suspensory ligament injury

[popster]

hey

on the 23rd of march i took my horse xc schooling then i gave her a day of and noticed alot of swelling to the front legs, she had got mud fever from the water jump so we put her on antiboitics and she had 2 weeks off. after the 2 weeks her legs had healed and she was sound again, so i decided to ride her i gave her 2 days in the arena light schooling then on the 3rd day took her for a small hack and when i got back did a little bit of schooling in the field. when i went to put her back in the field i noticed she was lame not hopping lame but it was obvious she was lame and she had a little bit of swelling on the back of her cannon bone. so we put her on bute and left her a few days she got a little bit better her leg went down a little. so we decided to phone the vet and describe what her leg was like and what i had been doing with her and he said she could of blown a tendon. so we took her through for scans and shes torn 50% of her suspensory ligament, this was on the 16th april, he said leave her out in the field in a small pen so she cant gallop around so we have and she comes in at night just to be on the safe side. its been just over 4 week and shes due another scan in 3/4 weeks time. shes not lame at all neither in walk trot and the swelling has gone down abit and theres not pain or heat in her leg.

does anybody have any info or cases similiar to mine?
whats the chance of recovery sound like from what ive told you? good or bad??

thank you xx

 

[Mickeymoo]

Ours had a hole in his suspensory. We turned him out for 4 hours a day and he had injections too.

He did look sound after a couple of weeks, but we were told the classic mistake people make is to think they are ok and bring them back into work. The horse then keeps on going lame as the injury never completely heals.

We rested ours for about 4 months then bought him slowly back into work. He went on to do a hunter trial last season and a hound excercise. He was 21 at the time.

 

[Rowreach]

One of mine did a mild high suspensory on 30 March, and he is off for the whole summer, and will then come back into slow gentle work in the autumn.

These things do come right, but you have to take it slow IME

 

[Marchtime]

Jesper did his hind suspensory as a youngster in the field. He had shockwave therapy and three months off followed by very slow return to work. His wasn't a bad tear at all, absolutely minimal and he'd never been lame but had just lost performance.
Shockwave has a good success rate so I'd talk to your vet about this but the sooner the better. I'd be looking at a minimum of three months off, but probably six months with a 50% tear.

 

[lensmith7]

Aw I feel for you. Bloomin suspensories!!

Can I ask how old the horse is? Sorry if you have said, I might have missed it. Is it insured?

Was any other treatment offered?

Where exactly is the hole? High up, main body or down low?

My mare has blown her suspensory, high up and in the main body. She has had surgery, neurecomy, this can only be done if the tear is high up. She also had an injection under GA of platelet rich plasma to encourage healing.

This was a week ago.

She will be on box rest until week 2 after the op, then we have 15 mins twice a day of walking in hand. Scan after that.

My vet has said with anything other than a small tear, conservative management is not ideal. Hence the op.

The mistake people make, as already pointed out, is they look sound so come back into work, so break down again.

The suspensory NEVER heals, it mearly scars. Which, if left for long enough, acts as the ligament would. However, it will never be as strong, imagine an old elastic band??

I think the trick is, give them as much time to heal as possible, to get a better longer lasting result.

If you are insured, and horse not too old, I'd consider surgery or the injection though.

Feel free to PM if I've just confused you or aren't sure about anything I've said. I've spent weeks researching all this and have spent fortunes calling my fantastic vets to answer all my questions. If I can be of any help to you I'll try.

I feel for you. Hugs x x

 

[popster]

thank you

yeah i no im not going to rush her recovery ill wait has long as it takes for her to be ok again. she goes for her second scan in 4 weeks so i hope its started mending.
i just wanted to no what people thought of her recovery rate by what i wrote down? and the servereness of it

its good to hear sucess stories too x x

 

[Marchtime]

Jesper's damage wasn't so bad from what I remember but he had suspensory damage in his left hind about five or six years ago. He had shock wave treatment as we were advised suspensories do not heal well with just rest and either shock wave or stem cell therapy are recommended to promote healing. He had four months off followed by three months very slow rehab (six weeks walking, then building up). We chose never to jump him again as he showed more promise as a dressage horse. He popped the occassional 2ft6 show jump once in a blue moon but rarely. Up until a year ago my story had a happy ending.
Sadly two years ago Jesper damaged his collateral ligament in his right fore. He had nine months off and came back to work as a hack. He retired completely earlier this year. Because he has injured both his left hind and right fore (diagonal pair), they are both compensating for one another. His hind suspensory couldn't cope.
As a side note when your horse returns to work I'd get regular physio checks as suspensory damage can cause back problems due to compensation.

 

[paulineh]

Is the horse at livery or do you own your own land.

If the horse is on your own land (Here people will possibly shout me down) you could always put her in foal. The hormones they produce while in foal help the healing process.

One of my mares has done both front check ligaments within 6 months of each other (She is now hopefully in foal) I used a combination of hoeopathic drugs that helped no end.I will be happy to PM you what I used if you want.

Another of my mares did a front suspensory ligament, she had 6 months off after treatment and has come back to do endurance (Including 100 miles over Exmoor and 100 miles race ride) she has never been lame since.

Time is a good healer.

 

[Nuttymanxmare]

Mine did her SL years before I got her and she tweaked it in the field a couple of months ago. The vet is reluctant to scan due to her age.

The swelling and heat dissapeared within a few weeks and now she is able to hack out all be it very gently.

Luckily my mare is a tough old thing. My was really suprised at how sound she is as she was lame the first day and thats it.

He advised had she been lame for any length of time then there would of been little hope.

 

[popster]

yeah we have our own land. if her leg hasnt started healing when we get the second scan done were going to put her in foal and if it hasnt were going to leave her just all depends on the second scan.
so you say if shes not lame,theres no heat,pain etc? that theres a good chance??
shes never been that lame on it just slighty??

im soo worried lol people keep telling me different things about needing surgery or injections and theres no hope i just want straight answers lol
thank you xx

 

[lensmith7]

[ QUOTE ]
im soo worried lol people keep telling me different things about needing surgery or injections and theres no hope i just want straight answers lol
thank you xx

[/ QUOTE ]

I gave you a straight answer. i have undertaken a lot of research on the subject, and thought I would help by sharing.

Sometimes the answers you get, are not always those you want to hear x

 

[AandK]

QR - if you give her lots of time to recover and then bring her back into work very slowly then there is a good chance she will make a full recovery.
the reason people all have different stories and endings is because no two cases are the same. each horse will have a slightly different injury, will heal at a different rate, will be given different vet advice and also will be managed slightly differently by their owner!! (sorry for the over-use of different there..) so, as you can see, no one can say to you 'she will heal in x days, in x days you will be riding again and in x days you will be able to jump again.. i hope that makes sense.

one thing i would like to add, and its just my opinion.. if your mare is not healing as fast as you like, please do not put her in foal, the extra weight will not help her heal and will put more strain on an already weak ligament.. time, time and more time is what you need with these types of injuries!!