Vet just been....possible suspensory ligament injury

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ecrozier

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Vet has just been to see OH's mare who went lame tuesday night. She is only 1/5 lame in near for, but we trotted her up, did some nerve bloks, lunging, flexion tests etc and he said she needs to go over to the clinic for more tests next week, but his initial suspiscion is something to do with the suspensory ligament
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Any stories on such injuries? Is the prognosis bad? I'm used to navilcular/arthritis type diagnosis with my old girl, injuries of this type are new to me! He said it could either be a new thing or an old injury that she has aggravated.
Really gutted, he had just had his first couple of jumping lessons and was loving it so much!
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Can anyone give me any idea of the prognosis/possible treatments for this type of injury? Is it just a case of rest? For weeks/months?
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Suspensory ligament damage can mean quite some time off work. My trainers mare has it and is on hacking only slowly building up time wise. Another friends mare had it and may never work again. I think it depends on the injury and severity. Don't panic wait until you have all the info you need.
 
My horse has recovered from this injury and is in work - he has box rest and shockwave therapy - followed by bringing back into work slowly

he has never been lame with it and the ligament wasn't torn - just thickened and lengthened

it was a long road - but he is doing ok - he will however always have low pastern angles

I've not been told he will never jump but i choose not to jump him as i don't want him to re-injure himself

it's not the end of the world - it's a hard recovery especially when you have to walk them out after a few months box rest

but I am now able to do what i want to do with my horse - which is hacking and dressage
 
Thanks guys, sounds like it might be quite an issue for her. I can't think it is a tear or anything that major as she is only 1/5 lame, and he had a good poke around and couldn't feel any massive swelling or anything major at all he said. Maybe it is just something minor. I really hope it doesn't mean she can never jump again, that would be a bit of a disaster! To be fair, most of what she does is hacking, with the odd lesson or competition, but it would be a real pain in the backside if she was restricted in that way.
Keep all your fingers crossed for her!
 
My horse had suspected suspensory strain- Nothing showed on the scan but nerve blocks showed it. She was rested for about 6 weeks and then loads of walking. Had a few niggles and I would say it took about 2 years for everything to really settle. Touch wood she is ok now, but has other problems instead!!! Horses- who'd ave em!!
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So the outcome isnt always bad! You just have to be very careful and make sure you build her up to fitness slowly. For example you wont be able to pull her out of a field having not ridden her for 3 weeks and expect to go for a jumping lesson
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or gallop through the woods
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, and you need to be quite religious about warm up and cool down.

And be prepared to become obsessive about checking her legs before and after you ride!
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I was also told by the vet there was a 90% chance of full return to work with suspensory damage if its not too bad. So hopefully that has cheered you up a bit!
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Good luck.
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My advanced medium dressage horse did his suspensory in ( mind he was 22) and after a long period of box rest/ limited turn out he came back to work, though not at the level he was. He is perfectly sound for general riding and hacking and low level dressage, though he probably could not cope with consistent AM. The thing is, you either ride them and they break down completely, which they were going to do at some point anyway, or you turn them away and don't ride them at all, which is a waste. Ride till they break down and then retire them if you can afford it.
 
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