Pain Memory ?

[Spangles]

Has anyone had any experience of a horse perhaps experiencing pain memory ?
Horse in question was on box rest + hand walking for 4 months after successful stifle surgery after serious ligament tear injury.
Still lame but seems happy, bright & in good condition.
Has progressed from pen sized turnout to small field recently, appears very happy.
vet/ surgeon are pleased with stifle recovery, back ok, feet trimmed but operated leg still very lame.
Have been told up to 18mths recovery
But just looking for others experiences & wondering if the horse is remembering pain & been so used to limping it’s become a learned behaviour ?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I do think this is a thing but I like to say that the horse is basically guarding the injury so they tend to not use that limb as strongly because it has hurt previously.

Arabi had a hole in his suspensory ligament on the left hind and it scanned as healed after 6 months box rest he looked sound trotting up for the vet, but yet didn't feel quite as good schooling so I think you have to consider that side will always feel weaker so you kind of have to train them to use it.

That leg will be alot weaker because of the injury you have to find ways of getting them to build the muscles and strength to use it, that's why you should have a rehab plan to help build it up.

I've had a soft tissue injury with a multiple break and building the soft tissue strength took me at least 2 years and it still is not as strong as my other leg.

A good equine physio should be able to help and many use a water treadmill as part of rehab.

 

[SEL]

I've found the muscles weaken (or bulk out on the compensating side) so you almost have to re-teach them it's OK to walk properly. That can happen after less serious injuries too.

The TTouch wraps are great for helping with that kind of issue - have a Google but it's worth finding a practitioner.

Ligaments can also heal in quite a lumpy fashion. If it's scanning OK and the vet is happy then physio early can really help

 

[sbloom]

I'm seeing more and more arguments that it's not a thing, instead it's actual pain/dysfunction. I'm a big fan of groundwork to help improve the way they move, not just the normal vet recommended strengthening/fitting rehab programmes, after all, it's how they have been moving that has almost certainly led you here. Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out - "the vast majority of injuries are the result of repetitive strain" (word for word from the saddle fitter course I did with her 6 years ago).

 

[Tiddlypom]

There’s a saying ‘lameness leads to lameness’. So the horse starts moving wonkily due to the primary issue, and it sets up all sorts of other stresses in other parts the body.

This is where I’d get my chiropractor vet in. She’s a veterinary surgeon who has additionally trained in chiropractic. She is mustard at watching and feeling the whole horse and picking up on the subtlest of secondary issues. She does a lot of work on rehabbing horses.

If you have a really good bodyworker, this is one for them.

Good luck, hope that it comes good.

 

[sbloom]

And the primary issue might have been years ago, set up a tiny barely noticeable niggle that only shows up later. It's why I advocate for training the eye, even learning to assess static posture and musculature puts an owner ahead of the game as it were, we've all got so used to seeing dysfunction....