suspensary ligament strain

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elaine1962

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I am new to this forum but was advised by a friend to use it for some feedback. My 10 yr old has just been diagnosed with a suspensory ligament strain on his front leg. he has been on box rest for 6 weeks and the vet has advised that I can start to hack him out. I am really frightened to do anything with him at all as im worried about the long term effects on him. has anyone out there have a horse that has had a similar problem?
 
My mare had the same injury quite a few years ago now and on both legs at different times. 3 months box rest both times and then brought back in to work slowly. I'm pleased to say she's been fine since :)
 
elaine1962 said:
I am new to this forum but was advised by a friend to use it for some feedback. My 10 yr old has just been diagnosed with a suspensory ligament strain on his front leg. he has been on box rest for 6 weeks and the vet has advised that I can start to hack him out. I am really frightened to do anything with him at all as im worried about the long term effects on him. has anyone out there have a horse that has had a similar problem?
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My horse has had this - he had a mild sprain of the lateral branch of the supsensory tendon. He had the initial box rest and bringing back into work, but it wasn't doing very well so he had shockwave to reduce any calcification and PRP (like stem cell) to help the fibres regroup in the way they are meant to lie in. It was all hunky dory until he had a horrendous accident whilst I was at work and got stuck in a wheelbarrow at the yard and its all gone to pot. The leg was inflammed and the calcification that was present (and causing him no problem) magnified and new calcification was added to it and now he is 2-3 tenths lame in trot on the right rein and it looks like this is sadly, going to be something that cannot be rectified.

I would advise (from personal experience) and not because I am a vet that you should hack out as the vet has suggested and avoid any rough areas (like grass verges) or going down any steep hills if at all possible. Avoid trotting on the roads where possible and build up gradually. Keep the horse moving foward and as much off his forehand as possible to take the weight of his front leg. If the horse has a problem in his opposite diagonal leg (e.g. bone spavin) then you may need to have that leg treated or he will be continually overloading the opposite diagnoal front leg (which happened in my horses case until he received chemical arthrodesis i.e fusion with ethanol) which killed the nerves in the hock and stopped him overloading as much onto the injured leg.

Finally build up your hacking time weekly, so no hour long hacks until he has done a week of 30 mins, a week of 45 mins, etc. But be guided by your vet and the duration he suggested.

Finally PLEASE WEAR FLORESCENT!! :)

Also make sure that the farrier you use is a good farrier. By that I mean ensure that he is aware of your horses injury, that the horse will need special care to ensure that the farrier takes time to balance the foot in a correct manner - if you are unsure of this ask your vet to explain further. All farriers should do this as a matter of course, but some are very slap dash in their attitude and just nail a shoe on. Others I have seen take 3/4 hour to an hour to shoe a horse. Those farriers that assess the horses foot, take time to study the shoe they have taken off (to check for uneven wear) and maybe even see the way the horse walks are the ones you want to keep forever! :)
 
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Sorry to hear about your horse :(

Front suspensory problems have a far higher sucess rate than hind ones you will be pleased to know.

My experiences with front suspensory issues are about 15 years old but may give you some hope! I had an 18 year old competition pony who did hers when travelling on the way to a competition - she was VERY lame when we got her out of the box when we arrived. Took her to the vets who diagnosed suspensory branch ligament injury - after the initial box rest and cold hosing she was out in the paddock for the rest of the summer and then brought back in to work. They probably dont recommend them as much now but we were told to use sports medicine boots on her and she never had a days lameness since and went on with another little girl once I had outgrown her hunting twice a week well into her mid twenties as well as showjumping and doing mounted games. - tough little thing she was :) I dont recall her having shockwave or anything else like that - it probably wasnt around then, but hopefully my tale shows that it is not the be all and end all :)

Good luck! Dont be afraid to do a little googling and get as much information as you can and trust your vets. the advancements that have been made over the years with soft tissue injuries like these such as shockwave and adequan injections is pretty phenomenal.
 
Hi I'm new to here desperate for some advice I'm loaning a horse who had both hind suspensory ligament injury 12 months ago. He had surgery and all the rest and brought back into work though he will never jump again. I've been told now by his owners not to canter and lunge him is this right I'm getting a bit frustrated as I was told when I got him to gently bring him back into work lots of road work etc will I ever be able to do anything more with him as when I read other forums everyone seems to have got there's back into full work. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
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