Hind Check Ligament Injuries

AdorableAlice

AdorableAlice

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Has anyone dealt with hind limb check ligament injuries please. My lad 18 yr, 17.2hh M/W retired show hunter did his in the field back in August 2011.

He has been on box rest since 1/8/11 in a large box and was scanned in December showing improvement. Hand walking is not possible as he is a nutcase on the lead rope and will get away from me. Second scan set for March 1st and walking to commence under saddle if scan shows it to be possible.

He is not a candidate for retirement and it's hoped he will become a happy hacker. Very grateful for any comments from owners who have experienced this type of injury/recovery.
 
just bumping this back up as possible this is what my horse has managed to do in the field last week. He's not lame and he's an eventer so desperately hoping this is not what he has done but going to get it scanned next week now initial swelling gone.

Anyone any experiences? AdorableAlice - how is your horse doing now?
 
Hello Star,

We scanned in March and the hole had healed to a 1mm tear. Vet's were very pleased and walking in hand started. 2 handlers, full breaking tack and 80mg acp, no shoes on horse, 10 minute sessions.

By day 4 horse was very footsore and laminitis was feared, horse was also a touch fresh.

Back in the box he went, a cushing test was done and came back borderline. Put a set on him and started again, the horse was ridiculously fresh and even with all of the above it became a dangerous exercise, so on went the saddle.

He is now up to 45 minutes walking on the flat and was scanned last week. The 1mm tear is still visable but much greyer than previous scan. He is sound in walk, but is unable or unwilling to drop his heel to the ground and has worn the toe out and created a wedge at the heel. Farrier will be putting trailer on and building toe up to try to stretch the ligament a little. Leg is normally cool at 6am and slightly thickened, after exercise at 7.30am the leg normally has some warmth and is ice booted.

This routine will continue - next installment soon !

If your lad has done what mine did, you are very sadly facing heartbreak and an awful lot of hard work and patience. Good luck, keep us updated.
 
was there any distinct swelling? i have just posted some photos in the competition riders forum with photos of my horse's leg. anatomy wise it looks to be in the region of the check ligament but he's not lame so a bit confusing at the moment. will have to wait and see what vet says. from what I can see check lig injuries in the hindlegs are pretty rare.
 
They are very rare, my vets who are solely equine and hospital based said they had only seen 3 or 4 in decades of practice. They also said the force required to do the level of damage my horse had (huge hole) was massive.

He is fond of careering round the field, the ground was hard and he is a dab hand at emergency stops. The vets reckon he did an emergency stop and the ground prevented a skid causing the ligament to go. Had he managed to skid the ligament would have survived.

The back of his leg from below the hock to above the fetlock was slightly swollen and halfway down on the inside was a patch of heat. No lameness until day 3 when he was uncomfortable rather than truly lame. Day 7 saw him at hospital for xrays and scans and the bad news was broken ! He was unlevel, but you needed to know him to really see it, which I found quite amazing given the level of damage done.

It's funny you started this thread off again today as my vet has just called in this evening and half an hour ago when I said to her "what do you think then" she said it's "its good, it's bxxx dam good in fact".

Of course we are nowhere near out of the woods, turn out is hoped for in August in a tiny patch we have ready. Trot is yet to be tried and his insurance finishes in August, but I am able to fund whatever is needed because I am not prepared to give up on him.

Fingers crossed for your horse when he is scanned.
 
sounds like yours is headed in the right direction now - fingers crossed for continued improvement. just hope vets have positive news for me this week. we had generalised swelling of the entire leg to start with and that has now reduced to a tiny bump on the outside of the leg in the region of where the check inserts onto the deep digital flexor tendon. No pain and no lameness - weird.
 
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