Suspensory Ligament injury of the comp horse

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Malibu

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I was wondering if anyone has had a comp horse with a suspensory ligament injury in particular the upper part (proximal) of the ligament.

How did the horse recover, did it recover to full work, competing and if at the same level, few levels below or did the horse even progress up a level? I would just like to know the chances of a horse with this type of injury recovering and returning to what it was doing prior to injury.

Sorry, I know this post may need to be in vet section but thought as it is concerning the comp horse, i would place it it here.
 
Will be interested to hear more about this too as Spider has just had the op on both hinds for suspensory ligament damage, although there wasnt major damage and hers is lower down
 
I was given my horse to to PSD. He was 6 and competing BE Novice when it was diagnosed. As he was part of a pro yard he wasn't insured and the vets general feeling was that he wouldn't stand up to serious eventing.

He was therefore rehomed to me as a top end RC horse / amateur all round competition horse.

I've had him 5 years now and not had any significant problems with his hocks, however he has only done a bit of OPN / Dr Nov and Elem / SJ to 1.05 courses

Saying that there is a limit for him due to his hocks and it is particularly noticeable in the dressage, he avoids using his hocks properly whenever possible.
 
My Mare was competing at open level SJ (120/130) Blew up in the ring, high suspensory damage was diagnois. Rest and Shockwave treatment for 6 months.
But sadly Never jumped competitvely again, she just wont! Might jump the odd few at home but as it happened at a show i think she is worried it might happen again and every show we have been to might pop a few fences then just plainly refuses. As she has won a lot of money and her welfare is more important than continuing to push the point we swapped disciplines.
So two years down the line we are now dressage superstars!

Please bear in mind though that she is 13 when she did it, and she is a Chestnut mare!
 
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Ed was diagnosed with mild PSD three years ago. He returned to eventing after 9 months and has been fine since. Has competed at intermediate level since the injury

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Thats good to hear !
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My event mare did hers. After lots of shockwave treatment and 18 months off, she never came back. She is now a recipient mare at stud.

Sorry to sound grim, but think it is a fairly disasterous injury to have. Hopefully yours will have a better prognosis. My horse was only 8 when she did hers.
 
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Hi Holly, What are the vets saying re her recovery?

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She has all in all about 3mths recovery period, 1 mth complete box rest, 1mth of in hand and then hopefully I can start walking her onboard.

Providing it is a sucess which I have been told is a 1 in 4 success rate she should return to eventing, SJ and dressage etc. She is also young (5) and fit and healthy so fingers crossed.
 
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Hi Holly, What are the vets saying re her recovery?

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She has all in all about 3mths recovery period, 1 mth complete box rest, 1mth of in hand and then hopefully I can start walking her onboard.

Providing it is a sucess which I have been told is a 1 in 4 success rate she should return to eventing, SJ and dressage etc. She is also young (5) and fit and healthy so fingers crossed.

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What is the degree of her injury, is it severe (hole or tear etc) and is it the upper part of the ligament?
 
A friend of mine horse also suffered PSD in both hinds and returned to advanced eventing. I think a lot depends on the degree of the initial injury and bringing them back to work very slowly. Hope all goes well with spider.
 
Has anyone any other methods of aiding the horse to recovery? Ru will be getting 3 x shock wave over 6 weeks and also buying an equisage, going to get massage once a month plus on supplements. not on box rest but no exercise, starting to walk in hand feb time.
 
I gave Ed some MSM during the recovery period and during the 1st season eventing after the injury. Not sure if it made any difference but he healed well so maybe it did.
 
Oh no Tophorse!! Isn't Ru that lovely bay of yours? Or is it the grey? Either way so sorry to hear of that.
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Just out of interest could people tell me the general symptons of PSD? As I understand it, it doesnt show up as lameness.
Would the horse seem OK when it isnt worked for a few days, then seem to get worse again when worked over consecutive days?
 
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Hi Holly, What are the vets saying re her recovery?

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She has all in all about 3mths recovery period, 1 mth complete box rest, 1mth of in hand and then hopefully I can start walking her onboard.

Providing it is a sucess which I have been told is a 1 in 4 success rate she should return to eventing, SJ and dressage etc. She is also young (5) and fit and healthy so fingers crossed.

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What is the degree of her injury, is it severe (hole or tear etc) and is it the upper part of the ligament?

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It is the lower part - and isnt severe.

She did not have the de-nerving op as most may think, they split a bone to allow the ligament to swell and then heel naturally. Sounds very strange I know but I didnt want to go for the de nerving
 
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Oh no Tophorse!! Isn't Ru that lovely bay of yours? Or is it the grey? Either way so sorry to hear of that.
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Thanks hun, but the grey was pts few months ago after doing his tendon in, so dont let me go near your horse unless you wont it injured, i have had the worst year.
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Ru ( the bay ) is going for scans next week on tuesday, nerve blcoking and rays yesterday but vet is 105 miles each way so quite a trec for the young man!
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The other thing i found really helpful was Cashel leg wraps, no need for support bandages then and quicker and easier to use.
Mine pulled the ligament away from the bone so bone chips were a worry for us. New market joint supplement has MSM in, also if you get supplement from your vet you can put that thru ins too!
 
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My friends horse who returned to advanced eventing had the same operation.

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Really - thats good news. I hope that she can return to eventing fingers crossed
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Oh no Tophorse!! Isn't Ru that lovely bay of yours? Or is it the grey? Either way so sorry to hear of that.
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Thanks hun, but the grey was pts few months ago after doing his tendon in, so dont let me go near your horse unless you wont it injured, i have had the worst year.
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Ru ( the bay ) is going for scans next week on tuesday, nerve blcoking and rays yesterday but vet is 105 miles each way so quite a trec for the young man!
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Oh PANTS I am so sorry. What an awful year for you.
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Fingers crossed for Ru. Who knows in three months he may be back to normal.
 
I believe the upper (proximal) part of the s ligament is more common in comp horses in particualr dressage and eventers but i was wondering the results in comp horses
 
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Oh PANTS I am so sorry. What an awful year for you.
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Fingers crossed for Ru. Who knows in three months he may be back to normal.

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Its just been awful, i did eveything for malibu and in the end the kneww buckeled and he was pts, i worked so hard for him and now its ru, i was todl at the start of the year my first pony who was out on loan was going to die by the friday! so that was tnoher thing to contend with, luckily i got him out of there and he is still very alive at a retirement yard!

I tell you though, it takes alot out of you, i am keeping a brave face and i am staying strong, but it is hard, been crying already today .
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Just replied to your PM... but wanted to add that I went out and bought Grace an Equissage, she has her magnetic boots on both hinds through the day and I put her straight on a pure MSM supplement.

I spoke to my vet about the Equissage and he said it would be 'excellent' for her
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Grace's is right at the top behind her hock and is an 'acute' injury rather than one that has gone on for a while, hence the reason she was not operated on. There are no tears, just inflammation.
 
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Hi Holly, What are the vets saying re her recovery?

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She has all in all about 3mths recovery period, 1 mth complete box rest, 1mth of in hand and then hopefully I can start walking her onboard.

Providing it is a sucess which I have been told is a 1 in 4 success rate she should return to eventing, SJ and dressage etc. She is also young (5) and fit and healthy so fingers crossed.

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What is the degree of her injury, is it severe (hole or tear etc) and is it the upper part of the ligament?

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It is the lower part - and isnt severe.

She did not have the de-nerving op as most may think, they split a bone to allow the ligament to swell and then heel naturally. Sounds very strange I know but I didnt want to go for the de nerving

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That is the normal op for PSD - they split the fascia, which is a tough fibourous tissue on the back of the leg. The reason why they denerve is to encourage the horse to walk correctly whilst the ligament is healing to aid recovery. It will be interesting to see if she does heal without the denerving.
 
i was going to say that i doubt they split any bones as wouldn't really help and would then have to heal, mosre likely they just split the fascia to allow the ligament to swell - they do normally need the de-nerving as well.

my horse got PSD in his right hind in 2002, within 6 months he was back competing and never looked back - he went back to Medium dressage and 3ft jumping, only limited to that because of his abilities, not by the injury. He then damaged both his annular ligaments last year so is now retired but the suspensory did really well.

i did my final year dissertation at vet school on PSD so have looked at hundreds of case studies.
 
ru is being seen to by A Cox at Clyde vets, would prefer Andrew the co owner but could not get him! DrJames, pm me as would love to hear about the lecture!
 
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