Suspensory ligament damage - experiences?

[Box_Of_Frogs]

My friend's TB has just done something to his offside front leg that the vets think is damage to his suspensory ligament. He's going in for nerve blocks Weds. He's a 10 yr old gelding who manages to damage himself with monotonous regularity! He has what I would call "typical" TB legs, ie prone to sprains, twistings, bumps and bruises. This last problem is worrying her and she would welcome any experiences others have had - good, bad or ugly! She is especially interested in the form of treatment and what the outcomes were re healing, performance etc. She is also going to ask the vet whether there are any homeopathic remedies that might help or what turning away for a time to just be a horse and let nature work its magic would do?

 

[bushbaby28]

ahhhh gotta love tbs. Vet thought this was what was wrong with my tb but a bit of rest and real gentle exersise alongside joint supplements and magnetic boots and hes come sound (well was sound today anyway, doubt it will last!)

Haven't had any direct experiences but they should come back sound after an extended period of rest. Sometimes remedial farriery can help shape the foot to relieve pressure on the suspensory i.e. in the case of flat pedal bones i believe.

If he's a typical tb like mine he might have just stood in a stone. The nerve blocks should hopefully show up where it is and you can treat from there.

best of luck to them though. hope everything is ok.

 

[Fizzimyst]

QR

Matti, my new horse who arrives on Friday - so excited

is currently recovering from this injury.

Did it about six weeks ago, advised either box rest with short walks in hand, building to 45 mins and then riding, starting with 10 mins of walk, starting to introduce trot when you reached 45 mins or alternatively turn out for a year and let it heal itself. However with the second option there was no guarentee it would come right and he would ever be ridable again.

Horse got himself wound up, so they started putting him out in a really small round paddock and he would mosie around that for an hour and a half a day. Now he is turned out all day in that same small paddock as mooching around then eating grass and doing the occassion step keeps him happier than keeping him cooped up turning tightly.

Vet has said if he remains sound with this he can start the ridden work in about a month starting with 10 mins walk and building up.

Will let you know how he progresses.

Good luck for your friend and hers!

 

[Puppy]

I am surprise by the other replies to this thread, and wonder if they have not been very well informed.

Yes, a horse with suspensory ligament damage will seem sound with a bit of rest, but will only go lame again once it returns to proper work. My horse was diagnosed with PSD and I researched it a lot; rest will always make them look better, but it is not the solution, you need to treat the problem.

For such a condition, shockwave treatment is 40% effective. Surgery is 80% effective.

My horse had the surgery and in now returning to work & feeling better than she has done in a long time

If your insurance company permits, and it is feasible, then I would recommend it

Best of luck to you and your horse

 

[angela_l_b]

Agree with Puppy that suspensory ligament damage is very serious and needs proper diagnosis and treatment. Generally it can only be confirmed by a combination of nerve blocks and scanning. Then it will take many months of box rest and slow work. 6 weeks sounds very ambitious and usually I believe they take about 6 months to 'heal' - even then with a high risk of reccurence.

I understand though that surgery is only an option for hind suspensory damage as it is possible to denerve the ligament, but the same surgery is not possible in the front limbs as the nerves have more than one purpose. I am willing to be corrected if this is not the case.

My hose has PSD in a hind leg - it has taken 6 months of box rest (until 6 weeks ago) and very slow work and shockwave treatment so far. He is now up to full flatwork - any amount of walk, trot and canter, in straight lines on good surfaces. In a couple of weeks if all goes well he can jump again. But it could go again at any time and if so I will then opt for surgery.

Good luck - of course take advice from your vets and don;t hesitate to ask them all the questions you can think of. THey will usually be cautious, which at least means that you know the worst.

 

[dieseldog]

PSD in the hind legs is different to suspensory damage in the front legs. Puppy is right that PSD will not heal by itself and needs either shockwave or surgery, but PSD is just one type of suspensory damage. Other types will heal with rest.

 

[MerryMaker]

Oh goodness, where do I start

My mare was working at Adv Medium dressage and going amazingly. One day out hacking she wasn't keeping up with her bouncy friend and usually she is flouncing on ahead being daft. I put that down to she'd done a hard competition, then had a day off, and was a bit stiff/tired/whatever and we cut the ride short to just 20 mintues.

Next day got on in the school so I could see how she was and she was very backward, unusual for her. First thing I did was take the double bridle off to let her out and allow her forward. Still backward. Tried to see what would happen when pushed on and forward and she really exploded. She's a sharp mare but this was unilke her. Got her cantering straight and didn't feel right in the right hind.

Immediatley got off and called the vet the next morning. ouldn't tell her what was wrong, just that she was not right. 2 days later went in for nerve blocks, flexion tests etc and she was hopping lame on BOTH hinds! Nerve blocks improved RH, then highlighted a problem with LH, which again dispersed with another nerve block. Next week scans showed up both hind suspensories had been damaged. It was not too severe, but obviously not great.

3 months in to rest, 6 weeks before next lot of scans and the prognosis is good in that she should come OK, but she will never do more than a light hack or gentle schooling. I'm so gutted, but as long as my girl is happy that is the main thing, I just hope she can cope with a quiet life as she doesn't really "do" gentle hacks...

Sorry to put a dampener on things after people had been positive but eith ANY suspensory damage big or small there is a 50% chance at the least that it will reoccur.

 

[Festive_Felicitations]

I have had two horses do in front tendons (just below the knee) and both returned to full work Lucy back to doing 60km endurances and Beau to eventing/hooning with impunity.

The degree of injury will effect the prognosis (spell?) for humans at least, tendon injuries have a scale of 1(strained) to 5 (major/total tear requires surgery). Hind injuries generally have a lower recovery rate than front legs.

As Puppy said, horses after a bit of rest may appear sound (ie after 4 weeks) but this doesn't mean the injury has healed, it has just improved enough for them to be no longer lame and with increased work they will quickly go lame again and this time recovery will be slower and they are less likely to fully recover. Tendons & ligaments take a long time to heal becasue of the nature of the tissue, its not like skin/muscle.

With regards to treatment I have always been told that the first week or two are crucial. Minise movement to allow fibers to knit togther again (im assuming a tear of some sort). Hose the leg daily to keep the swelling down, and use a support bandage (not too tight). For Lucy we also did hot/cold treatments moring and evening (hot water bottle followed by icing)for the first week, recommended as a means to encourage blood flow to the area.
I have never heard of/used Shock wave treatment, but that may just be due to growing up in South America.

6 mnths rest is considered the minimum for a horse with a tendon injury and at least the first 6-8 weeks of that is box rest/ severly restircted movement. Then turned out in a slightly larger area, which is slowly increased, ie by the end of 6mnth you should be able to turn him out into his usual field. Running around needs to be discouraged. If you need to walk him out in hand to stop him being an idiot in the field make sure you bandage his leg.
If you have the space turning them out for a another 6mnths (ie a year off in total) is recommended to allow full recovery. When it comes to bringing them back into work start with walking building up very slowly to 45min before you start troting and do loads of road work to strengthen everything again. As annoying as it may be to watch them gallop down their field stick to the walking regime.
For strengtheing legs walking in the sea and in deep sand is meant to help as well.

OK that is an awful lot of info sorry! I have just spent a lot of time reading up on tendons....=/.
I hope all goes well!

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

On behalf of my friend can I thank everyone for taking the time to go into such detail with their experiences. This is exactly the sort of information she and her horse will need. Must admit, as the owner of an FOEC (fat one eyed cob lol), I'm shocked at how easily TBs can damage their legs. I'm shocked too at the amount of non-riding work such injuries mean for owners and the dedication people have to see their neds back to some degree of soundness and some quality of life. Thanks guys x

 

[TayloredEq]

I have posted in vet section about my horse.

He had chronic hindlimb PSD. Vet originally thought 12 weeks before seeing any difference and 6 months before starting riding.

I have used only the hydrotherapy spa, and he started at 2 x 30mins of walking straight away, I also fed him aloe vera.

We have just had a scan at 11 1/2 weeks and I have been given the all clear - he will be competing (BD) by the end of the month.

If you would like any more info in the spa please pm me or look back at my old posts and you will find the regime we followed.