how long to give him off/prognosis- SI/back injury

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clairefeekerry1

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my horse went very oddly lame behind in august last year. in the end it was more like his back legs were skipping, this was mostly in trot and ONLY when ridden. he always looked okay in the paddock/trotted up tho maybe slightly short/off looking but nothing compared to when he was ridden. to cut a very long story short we had my vets do everything dianostic wise and still couln't diagnose him then he was reffered to a specialist lameness vet who again did everything dianostic wise and still cant really diagnois him. my vets bill is nearly 5k. the specialist has dianosed some form of soft tissue/ligament injury to SI or his back(lumber region or something?) and reccomended 3 months off 2 of which was box rest and 1 month in a small paddock. i've since had a very good physio and back person out who are currently treating him and i've never seen him look so good. he is absolutely full of it. he's often seen hooning round his paddock, bucking, and generally having a whale of a time. i;ve never seen him so full of it. his 3 months rest is now up but my plan was to give him 6 months off then that way if he was still lame at least i know i've done everything i can before a tough decsion has to be made, but the vets and physio and chiro think i should start him now after only 3 months off. its difficult as were still not 100% what was wrong with him, the physio and chiro both think some kind of SI ligament strain. obviously i cant bring him back into work now due to weather- but what would you do?? dont know what to do for best. would he still charge around the paddock bucking if he was still in pain??
 
Hi,Im having a similar problem myself at the moment my mare went lame a few month's ago on her hind leg just a bit of lameness.I had 2 vets out who could not diagnose what the problem was and had a mc timothy practisioner out who had a look at her and all she could say is that she thought it was muscle damage.she also found her pelvis was out of alignment so had the back man out to re-set it and so far seems to have worked.The vet said i could see a specialist but no guarantee how much it would cost..So i decided to turn her away till next spring and see if she's still lame/any better.she moves fine and has hoolies and bucks like mad.She is sound in walk its just in trot you can see a slight lameness.Iv since put my mare on blue chip dynamic and she feels great.I think if i were you id give it until next spring when the weather is better and see how he/she is and mean while offer plenty of turnout possible..
 
Id leave him for 6 months. My horse had an SI injury and hd to have cortisone injections followed by box rest when 3 months box rest didnt work. However, i think that if you did bring him back now and something went wrong, you would bever forgive yourself. Make sure he is FULLY healed. SI are always easy to re-injure so please please dont make that even more likely by riding him before its completely healed!!
 
thank you both. i agree with both your posts, i'd much preferto give him as long as possible as at least i can say i've given him every chance. i do find it bit odd that the vets want him ridden after only 3 months off
 
From my own personal experience id give him 6 months off.It can sometimes take up to a year to heal depending on the horse.And offer as much turnout as possible.Iv had my mare on field rest for about 4 months now and it seems to be working.I will leave her until the spring and when i feel she is ready.Plus when they are turned out putting the hay/haylage on the floor.I do sometimes stable her but its only overnight.
 
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