Suspensory Ligament strain.....back into work.....NERVOUS!

[louisewarner]

Hi all suspensory owners!! I am really happy at the moment as my lovely boy has "done" the walking/trotting/straight lines and hacking and NOW WE CAN GO IN THE SCHOOL AND......CANTER......great but, I cant!!!! Am so worried about it have tried to do it over the past 3 days and begin walk, trot, and ask for canter and then freeze.......result, a few steps of it on the long side of the school, and then it grinds to a halt(not literally but almost) Any advice from those who have gone before me on this one? How best to get over this fearthat a corner in canter is going to "RIP" those ligamements again.....vet says to just slowly introduce it and work on straight lines and big circles and make the transitions gradually, not sure how long to spend in canter tho..........am being a bit flaky here but I am just so scared of breaking my pony!!!!! (16.1.hh Warmblood actually)..........HELP PLEASE!

 

[BenjaminBunny]

I can't help sorry i'm still at the trotting stage...

can you turn your horse out yet - or do you have to build it up to canter first?

Just cos i'm still leading in hand - scared to get on incase he goes loopy having been in "prison" for the last 13 weeks

 

[louisewarner]

Hi......yes I have to consolidate the canter work and if he stays OK in Canter (Rescan at End October) then he can go out in field..........! Its a long old road this?

 

[star]

been there and got that t-shirt and now going through it all again for another ligament problem. spent the last 4yrs being paranoid about everything i did in case it broke the suspensory ligament again - there's only so much being careful you can do before you just have to say sod it and go for it and start enjoying them again!

 

[BenjaminBunny]

what i was told is after the trotting work (building up to 20 mins a day over next 4 to 5 weeks) they'd come out and look again (not scan)

and see from there - his scan last week showed pretty much normal ligaments - they said only if he takes a backwards step will they scan him again

 

[Hattikins]

Do you mind me asking how bad the suspensory ligament damage was for your horses??? just that my horse has just been vaguely (as in not has nerve blocking or scans yet) diagnosed with upper suspensory damage - there is no swelling or puffyness or anything- he is just sore when the vet applies pressure to that area and he is slightly unsound on one rein in the sand school. i was just wondering what the outlook for him would be if it turns out to be suspensory???

thankyou for ur help

 

[louisewarner]

hi........I get the impression its a bit different with each vet? However, I have to go upto vets and they will see him when we have built up the canter work to 20 meter circles and trans from walk.....if he is sound on the killer concrete small circle and on lunge in school, thencarry on building it up......if there is doubt, have a scan to see if there has been any deterioration from last scan which was almost perfect......it is all bit inexact, but the biggest problem is me! I know I am going to break him.......I must get over it, what will be will be? Not easy

 

[lynspop]

a full livery on my yard had the same dilemma- she has a big 16.2 TB X , who did his suspensory ligament last november. the outcome was grim- our vets told her the horse needed a full year of work, preferably out in the field before we could re-asess the situation,and even then- there would be no guarantee of it working out. things didnt look good, but his owner didnt want to give up hope,so she did lots of research online and found an excellent recovery plan for suspensory damage- she followed it to the mark, starting off with walking out etc. he is now 100% sound and back into full work- including schooling and hacking.
We bought him magnetic boots and he wears them for a while each day. Last week, he got re-scanned and got the all clear!

Just a wee story to give you all hope that sometimes it can work out ok, even when it seems grim!

 

[blaze]

Hi luley,

I think we've 'met' before on similar suspensory threads! I second what star says - there comes a point when you realise that you could spend forever thinking this. However, I totally understand the fear and paranoia at the moment. My first canter after the all-clear actually came by accident, which I think is a good thing as I was very much in the same boat as you!

I think my mare did her damage in the field anyway, and there comes a point where you just think that if it's going to go again, it will, and there's not much you can do to prevent it, even if you're sensible and take every precaution. You're not about to push it too hard because you're so worried about it. I take a lot from how my horse is moving in the field, and I have also become an avid ground-watcher - if it's slippery, we don't go near it!

We did a bit of gentle hillwork at the beginning, and my first hacking canter was up a hill, while riding out with a vet (damage limitation, lol!) That was before she got the total all-clear, as they wanted us to be back in work before they gave it.

Anyway, my best advice is to be sure you've done the gentle build-up. If you have, and I'm sure you have, then you can't do anything more to protect your horse (except extra-large ball of cotton wool, which I wish I could also have!) The only way to ease the worry is unfortunately to gently push the boundaries - each time you do, and you realise that nothing untoward happens, you will feel slightly less on edge!

Please PM me if you feel like it - I am back online now and actually replying more regularly, sorry!