by previous owners and for some reason vet check didin't pick it up??
well anyway the vet came up and said he would never jump higher than 2ft 6" again and could not do too much in any sphere. A few months later he was back in work he went lame on his other leg (which mysterously disapered when the vet turned up) so whilst they were here asked if they could check how his ligament was doing. (different vet by the way, moved house.) and they said he's fine and could easily go to intimediate eventing without a problem??? called up the old vet and he says theres no way it could have healed like that??????? what should I do. way confused.

 

[MrsMozart]

I'm a tad confussed...

You had him vetted, but this wasn't picked up;

Same vet who vetted him saw him again and did spot the issue? Or was it a different vet?

Another vet came out and said it's healed.

You phoned the old vet (was this one before the one who did the vetting, or the one who first mentioned it to you?) and he says not possible?


Yikes.

If I were you, I'd get another equine vet out - not related to any of the vets used so far - and see what they say. If there is an issue that should have been picked up on vetting, go back to the vet that did the vetting. If not, try Trading Standards. If you have LoU on your insurance, speak to them.

Good luck!

 

[KL93]

well; when buying him got a 3* vetting done from one of the vets that was in their area and obviously they didn't notice it.

got vet out from where I used to live, he said couldn't really jump again all that much.

went lame on different leg got vet out that's near where i live now, got her to check his old injury out of curiosity and she said it was healed and he could do upto intimediate eventing no problem..

In shock and confusion rang old vet and he said that there was no way it could of healed.

the only options I can think of are; I'm completly nuts, My horse is completely nuts or all the vets I chose are Idiots.
ps. this is over the course of a year by the way.

 

[LizzyandToddy]

I'd probably seek a 3rd opinion, possibly by a vet that comes heavily recommended in your area? See what they say! Sounds rather confusing!

 

[MrsMozart]

Plan of action!

Get a new vet - equine vet and go on recommendation.

Take the new vet's report to the vetting vet and ask for compensation. If they refuse, see what the insurance company/Trading Standards say.

At this point, I'm falling asleep, so I'll sign off, but wish you luck and hope you can get something sorted out!

Note: I am working on the basis that you bought this horse to compete with, therefore if it is there, it will be an issue.

 

[KL93]

Thank you, you've kind of been my get it of my chest people, now I think I can sleep. deffinatly getting another opinion will call YM in the morning and see who else is best.

Well thank you and goodnight x

 

[imr]

Definitely get a second opinion. The first vetting might not have picked up the issue if the tissue had healed sufficiently that the horse was not lame on all the usual tests. So not sure its the first vet's fault it didnt get picked up on the vetting.

The issue is the prognosis off the repeat injury. The problem with these injuries is they tend to recur and each time they are less likely to heal. What you might speak with the second opinion vet about is whether to do an ultrasound scan to actually have a good look at the tissue and how it has healed as that will give you an idea of the strength of the repair.

 

[claireandnadia]

I'd get a new vet out.

 

[ihatework]

To be honest, either vet could be right. How old is the horse and what was the level of fibre damage?

Tendons are funny things, and can be problematic forever or heal well and never give another moments bother, or somewhere inbetween.

The fact that the original tendon injury recurred would lead me to believe you have a higher chance of this happening in the future.

I presume the latest vets scanned the old injury? If they didn't I don't see how they could state he would intermediate event. If they did then to make that statement the tendon must have healed pretty well.

IMO any horse that has re-done a tendon will struggle to intermediate event without high levels of tlc and money spent on it. That said a good friend of mine had a nice horse with a dodgy tendon and did manage to keep him going at PN/N for a few years. Just be very careful with fittening work, and don't over jump or run across very soft or very hard ground.

 

[AshTay]

Have either of the vets actually scanned the injury? If not, then I wouldn't listen to either one of them until they do and can show you the images so you can see for yourself.

But since the injury has already been re-injured once (btw how did "you" re-injure it?), I think i'd be wary of pushing him too hard anyway, regardless of what the vets have said.

 

[SavingGrace]

How was it confirmed by the most recent vet that he would be fine to do intermediate eventing? I imagine he would have been scanned etc.. If so then I would go with the most recent vet... If they have just said without scanning then I would be asking for scans etc to be done before going ahead with that level of competition...

 

[paulineh]

1) How long have you had the horse

2) How long after buying the horse did it damage the ligament or re-damage it.

Unless the ligament has been scanned you can not tell if and how well it has mended.

Ligaments can heal well and the horse can go on to compete.

I have an Arab gelding who 18 months ago damaged a lower hind suspensory ligament (With a hole as big as a golf ball). 10 months down the line and he competed a 64k (40 miles) endurance ride.

He has never looked back. He also jumps and is a bit of a hot head.

With the correct management normal work can be resumed.

 

[ponypops]

Have either of the vets actually scanned the injury? If not, then I wouldn't listen to either one of them until they do and can show you the images so you can see for yourself.

But since the injury has already been re-injured once (btw how did "you" re-injure it?), I think i'd be wary of pushing him too hard anyway, regardless of what the vets have said.

yes agree with this. had suspensory injury with my old event horse and the scanning told a huge story. scans were used at regular intervals during recovery and the healing process showed that this injury had probably been accumulating over a period of time unnoticed and was therefore healing at different rates. it took 12 months before he had the all clear on the scan and he merrily went back to event where he had left off. most important factor was that horse was never lame and he was only diagnosed because of a slight swelling .