Turning a horse with collateral ligament injury away....

[CharlesMax]

Hi all,

My horse has a SUSPECTED Collateral injury (coffin). After a series of tests, blocks, scans and x-rays done by a surgeon I trust 100% they cannot find anything other than slight change in the collateral. My boy has been quite lame on it too with no improvements after 11 weeks of box rest. he is still 5/10ths lame on a circle.

They have given me the option of blocking the coffin joint in the hope that that could work but it didn’t respond to the blocks so I'm not keen on this.

My question is – has anyone turned their horses with collateral injuries away and let mother nature have a go at the healing process? I know my horse will be happier with a quiet retirement herd rather than restricted turnout as he can be quite stressy even with horses in nearby paddocks. I know this will be a slow process and expect that he will be turned away for 6-12 months at least and there is the possibility he won’t come sound…

Another week of box rest before I make the decision of what to do next…..

 

[PorkChop]

Gosh, I honestly don't know but is he shod? Might he come right if you rehab him with no shoes?

 

[scats]

Yes, I turned my lad away in 2005 with a collateral ligament problem as he was not coping well with box rest.

Unfortunately he never came sound enough to sustain any ridden work, but lived a very happy life as a much pampered pet. His injury was quite extensive though, about 70% of it was torn.

 

[AandK]

Sorry to hear about your boy. In your shoes, I would turn away for a year at least. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[ycbm]

If you can afford it (and some insurers will pay half) I would contact Nic Barker at Rockley Farm. It's a rehab yard specialising in collateral ligament injuries and many horses that could not be brought sound with conventional treatment have recovered, kick started by three months at Rockley.

She has a Facebook page, and you can also contact her through rockleyfarm.blogspot.com

 

[ester]

Although not mri'd I strongly suspect mine had collateral ligament damage because of the way he was landing. He did respond partly to blocking the coffin joint and he had a djd diagnosis - nothing on X-ray. Given we have had no progression of that over 5 years I suspect that diagnosis was wrong. He did have some improvement to steroid injection but only very short term.

He had shoes off at 19 and a 6ish month barefoot rehab and never looked back and was hunting till 23

 

[mousesmum]

Hi, just thought I'd tell you my story with my mare. She's a 5 yo Connemara mare and last August had a injury in the stable overnight, I think she got her foot stuck in the back door leading to the food area!! Anyway, it turned out to be a collateral ligament (she was MRI'd at Hird and partners in October). We were told 8 weeks box rest, remedial shoeing with lateral extension and make sure feet were balanced. The farrier was great and worked with vet and x rays etc but insisted on shoeing every 4 weeks due to balancing. Anyway, she trotted sound in November and we were given the all clear to start trot work, but the next day she was really lame again. The vet suspected lami as hot hooves, strong pulse etc. Anyway following week she went to Leahurst for assessment but they said she just needed more time (Leahurst was a complete waste of money and she ended up with Bronchial Pneumonia whilst there so it all cost a fortune). Come this January and she was shod on 27th, hopping lame within the hour, farrier took shoe off and I poulticed but no absess. Got another vet who xrayed but no lami, and couldn't work it out. So in Feb back up to Hird and partners for another MRI as she was worse than ever, nerve blocks, x rays , MRI both fronts but nothing at all came up. Their farrier came to put shoes back on after MRI and he said it was the hoof capsule that was very sore due to nail bind and being shod so often, due to rebalancing the wall had become thin and nails were just going in to soft tissue so she is now barefoot and out in field. 6 weeks on and she looks fantastic, still a bit footy over stoney ground but I have bought hoof boots, she's fine on a surface or grass and I am praying that the vet will sign her off on Monday and get back in to work after 7 months off for an injury that should have been sorted in 3. Basically this was a case of the first vet becoming obsessed with foot balance and not looking at the big picture, the farrier let me down too as he said later that she was always flinching when he nailed shoes on!! Her collateral ligament injury was only mild and we had lots of explosions with in hand walking and it has still healed really well so don't give up. If your horse doesn't do well on box rest then I really think getting them out, even if sedated for the first few days, is the best course of action. Especially 24/7 - you might find it will improve recovery time and at least the horse's mental wellbeing is being addressed. Sorry for the essay and good luck x

 

[irishdraft]

Yes a friend s hunter had this box rested for some time cannot remember how long had some special shoes put on but made him more lame so back to normal shoes farrier said foot balance very important & must be kept on flat surface then she turned him out for about 9 months he is sound and has hunted all season with no problem

 

[eventer28]

My mare injured her collateral ligament - she had firstly been on box rest for many weeks during a terrible case of strangles, she then appeared lame and vets said 6 months box rest with hand walking at 3 months. I rested her for 6 weeks, pulled her shoes and loaned her to a stud. They said she never took a lame step, produced a gorgeous filly and came home 17months later sound as a pound. The vets were FURIOUS as they had designed a VERY expensive treatment plan which would have used the maximum cover on the horse insurance!

 

[annunziata]

HI, my horse had a HUGE hole in his DDFT and I decided that operating was not the way forward and he WOULD NOT like box rest so we turned him away for 6 months in the field took his shoes off and strapped an arcequine to his leg for three hours a day. He is now 100% SOUND and back in work 9 months on. My vet is amazed I was told I would be lucky to have a hack and he is now in full canter work with a view of jumping him again in a month of 2 time. He has had no intervention no steroids or anything. Taking his shoes off have helped no end. He does wear hoof boots out hacking but is happy as larry on grass and a surface. I actually took him out for a hack yesterday and I can honestly say he has never felt better. I took his rehab really slowly and we walked for many miles

 

[Achinghips]

I have a mare on retirement loan that did two collateral ligaments. She is ridden rarely at walk only, is field sound and happy ..... but I wouldn't attempt a canter with her or a trot on hard ground in case she breaks down. She is in her twenties.
She had six months box rest and ultrasound for the initial injury four years ago, which occurred in the field

 

[Leadhorse]

Hi all,

My horse has a SUSPECTED Collateral injury (coffin). After a series of tests, blocks, scans and x-rays done by a surgeon I trust 100% they cannot find anything other than slight change in the collateral. My boy has been quite lame on it too with no improvements after 11 weeks of box rest. he is still 5/10ths lame on a circle.

They have given me the option of blocking the coffin joint in the hope that that could work but it didn’t respond to the blocks so I'm not keen on this.

My question is – has anyone turned their horses with collateral injuries away and let mother nature have a go at the healing process? I know my horse will be happier with a quiet retirement herd rather than restricted turnout as he can be quite stressy even with horses in nearby paddocks. I know this will be a slow process and expect that he will be turned away for 6-12 months at least and there is the possibility he won’t come sound…

Another week of box rest before I make the decision of what to do next…..

Can you tell me what your outcome was? My horse has done both ligaments in hind that run either side of coffin joint, it's very mild (this gives me so much hope) my horse has remedial shoes on at the moment with paddock turnout