Christopher Ruel's Sport Horse Injury Tips

Sport Horse Injury Tips

A number of web surfers have come to my web page because they were doing searches for horse injuries on search engines that directed them to this site because I have some status posted concerning one of my horses. So, since you are here, I'll try to help you out. I am not a vet, so you should check with your vet before taking any course of action and this information is not predicated under the context as expert information, but is instead intended to be helpful information. I have unfortunately gained some experience in these types of injuries through my experiences with sport horses. However, if any equine vets out there want to provide feedback, I would be glad to incorporate any suggestions and credits.

Upper Suspensory Injuries

Causes:

There are a variety of causes that precipitate suspensory injuries. But, the basic cause is that the ligament is torn due to the incidence of some stress that stretches the ligament.
Sport horses typically get suspensory injuries from over-exerting themselves while jumping or other hard riding.
Jumping a horse without warming them up adequately can result in suspensory injuries.
Exerting a horse in deep footing can also result in suspensory injuries.
Overworking a horse can result in suspensory injuries.
Older horses can get suspensory injuries more easily just because their bodies are not as durable as when they were younger.
Horses that are poorly shoed or shoed with bad angles, such as with too long of a toe, can stress both the tendon and suspensories. Some horses may be more sensitive to this than others, depending upon their conformation and structure.
Unfortunately, horses can get suspensory injuries just from taking a bad step that puts undue stress on the suspensory ligament. So, horses can incur suspensory injuries while turned out, standing in trailers, or getting on or off trailers, though this is probably less likely than an acute tear from over-exertion.
It is needless to say, that any combinations of these causes can result in a more conducive environment for suspensory injuries to occur.

Symptoms & Diagnosis (Described for a Suspensory Injury in a Hind Leg):

The horse will be off in the hind end and may feel like they are being lazy moving off of their hind legs. The horse may be able to work, but may have some reluctance to more exertive exercises that work the hind end, such as cavalettis and jumping.
The horse may dip in the hind end when you bear weight onto the leg with the injury while the horse is under saddle. This will usually be more pronounced at a posting trot, but the horse will also canter noticeably different in the direction where the injury is more pronounced.
The degree of lameness may be proportional to the severity of the tearing in the suspensory ligaments. It may be slight at first and may get progressively worst if there is further tearing of the ligaments because the initial tearing was not diagnosed.
A physical inspection of the sides of the tendons beneath the hocks will indicate either heat, inflamation, or a combination of both around the area of the injury.
There may be a strong pulse in the vein that runs along the side of the tendon near the injury.
These physical symptoms are not conclusive on their own. If the injury is only in one leg, you should gauge the difference in heat and inflammation in both legs along the tendons. If one leg has significantly more heat or inflamation, this is an indication that there is a problem in that leg.
The symptoms of heat, inflammation, and lameness will most likely become more pronounced when the horse is worked. These symptoms may not be as pronounced when the horse is in its stall or is not exercising the injured leg. However, when the horse is idle, there may still be milder heat or inflammation in the area of the injured suspensory. With a bad tear, the heat and inflammation will be more pronounced even when the horse is idle.

Course of Action:

It is critical to identify suspensory injuries as soon as they occur and before they get really bad! If your horse is exhibiting symptoms, it is better to be overprotective than to neglect the symptoms because the injury could get drastically worst. The amount of time that a horse requires to recover from a suspensory injury depends largely upon the degree of tearing that has occurred. So, if you catch the injury before the tearing gets bad, you have a better chance of a fast and full recovery. If you do not catch the injury early enough, there is a good chance that more tearing will occur, it will require longer for recovery and the chances of a full recovery are not as likely.
Examine the legs, as has been described above. If the symptoms of heat and/or inflammation have been detected, you should proceed to more aggressive diagnostics. Get the vet involved right away!!!
The horse should be evaluated on the flat and under saddle to evaluate whether or not there is any obvious lameness in the hind legs.
The horse can then be flexion tested to see if the added stress brings the injury to light without invasive testing.
If there is any evidence of a suspensory injury through the physical examination or lameness evaluation, it is a good idea to have an ultrasound to diagnose the injury. Ultrasounding is not always conclusive, but more severe tears will show up more readily with an ultrasound. If cost is an issue, you should consider the cost of laying up the horse for a half year if you don't diagnose the injury when it first occurs. It is far cheaper to have the ultrasound! Don't mess around with a potential suspensory injury. It is better to know that you are dealing with a suspensory injury than to just lay up a horse for a short period that allows partial recovery that masks the injury.

Treatment:

If the results of the physical examination, lameness evaluation, and ultrasound are inconclusive, you have a serious dilemna to deal with. Consult your vet to get their advice based on their opinion of previous experiences. If you're still not sure, get another vet's opinion. Get a sport vet to evaluate the horse.
If the results are inconclusive, your first option is to continue with reduced workout that gradually builds back to normal usage when the symptoms dissapate, assuming they are from other causes that are resolved. The second option is to lay the horse up for a short period, maybe 30 days, to give it a chance to recover from a slight tear. Then a gradually progressive workout can resume.
If the results are conclusive and the tear is diagnosed or confirmed with an ultrasound, you have a hard road ahead depending upon how severe the tear is.
Consult your vet for treatment!!! The vet may tell you something along the lines of the following treatments for a rehabilitation program:
If the vet determines that the horse is poorly shoed, get the shoeing corrected to relieve the stress caused by the shoeing.
A mild tear may require 45 days to recover and a more severe tear may require 90 days of recovery with a followup evaluation scheduled to confirm recovery with an ultrasound.
The treatment program is a hard road for sport horses because they must be confined to their stall for the recovery. The tear can not be stressed or it will not be healed. The horse should not be turned out. Sport horses typically do not like to be confined for such a long period and this can lead to bigger problems when they are penned up for so long.
If the horse has a quieter temperament, the vet may allow you to walk the horse on a leadline to get them out of their stall. If the horse is the type that might jump around or be rambunxious after being in the stall all day, the hand walking might not be such a good idea because it may lead to further tearing if the horse cannot be controlled. You can always use a chain to calm down a more aggressive horse, or you can tranquilize them prior to walking them every day. But, tranquilizing the horse every day has got its own set of problems that result...
As the tear heals, the vet may allow you to ride the horse under saddle to exercise it in a gradual program that begins with light walking. Every few weeks, the program will gradually increase the exercise regiment. Each gradual increase should be done with careful examination of the horse's response to the increase. If the horse responds with soarness or lameness, the exercise program should be diminished to a point that incurs no discomfort to the horse.
One of the unfortunate consequences of the long period for recovery from a suspensory injury is that the horse must be laid up for a long period of time during which the horse loses its physical conditioning. The rehabilitator must take into account the loss of physical conditioning when working the horse during and after rehabilitation. The horse should not be accelerated into a jumping program too quickly because this can result in re-injury to the suspensory or there can be other injuries incurred due to the horse's loss of physical conditioning. This is what makes suspensory injuries so nasty because the horse can be out of action for anywhere from three months to a year!

Related Links:

Parting Thoughts:

Suspensory injuries can end a horse's sport career. Don't mess around with a suspensory injury!!! Work closely with a sport vet to rehabilitate the horse or send the horse to a professional rehabilitator with a good reputation.
One of my horses suffered a suspensory injury and I was able to rehabilitate him on the vet's schedule by being careful to restrict the horse's exertion while it was recovering, by implementing a gradual rehabilitation program with careful attention to the horse's reactions to increased work, and by working closely with the vet to evaluate the horse's progress.
It is a hard road to rehabilitation for a suspensory injury. If you care about the horse, make sure you have a good sports vet to provide you with an expert perspective on your horse's condition and progress!

Good Luck!!!