| HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Lower Limb » Overview of Fetlock (Ankle) Lameness » |
| Discussion on Sprained fetlock/suspensory ligament | |
| Author | Message |
| Member: Cara2 |
Posted on Tuesday, Jan 6, 2004 - 8:44 am: Hi Dr O,Back in November 2002 my mare (now 21)came up lame a couple of weeks after galloping full tilt around a wet (boggy in parts) field due to being terrified. Up until then she was extremely fit and able to outrun anything even at her age. At the time I thought she'd stepped on a stone. After 4 days I found a patch of heat on the inside surface of her fetlock (right fore). I box rested her with controlled in-hand exercise for 3 months and things were going ok until she was turned loose in an indoor arena in complete contradiction to my insructions, galloped and bucked of course and was lame again. At that point I felt it unfair to box rest her again so turned her out in a small paddock with a quiet friend, building up to 10 hours a day. I saw her skipping about several times, trotting and cantering and all looked fine. I checked the fetlock twice daily and it was cold, no swelling. In October this year I started riding her again, keeping her on flat hardish ground, just in walk, and built her up to 2 hours and was introducing some slopes to stretch the ligaments under controlled conditions. Then the soggy British winter came along and although I was very careful to avoid mud she stepped in a couple of muddy puddles on one ride and the heat reappeared in the same place in the fetlock. After every ride she wears a cold-wrap for half an hour and the leg is correctly bandaged throughout exercise with a stretch bandage, passing under the fetlock. She is sound to trot (although I only allow her a limited amount) and can jog about for ages without bothering the leg, but the slightest bit of mud and back comes the heat with a little filling of the leg to the inside just above the fetlock. This goes down with exercise. I'm now told it could be a strain of the collateral ligament around the fetlock which is aggravated by the suction created by mud. She is currently stabled although I may be able to turn her out again shortly (under strict supervision because I know EXACTLY how she will behave the first few times!)Could the ligament really be this unstable after so long? There was nothing to see or much to feel after the original injury and I cannot feel any scar tissue. Other horses I know were far worse but were ok again within a year (although their ridden work was obviously limited by the injury). She has sprained her pastern in mud previously when she slipped and it was red-hot immediately, but she was completely sound within a couple of days again and there were not further problems. Any thoughts or suggestions (if you are still awake after all this  )
|
| Moderator: DrO |
|
