Please can you share your experience's of ligament injuries

mightymammoth

mightymammoth

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To cut a long story short..

My horse is intermitantly lame after 30 minutes light work, it does'nt matter on the surface. He goes severely lame but the next day is sound again.

The only thing the vet can find is the suspensory ligament on back of his right fore (the leg he goes lame on) feels thicker than the left. He is coming again thursday to scan them but wondered if anyone could share any stories and experiences regarding ligament injuries in their horses,

thank you
 
Well I know the prognosis for front leg suspensory ligament is better than hind limb ones. My horse has mild PSLD in one hind limb and is going back to be rescanned tomorrow. The interesting thing is that she has been off work since it was discovered in October and went to the vet last week for a reassessment. She is actually worse for being off work. But it was a new vet and he was absolutely fantastic - he went about things a different way and actually the lameness is not coming from the ligament, but from her fetlock where she has cartilage damage after a bone chip removal. Still not good, but after blocking the fetlock with local anaesthetic she came 70% better. So back for more steroid and HA injections tomorrow as well as rescanning the ligament.
If your horse does have suspensory ligament desmitis, then you will be advised to rest, rest, rest before controlled return to work. I couldn't do that as my horse goes mental in the box, so she has been having a few hours turnout per day to keep her (and me) sane. I'll let you know tomorrow if having her turned out has made it worse or better. But I feel slightly more positive that the lameness is not coming 100% from the ligament.
The other thing the vet said was that suspensory ligament desmitis is not usually the primary cause of the lameness - there is usually something else going on which causes the damage to the ligament and hence the lameness. Good luck with the investigation work!
 
Holly Hocks said:
Well I know the prognosis for front leg suspensory ligament is better than hind limb ones. My horse has mild PSLD in one hind limb and is going back to be rescanned tomorrow. The interesting thing is that she has been off work since it was discovered in October and went to the vet last week for a reassessment. She is actually worse for being off work. But it was a new vet and he was absolutely fantastic - he went about things a different way and actually the lameness is not coming from the ligament, but from her fetlock where she has cartilage damage after a bone chip removal. Still not good, but after blocking the fetlock with local anaesthetic she came 70% better. So back for more steroid and HA injections tomorrow as well as rescanning the ligament.
If your horse does have suspensory ligament desmitis, then you will be advised to rest, rest, rest before controlled return to work. I couldn't do that as my horse goes mental in the box, so she has been having a few hours turnout per day to keep her (and me) sane. I'll let you know tomorrow if having her turned out has made it worse or better. But I feel slightly more positive that the lameness is not coming 100% from the ligament.
The other thing the vet said was that suspensory ligament desmitis is not usually the primary cause of the lameness - there is usually something else going on which causes the damage to the ligament and hence the lameness. Good luck with the investigation work!
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, yes please let me know how you get on. Its horrible isnt it I'm just so upset as dukes my first horse and I only had him 2 months before this started but thats life I guess:(
 
Holly Hocks said:
Well I know the prognosis for front leg suspensory ligament is better than hind limb ones. My horse has mild PSLD in one hind limb and is going back to be rescanned tomorrow. The interesting thing is that she has been off work since it was discovered in October and went to the vet last week for a reassessment. She is actually worse for being off work. But it was a new vet and he was absolutely fantastic - he went about things a different way and actually the lameness is not coming from the ligament, but from her fetlock where she has cartilage damage after a bone chip removal. Still not good, but after blocking the fetlock with local anaesthetic she came 70% better. So back for more steroid and HA injections tomorrow as well as rescanning the ligament.
If your horse does have suspensory ligament desmitis, then you will be advised to rest, rest, rest before controlled return to work. I couldn't do that as my horse goes mental in the box, so she has been having a few hours turnout per day to keep her (and me) sane. I'll let you know tomorrow if having her turned out has made it worse or better. But I feel slightly more positive that the lameness is not coming 100% from the ligament.
The other thing the vet said was that suspensory ligament desmitis is not usually the primary cause of the lameness - there is usually something else going on which causes the damage to the ligament and hence the lameness. Good luck with the investigation work!
Click to expand...

Had almost the exact same thing with a suspensory combined with bone chips, horse was too lame for it to "just" be a suspensory. The ligament healed very well but had to retire due to continuing problems in the joint. He did have PRP therapy with may have helped. He was 23 though and it was the second time he had done this :(
 
Allover said:
Had almost the exact same thing with a suspensory combined with bone chips, horse was too lame for it to "just" be a suspensory. The ligament healed very well but had to retire due to continuing problems in the joint. He did have PRP therapy with may have helped. He was 23 though and it was the second time he had done this :(
Click to expand...

This is EXACTLY what my vet said last week when I took her in to him. As she is clearly lame in walk, he wasn't happy that it was "just" the suspensory. I'm hoping that the ligament will heal and if she has to be fully retired (well she has been for several months anyway now!) then so be it. I wouldn't mind, but this is the third vet that she has seen and he's the only one who has appeared to come up with some form of believeable answer!! Mine is only 10, but if I can give her a few years of happy retirement then I will do it.
 
Mine damaged her suspensory & annular ligaments in both hinds (out in field, ground hard, idiot excuses for humans in field). Took a year of ultrasounds, shockwave therapy & cartrophen before she could start being brought back into work. Not to mention cold hosing, endless bandages, dmso & most importantly valerian. Vet said she was fine to compete but the strain of training would lead to arthritis sooner than if she had a quieter life. Doing the odd unaffiliated sj, wh etc is fine & also could go for a half day hunt if she was the sort to plod & go round the gates(she's not lol) was 17 when she did them, now 23 & has been fine. Good luck with yours
 
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