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Re: [RC] collateral ligament injury - JL ThompsonHi Marlene,
My horse is in rest/rehab right now due to a similar injury. He has torn his medial navicular suspensory ligament (also known as the collateral ligament of the navicular bone). These ligaments connect P2 to the navicular bone, so it's a lot like what happened to your horse. I finally got the correct diagnosis through a CT scan - nothing else showed anything wrong.
I am now 6 weeks into the stall rest/handwalking stuff and I feel for you. My gelding was also in 24/7 turnout with other horses before this. I have been forced to Ace him before I handwalk him, as he is getting quite rowdy and upset - full of energy but not allowed to use it.
Two days ago, I skipped his Ace shot (I was in a hurry) and walked him anyway. He came a little unglued, spooked and came down on my foot, and now I have a broken big toe. :(
Prognosis for my gelding, according to vets at Alamo Pintado clinic, is "fair". It all depends on if the ligament's insertion site at the bone develops any painful spurs during healing.
The important thing with all ligament injuries is to give it enough time to fully heal - I was told at least six months. The horse will feel better long before healing is really done, so it is easy to assume everything is better and start riding again too soon.
Good luck and know that you are not alone!
Jennifer and Shahtahr -----Original Message----- From: Marlene Moss Sent: Jun 7, 2004 7:55 PM To: Ridecamp Subject: [RC] collateral ligament injury Hi, Has anyone had a horse injure a collateral ligament (just above the hoof capsule to just below, connects P2-P3)? My husband?s horse was trotting down a slight hill, around a corner and her inside front slid on some recently moved dirt for erosion control. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, it didn?t look like a big deal, but she was off. So he led her home and we?ve been checking her in the round pen every few days. It seemed to get a little worse (head bobbing turning to the right) and she seemed very tentative where she is normally a big mover. The last couple days it seemed a little better, hardly any head bobbing, but just not moving normally. We finally made it to a vet with her (Dr. Barbara Page, who is well known for working with lameness) and she did an ultrasound to confirm the injury. She prescribed stall rest for a month with 5 minutes of hand walking a day, then a re-check to determine where to go from there. Quite a bit different from out 24x7 on 40 acres of fairly steep hills and we?ll have to keep her in with another horse or it will NOT be stall rest! Has anyone had an injury like this ? how long did it take to heal? One thing I thought of after we left was that I have a TENS unit which I know some people have had success with helping tendons to heal. Any thoughts or experiences on using that for this injury? I?ll be calling Dr. Page tomorrow to ask, but would like to hear about other?s experiences as well. We will do whatever is necessary for a safe and complete recovery, but the prognosis isn?t clear yet. Thanks for any advice or opinions! Marlene Marlene Moss 719-351-5037 (cell) 719-748-9073 (home) ===========================================================One of the great joys of being a pompous idiot is that you can do and think whatever you want. ~ Homer Safferwiffle ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ===========================================================
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