Lameness - Suspensory Ligaments

[HorseyHelen82]

Hello there,

I'm new to the forum and I was wondering if anyone has had any of this with their horse..

Back in September the vet came out as my horse was lame, he was given 2 weeks box rest on bute. He then went to the vets for nerve blocks and he didnt block to anything, so another 2 weeks box rest. He then went to an equine hospital where he spent 2.5 weeks having a bone scan, xrays, nerve blocks and eventually a CT scan. The scan showed little tears in the suspensory ligaments. He had 3 lots of shockwave treatment and prescribed 3 months box rest. The vet came out to assess him yesterday and said he was a 2 out of 5 lameness (a vast improvement from the 4 or 5 he was before) but said it wouldnt be fair to keep him on box rest anymore and that she will get the vet who has been dealing with him to ring to decide the next step. The vet did say it was looking likely that I would have to retire him.

My horse is approx 17 and a stocky shire cross.

Just wondered if anyone else had experienced anything like this and whether their horse came right or whether they did retire them...

Many thanks..

 

[HorseyHelen82]

Bump-----

 

[muff747]

HH, hope you see this soon, you must be devastated.
There are other recent similar posts on here that might help, you can contact the other owners for support. I always find it helps to talk to others going thro the same worries and anguish.
I have a gelding who has displayed signs of this condition and as he is now
24, I have retired him.
I got a lot of help and support and advice from here, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DSLD-equine/ and a herbal treatment which a great many of the group members have found has helped their horses, including my own horse. It is not a cure but it helps with pain and can give them a pain free retirement. They are doing a trial with this treatment and all owners record thier findings over a 12mo period and you can read their records.
This web site gives details http://www.dsldequine.info/
pm me if you need to.

 

[HorseyHelen82]

Thank you, I will check out those links and I'll look for other posts. I spoke to the vet last night who said to turn him out and monitor him for a month and they'll have another look when they come out to do vaccinations. A couple of people have suggested getting the back man/physiotherapist to have a look over him.

Many thanks for your reply.