Suspensory injury

[brambleroo]

My horse has a suspensory injury. She is currently on limited turnout. After doing 3 weeks and coping she’s now starting to loose her marbles. We did have the other option to turn her out 24/7 which I can but I’m so frightened she’ll go nuts. Anyone had success turning out 24/7 with a suspensory injury?

just to note about the field - it’s still a fairly small field where she’d be turned out. It hasn’t been used for a year and is flat, she could canter but couldn’t go stupidly fast. Plan was to scatter nets, give her treat ball and try and make her brain work a bit more to take the edge off compared to been stabled. Many thanks

 

[Birker2020]

My horse has a suspensory injury. She is currently on limited turnout. After doing 3 weeks and coping she’s now starting to loose her marbles. We did have the other option to turn her out 24/7 which I can but I’m so frightened she’ll go nuts. Anyone had success turning out 24/7 with a suspensory injury?

just to note about the field - it’s still a fairly small field where she’d be turned out. It hasn’t been used for a year and is flat, she could canter but couldn’t go stupidly fast. Plan was to scatter nets, give her treat ball and try and make her brain work a bit more to take the edge off compared to been stabled. Many thanks

Is it a suspensory or a suspensory branch? I have rehabbed four suspensory branch injuries successfully but it takes a lot of work. Horse at the time was full of arthritis but had been treated for this fully so wasn't in pain, was on half a sachet of bute a day. Vet said it was more beneficial for her to be out than in.

You could sedate her.

When the vets say a small turnout pen they are talking about 20ft x 20ft.
I've never done that, but that's what they always say.

 

[brambleroo]

Is it a suspensory or a suspensory branch? I have rehabbed four suspensory branch injuries successfully but it takes a lot of work. Horse at the time was full of arthritis but had been treated for this fully so wasn't in pain, was on half a sachet of bute a day. Vet said it was more beneficial for her to be out than in.

You could sedate her.

When the vets say a small turnout pen they are talking about 20ft x 20ft.

i discussed the pen sizes with vets etc for limited turn out but I’m more asking if people have had success from just turning them away? (Which was the other option the vet gave me)
She’s got to have 3 months off. So it’s not really rehab it’s just rest time. But limited turn out and stabling is sending her nutty.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I would give Sedalin daily and keep in a small pen over risking turning out. If there's a tear in the ligament, running around will easily tear it some more. So if you want your horse to return to work , then I'd sedate and keep in a small area.
Personally I couldn't take the risk of re-injury.
My old horse had a huge tear in a front suspensory but with rest and Shockwave it healed beautifully.

 

[brambleroo]

I would give Sedalin daily and keep in a small pen over risking turning out. If there's a tear in the ligament, running around will easily tear it some more. So if you want your horse to return to work , then I'd sedate and keep in a small area.
Personally I couldn't take the risk of re-injury.
My old horse had a huge tear in a front suspensory but with rest and Shockwave it healed beautifully.

this was my original plan but since cantering on the spot when bringing in. Almost pulling a staff member over the other day I’m having to rethink. She’s sedated currently but she’s also welsh chestnut mare who seems to be fighting us no matter what. So it’s a bit of a tough decision

 

[dixie]

I've had two horses with suspensory injuries and both were turned out and both recovered relatively quickly.

They were quite mild injuries though and one of the horses I kept on hacking (but no school work).

 

[Sossigpoker]

this was my original plan but since cantering on the spot when bringing in. Almost pulling a staff member over the other day I’m having to rethink. She’s sedated currently but she’s also welsh chestnut mare who seems to be fighting us no matter what. So it’s a bit of a tough decision

If she doesn't settle down you might not have a choice. And then hope that she settles in the field .

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Dope her, put her in the field and let her wake up there so it's not interesting and exciting. Does she have a quiet friend who could live out with her that won't instigate games?

 

[winnie]

Yes, I was in this position a few years ago. After just 3 weeks of box rest, even with sedalin, it got so that some one was going to get badly injured so I bit the bullet and turned her out into a 4 acre field with 2 of her friends. I was lucky, it worked but I knew it was a risk. Tried the small turnout area first but this was a complete failure! The 24/7 turnout in the big field for a couple of months worked.

 

[Auslander]

I turned ALf out 24/7, as turning out and bringing in were flash points for dicey behaviour. I had him vet sedated, then put him out in a smallish flat paddock with his (quiet) field companion, and left him there. That was 10 years ago, and he came back into full work. He's now mostly retired, but that's because he's 26, not because of his ropey legs!

 

[ycbm]

i discussed the pen sizes with vets etc for limited turn out but I’m more asking if people have had success from just turning them away? (Which was the other option the vet gave me)
She’s got to have 3 months off. So it’s not really rehab it’s just rest time. But limited turn out and stabling is sending her nutty.

I had a mare with a suspensory branch injury on a foreleg who I chucked into a field for a few months and she recovered and never had a problem with it again. She had previously had filling in both front legs in the ddft for which she was turned away for a month and brought back with a lot of walking and never had a problem with again. Both before the days of ultrasound.

In those days it was routine to chuck them out and see what you had at the end of 6 months or a year. I would love to know if the results are much better from all the movement restriction and treatment we give now.
.

 

[TPO]

I've seen someone construct a "maze" out of electric tape in a small paddock fr a similar situation.

It meant that the horse couldn't get up any speed because a turn (big and wide so no tight turns) came up. They put ground nets, jolly balls, snack balls and water dotted along the tracks so that the horse was kept interested.

Iirc there was a "loafing" area where the horse could roll and lie down. It came off a bend/turn so reduced the temptation for a yee ha.

 

[ycbm]

I've seen someone construct a "maze" out of electric tape in a small paddock fr a similar situation.

I did this in a big field for my horse recovering from a tieback. It worked excellently. There was no more than 40 metres in any one direction for him to get up speed but he had plenty of food and space to wander. You can make a shape with arms they can wander right into, or make a big square but bring spur lines of electric fencing into the square so the they can't run straight across it or round it.