Suspensory refusing to heal!

conniegirl

conniegirl

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My beautiful pony damaged his suspensory in august last year, there was a huge hole in it.
he had 5 months box rest and then was turned out before he killed somone after a check from the vet to see if it was healing.
at christmas it was healing and vet said he would prefer to keep the pony in, however this pony normaly lives out 24/7 and had already attacked someone in the stable (and he ment business, he was out to do some damage) so the decision was made to turn him out for the sake of his sanity and ours. He then had 4 months in the field, now pony is not a lunatic, he didnt blat round much after the first 10 mins and has been stuffing his face for the next 4 months.

We had anouther scan done, his leg hasnt gotten better.
Vet is at a loss and has just reccomended leaving him for more time. Pony is not young (19) and we figure age may be a factor in the slow healing however before his injury he was Fit, competing and looked half his age

does anyone know of anything that may help? suppliments? magnets? massage? At this point i am willing to try just about anything to help him heal well.
He is my pony of a life time and I love him to bits. I'd love to be able to say money no object but unfortunatly i am a student, mum has already forked out for all the scans so far and insurance company have yet to get back to me about the claim so please nothing that costs thousands of £££ (vet suggested some experimental stem cell therapy, that however is something i cannot afford and insurance will NOT pay for).
 
I would try the NEW magnetic boots, my friend saw good results with these when her horsey did his ligament in.
 
I like magnetic boots and add MSM to his feed, maybe speak to the vet about shockwave therapy it really speeded up the healing time for mine and my friends mare.
 
Aw CG - I suspect the only thing that will help if further expensive veterinary treatment is out of the question, is TIME. One of the liveries on my yard has a horse that had the same injury last year. The mare had stem cell treatment but her body rejected the stem cells. Restricted movement combined with controlled exercise over (I think) about 10 months (!) has brought her almost sound again with just a teeny hole still in the ligament, less than 1 millimetre now. She was originally box rested and after many weeks this was supplemented with controlled walking on a horse walker. The healing was very, very slow but she is now sound in ridden walk and trot: canter work can start soon. The vets advise that there may always be a weakness there but she has made excellent progress. I think the mare is around 10yrs old. I suspect that your ned is not healing because you don't have the control over his movements that is needed to heal such difficult injuries. Could he go anywhere for 6 months where they have a horse walker? I understand totally what you say about being stabled and losing his sanity. You can't explain to the horse that it's for his own good. Could you start him on a very low dose of ACP to take the edge off his cabin fever? Maybe that, combined with the horse walker plus a stable where he can see plenty of activity would help him settle?
 
Box of frogs, we tried ACP in him and walking him out but my brother ended up in hospital and we decided it was no longer worth the risk.
He backed my brother into a corner whilst my brother was changing his rugs and then proceded to kick the crap out of my brother, my brother was very very lucky that the pony has awful aim as the pony hit the breeze block walls more often then he hit my brother and he left dents in the wall (pony is unshod!). If just one had hit my brothers head or spine then we would have been in a horrific position and i'd have never forgiven myself. Luckily my brother managed to turn his back so that the kicks hit his back muscles rather then his stomach and got the rug in between so gave himself a bit of padding, brother has the most amazingly huge muscles in his back so no internal damage was done. He was black and blue from head to foot though and it was only my mothers intervention (she heard him from the house and chucked a yard broom at stan) that prevented it from getting worse.
A few days he tried again this time with me. I managed to throw the rug in his face and get out but it was close. He was intent on drawing blood on anyone who came into his stable or cornering them and kicking them. He normaly has absolutly perfect ground manners and is a delight to handle.

We then tried putting him in a stable sized patch of garden to see if it would help. His manners came back slightly but he kept trying to jump the fence, and got himself very very stressed, it was decided that cantering round a 12ftx12ft area (yes he did actualy get a canter) was not a good idea, nor where the sliding stops he did when he tried to jump the fence but chickened out!
So he was put out in the field and after a 5 min canter and buck to join the old ponies in the field he settled down and grazed and hasnt done much blatting round since.
His manners have come back too.
 
My mare had a huge tear in her suspensory 2 years ago, she had 3 months box rest then was turned out in a very small paddock for 2 weeks before she went out in a larger paddock. I used sedaline when she first went into the v snall paddock and also when she went into the larger paddock. She also had 6 months off, and was brought back into work slowly with walking road work which built up to trot and steady canter work after a few months. She is now able to hack, school and jump ok (touches wood) but so far hasn't been out competing since her initial injury (it was coupled also with an eye injury) but my vet didn't think she would ever jump again without going lame so there is hope but the main thing is to ensure the ligament is rested adequately. Also I did use magnetic wraps, but to use these you need to leave your horse in for the time stated whilst wearing them, at least with the ones I had, you couldn't expect to put them on and chuck them out in the field!
 
thanks, you have given me hope.
Pony doesnt DO jumping anyway he is a dressage and showing bod and gets very upset and stressy when you point him at coloured poles, and suicidal when you point him at an XC jump so he hasnt jumped in about 7 years and I'm quite happy doing dressage on him or even just hacking.
 
I haven't any practical advice, I also have a horse with a tear in the suspensory.

Where is the tear?

Josie had surgery yesterday, a neurectomy and an injection of platelett rich plasma into the tear.

All of which my insurance will pay for.

Which company are you with? Is it because of sge they wont pay?

I know how you're feeling, my vet said suspensories are the most frustrating of injuries, as they are a law unto their own.

Hope pony is better soon x x
 
tear is about mid way down the suspensory couple of inches below the knee.

I'm with pet plan on thier veteran insurance, they wont pay for the stuff my vet offered but she never suggested any time of surgery. Might have a chat with her when she is next up.

Pony seems quite happy in him self and is now frustratingly sound! he seems to stay sound untill i start bringing him back into work and then he goes lame again.
 
This is exactly how my vet described, fine til they start work again. Josie was sound a week after being diagnose, before the op!!

Was odd walking her on and off the box sound, knowing we were going to make her lame.

I think sit depends where the tears is if surgery is an option. Josie's is a big one on the main body leading to the origin. Hence the op was viable.

I know a few on here have had the op. But it's all down to the exact site.

Did nerve blocking make the pony sound? This would be a good indication of success, as all the op does is cut the nerve.

x x
 
see stan is sound for the first couple of days walking out, then goes lame again for a few days and then is perfectly sound which is very very frustrating!!!
He was sound a few days after he injured himself and has been for the last 9 months
 
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