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  Discussion on Congenital Suspensory Ligament Problem?
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2000 - 1:47 pm:

I have an 8 year quarter horse gelding that has always been ridden western pleasure. I got him in January and began riding him English with the hope of starting him over fences. We started slowing with ground work and ground poles. The end of March he began coming up "off" - not lame - but not moving right. I would rest him for a few days thinking it was muscle related since he was not really used to "moving out". He would be fine for a week and then it would happen again. This went on for several months and then one day he was really lame and developed a swelling halfway done the left cannon on the outside. I called the vet and he was diagnosed with a suspensory ligament injury. I have come to find out that he suffered a similar injury two years ago, however, this was in the right leg, behind the knee. He was stall rested for 30 days and then brought back slowly and stayed sound. He is now on stall rest for 30 days, hand walking for 30 days, riding at a walk for 15 days, then slow jog for 15 days and then will be evaluated for anything further. My question is, could this be a problem structurally with his ligaments that this has occured before and if so, is there anything I can do to prevent it from happening again? Can ligaments behave this way if a horse has some kind of congenital ligament problem - if there is such a thing? It takes alot of effort to move this horse out and he has a history of being resistant at picking up the canter to the right lead - no problems to the left. I really thought I was taking it easy with this horse when I first got him. I would welcome anyone else's thoughts or similar experiences.

Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2000 - 5:38 pm:

It could be just bad luck but having suffered injuries on both suspensories in 2 years is a bit worrysome that he may not hold up whether the problem is conformational, congenital, or degenerative.
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2000 - 10:45 pm:

Can you recommend any posted articles or other avenues I can research to find out what I may be dealing with i.e., conformational, congenital or degerative? Are there ways to deal with ligament problems that are conformational and congenital in nature via surgery, etc. and what is the best way to diagnose it. I live between Leesburg, VA and New Hollard, PA and could go there for diagnostic workups. I have not talked to my vet about this yet. He treated the other suspensory injury with his former owner and now is treating this one and seems to believe that he my be getting "stupid" in the field which led to this one and the previous one. I hand walked him this evening (or at least tried to) and he is definitely not taking stall rest very well. He started to prance and get goofy.
When you say he may not hold up - does that mean that this type of problem is untreatable and/or what limitations would be placed on the horse. Thanks for your help!

Posted on Friday, Jun 30, 2000 - 1:32 pm:

Hello Joyce,
I think from a diagnostic/prognosis stand point that the next best step is to have him ultrasounded by a very experienced operator and have the suspensories evaluated for normalacy. There was a survey done and published in the 1996 AAEP proceedings of normal findings that might help. The survey was done of Tbs and SBs but should provide a reference.

Without examining the horse I cannot make any specific diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis. It just is worrysome that the horse has had the same problem on two different legs. General recommendations to reduce suspensory strain would be a proper hoof angle, a short foot, and a rockered and rolled toe. Also a shoe that extends behind the foot may help support the suspensory but horses differ on how much hanging out the back you can have before they pull it off. Egg bars are a popular way to support the supporting structures.
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jul 1, 2000 - 11:25 pm:

Thank you Dr. O. for the advice and I will follow it by taking him to be evaluated more extensively other than by being ultrasounded at the "barn". I do want to find out if this horse has any abnormalties because I do not want to cause him any more distress and I have had a "feeling" that there is something that is making it difficult for this horse to move out -without spurring the you know what out of him! I do have a great farrier who does corrective shoeing so I will talk to him after I get him ultrasounded if I can provide him with some relief. Thank you for your help and I will post back in the future when I know something more definite. Happy Fourth!!!

Posted on Monday, Jul 10, 2000 - 4:19 pm:

Hello Dr O
I have today collected by horse after an examination by a specialist in horse lameness, he diagnosed High Suspensory Desmitis and informed me that there is no hope for him and that I should put him out to grass for the summer, but before the winter sets in have him put down, I know little of this problem is there really no hope I was too shocked to ask questions. I value your opinion. You Americans seem so much more advanced to us British, could you have the answer? Please.

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 11, 2000 - 6:02 am:

Susan,
I know you are anxious so pardon the delay. Instead of posting your question at the bottom of someone elses discussion you should create your own. You will get more responses and it helps others find related information better.

Before you post a new forum discussion be sure to review the already existing articles and forum discussions on your subject. This is the appropriate topic for your subject, so just back up to your topic using the navigation bar at the top of this page and select the approriate article.

If after reviewing the already existing resources your question remains unanswered go to the closest topic and post to that forum by clicking on, "New Discussions" and choose a title that is descriptive.
Thank You,
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