More on Kitty's ligaments

["Annette Gordon" <agordon@worldofwonder.net>]

Hi again everyone

Thanks for all the posts about check ligament rehabilitation they have been
really useful in giving me a sense of what I should do and also making me
feel better about her chances of full recovery. 

Some of you suggestted that she should get an ultrasound scan and I probably
didn't make it clear enough that she had a scan about 4 weeks ago which
showed a thickening of the check ligament. She is due to go back for another
scan in a couple of weeks. The vet said I could start riding again at walk
in 3 weeks and I left it 4 weeks. He also suggestted I turn  her out but if
you could see where she lives you would all know this is a bad idea. 

It has also rained here almost continually all summer, all autumn and
carrying on for winter. We are on clay as well which is very unforgiving and
tends to hold on to a horses leg and suck shoes off etc. So turn out is a
mistake. Also the reason this happened in the first place is because Kitty
gets upset being left out in the mud and the rain and hurls herself around.
The girls on the yard don't take much notice so I dare not leave her out
again. 

We have about 120 acres at the yard she lives at. Half of this is flat and
that's the half they use to grow hay on - no horses allowed on it. The rest
is varying degrees of hilliness and what flat fields there are you have to
go up a hill to get to them. So hills are a big problem for us at the
moment. My vet is worried about the hills at the moment. I could trailer her
out of there but she'd still have to go up the steep hill in the trailer
which might be worse than walking up it herself. 

I can't see me daring to trot her for at least 2 months and have decided
that walking everywhere is what we will be doing. I check for heat every
time she has done some excersise and it is getting better all the time. The
heat in the ligaments is barely detectable. I've decided to mix the
excersise between me riding her on the flat parts and leading her at walk
from my other horse. 

Last night I faithfully did this in the dark with both horses spooking at
anything they could find. We can walk for about a mile and a half. Before
that I've been walking her alone in hand for about two thirds of that
distance. 

I'll keep you all posted about what happens and I think I will carry on
using the Sports Medicine Boots. 

Bye 

Annette