Horse back into nwork after suspensory damage - Lame or off Balance?

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CharlesMax

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I hope I make sense but there is something concerning me and I wanted to know if any of you have experienced the same thing:

My horse has just come back into work after issues with his suspensory in one of his fore-legs. He popped a massive splint a year ago which caused the issue with the suspensory. After shock-wave and 10 months of rest/turnout, with 4 weeks inbetween of working him (went lame again), I started bringing him back into work in February.

I have been very careful, following all the vet's instructions and have brought him back into work slowly on soft surfaces only - lots of walk/intervals of trot/no canter. Last week, the vet commented on how well he is doing and said that I can start road work and introduce small jumps in a month if all goes well. Some people would be thrilled but I am still not convinced and my issue is:

Since bringing him back into work, I have noticed slight lameness on one of the reins. It is intermittent and very slight but it worries me. I have called the vet over 3 times since beginning Feb but he tells me the horse is fine and I should continue working him and work through the lameness and only stop if he was lame more frequently.

My horse is not good at flat work and was not schooled much in the past, with balance issues, so my question is:

Can horses seem slightly lame if they are off balance?

I hope I have made sense. I am just so paranoid that I am going to have to go through all of this again. Surgery is NOT an option as the horse is too big.
 
Firstly, why would surgery not be an option for a big horse?

Secondly, Yes, I would say that being unbalanced can affect their stride. Has the vet actually been out to look at him or have you just spoken on the phone?

My mare is 5 months post surgery for PSD in her hind legs and will sometimes be reluctant to go forward or on a particular rein, find it more difficult. My vet said to work her gently thru it and now she's much more confident and balanced than before.

I'm so paranoid tho and I'm sure you probably will be too so I sympathise!
 
Thanks for your comment - makes me feel a bit more relaxed about the whole thing. Yes, the vet actually observed the horse on those occasions but I might ask him to observe ridden; not just on the lunge to see what he thinks.

Surgery would entail having to remove the splint which was causing the suspensory issues. The split is too close to the knee joint which is risky, especially in big horses. I have had a 2nd opinion and was given the same advice.

I am just going to work through the slight lameness and stop if it gets worse - putting my trust in the professionals' hands!
 
i have a little mare who had left hind suspensory problems, she is still slightly lame has been back and forth to leahurst and they have said it is her hocks so just had ethanol injections to help to fuse them.... I to was told to ride her through it and see if it got worse (difficult i know) people look at you strange as your having ride a lame horse but its for the best and least you know then if anymore problems are caused. i would not rush with the jumping would slightly concern me to but would do the road work to strengthen.
IMO i do believe an unbalanced horse would possibly feel lame have you had anyone else ride him for you to watch? if your really concerned could you not ask for a full lameness work up as i no with my little mare people did not seem believe me when i talked about her ridden work untill they saw it for themselves.
hope your horse comes right soon
 
CharlesMax said:
Since bringing him back into work, I have noticed slight lameness on one of the reins. It is intermittent and very slight but it worries me. I have called the vet over 3 times since beginning Feb but he tells me the horse is fine and I should continue working him and work through the lameness and only stop if he was lame more frequently.
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Apologies for the long reply.
Ok I think what you are finding is the same as I found with my horse and that is over compensatory problems due to the horse putting more weight on the opposite leg and also in my horses case he was putting weight from his off hind to his near fore damaged leg due to spavin in his off hind (diagonal opposite). My horses injury was simple and what we thought at the time would be straightforward to heal and that is that he has a slight sprain of the lateral branch of the suspensory ligament on his near fore. However it has been quite problematic and taken a long time to heal. Basicially he does a 'hop' on the opposite leg (off fore) to compensate the shift of weight from the injured limb. I think that you will find that that is the problem that you are encountering.

Here are Youtube videos (Applecart14) of my horse.

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...558l5704l0l6437l11l11l0l2l2l0l127l691l4.3l7l0

You will see that the first video was taken 5 months ago, the second 4 months ago and the third 2 months ago. (The damage my horse inflicted on his leg after the video was taken in the field of him hooning around put him back a month). Notice the difference between the 5 month and 2 month video. Notice how the hop has improved on his right fore. Like you my horse had shock wave. It didn't work very well. He also had ultrasound and pulse mag therapy. His injury occurred in June 2011. He is only just sound enough to start canter/small pole work. The vet has told me that he may never be able to be jumped as every time I try to do a small cross pole his leg comes up slightly. So long as it goes straight down after the application of ice its okay, but its a case of 'suck it and see' how you get on. Its not the end of the world though as I can do dressage with him, he is an all rounder thank God.

The horse was in full work (although only light work) prior to his injury. He was competed every weekend without fail, this comprised of 75% jumping and 25% dressage throughout winter and in the summer 60% fun rides, and the rest jumping/dressage.

I use a physio every couple of months (which I get on my insurance claim) and the horse's leg is monitored before and after work. He is bandaged whilst ridden in the school to provide support although the vet did say the only thing in the world that would prevent a tendon from pulling/snapping would be a plaster cast so bandages don't help that much! He is ridden for a short time every day rather than a long time once a week and he has just had his hocks fused as his off hind hock was painful and was causing him to throw weight on his near fore. When you look at the video the off hock is trailing behind. I cantered him last night for the first time since the enthanol fusion eleven days ago - OMG he feels amazing!
 
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I would never have brought the horse back in to work on a soft surface. And certainly after only a month of work would I be trotting him, or consider jumping him anywhere in the near future.

Balance shouldn't be a problem because all you're doing is working in walk, with a small amount of trotting. And I certainly wouldn't be 'working' him through the lameness.

Bottom line is the horse feels lame - therefore ask (insist) that he is re-scanned. Although it may well be that it's the splint this time that's causing the problem.

I suspect that working on soft surface has done no good at all - although with 10 months off it could be argued that the horse is either recovered or not, and the surface is irrelevant.
 
CharlesMax said:
I have been very careful, following all the vet's instructions and have brought him back into work slowly on soft surfaces only - lots of walk/intervals of trot/no canter. Last week, the vet commented on how well he is doing and said that I can start road work and introduce small jumps in a month if all goes well. Some people would be thrilled but I am still not convinced and my issue is:

Since bringing him back into work, I have noticed slight lameness on one of the reins. It is intermittent and very slight but it worries me. I have called the vet over 3 times since beginning Feb but he tells me the horse is fine and I should continue working him and work through the lameness and only stop if he was lame more frequently.
Click to expand...

TBH, I'd shoot your vet.
It is only the second week of March, he came back into work in February after ten months off and you are already trotting after just six weeks? I really don't see why you should be surprised if he's unlevel at all.
A horse with that level of injury and that length of lay off should be walked only for a minimum of eight weeks and preferably on the roads which should help him strengthen up far better than a soft surface. I suspect the soft surface option is to make it look better quicker for you but not the horse, I'm sorry.

Having rehabbed several horses from this type of injury, slower is definitely the way to go. I am inclined to think from what you've said that the vet gave you the go ahead two months too early if he's wrong this early in the game. Time and slowness are the most precious of commodities, I'm sorry your vet seems to have got it wrong this time and you need to almost go back to the beginning again.
 
amymay said:
I would never have brought the horse back in to work on a soft surface. And certainly would not after only a month of work be trotting him, or consider jumping him anywhere in the near future.
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To correct my rather unclear post.
 
I knew what you meant!
yes.gif
 
Thanks for your further comments. Perhaps I have not explained the situation correctly:

The issue was caused by a splint impinging on the suspensory ligament. There was no tear in the ligament. The splint reduced significantly after the rest and I imagine thats why soft surfaces were suggested when working the horse.

The vet said that its the best prognosis he has seen in a long time but I certainly do not want to rush into things, especially after the long time he has had off work.

I will get someone to observe the horse when ridden as he is always 100% sound when trotted up and lunged.

Thanks again
 
Charles Max did you read my reply???????
It took me ages to write it so I am somewhat surprised that you haven't commented. Reading between the lines of you saying that 'the horse is lame on one of the reins' I take it that this lameness is the leg that has not been causing the issue?

Could the horse be overcompensating on the opposite limb? I'd get your vet/physio to watch the horse being ridden (maybe video as the video's I did were very helpful to the vet) and see what they think.

My horses injury was only a slight sprain yet he has been off for 10 or more months. I know exactly how he did the injury even down to the day it was done and the reason why. I would suggest your vet scans the leg. Has the horse had regular scans to ascertain if progress has been made? I would have thought this would be an essential part of your vet's diagnosis and the future prognosis of your horse. How can he give you the go ahead to 'work through lameness' if he has not looked inside the horses leg with the aid of ultrasound scan?

My horse was overcompensating all over the place due to his current injury and his hock spavin and it took the work of a good physio to be able to see what was happening.
 
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