This is what DSLD looks like. Just a reminder to check your breeding stock and please don’t breed anything that looks like this.
It irritates me to no end to see posts on social media of people breeding horses like this. And the people always claim it is an injury. Picture is of my mare that I had put down.
Given the number of breeders using breeding stock with multiple major conformation flaws, this should’t surprise anyone 
One of the big problems with DSLD (more correctly called ESPA because it’s a systemic issue, not just about the suspensories) is that it often doesn’t show up until later in life, sometimes an injury DOES trigger it, and by then they have had multiple foals.
And until there are actual changes, you can’t biopsy for it, so can’t say that a 3yo has it, if symptoms are years down the road
I’d always want to see a younger pic of a mare in question. Straight hocks can lead to non-dsld suspensory desmitis, and the end result can look mostly the same - straight hocks and dropped fetlocks.
But I agree, there’s a lottttt of hush hush about this and excuse-making with some broodmares and stallions that it’s “just age”, or “there was an injury”.
Yes! Even if a person wanted to do a pretty invasive nuchal ligament biopsy on an outwardly asymptomatic horse, the latest info indicates that it is not accurate (though I don’t think that’s published yet and I don’t know all the details). I posted this update on my DSLD thread this spring:
“I recently spoke with the vet studying DSLD at NC State, who was so wonderful when I donated [my horse] to her study, and she said that his case and others helped them learn that the nuchal ligament biopsy alone is NOT a reliable predictor for DSLD in young horses…
The good news is that Dr. Halper at UGA is still working on genetic testing.”
My boy was symptomatic when he was biopsied, despite not even being 5 years old, and the positive result was still pretty guarded. Necropsy confirmed DSLD though.
This picture was from 2005. She was never a very sound horse. As a younger horse she often had abscesses and had thin soles in her front feet. Then was diagnosed with navicular syndrome which we managed to get under control with a good farrier. Started showing signs of lameness in her hind legs at age 17 and we treated her for hock arthritis but that didn’t help. The farrier noticed her fetlocks were dropping and that lead to the DSLD diagnosis. We entered her into the DSLD study and sent in DNA samples. Hopefully they find a genetic marker for this.
Pictures from the DSLD study:
I hope they find a genetic marker soon. It is something that is inadvertently being bred into a population because as JB said, most of the time horses are asymptomatic until they are advanced in age.
I do wonder if there is a correlation between soft pasterns in movement (limb laxity), extravagant movement, and ESPA/DSLD.
Mine definitely articulated very deep.
Could jump the moon though.
It’s a heartbreaking thing.
Mine expressed after a protracted stressful couple months. I believe in his case it was instrumental in his fetlocks falling.
Same!! My horse’s sire was known for his elasticity. My boy wasn’t super extravagant but he was very supple, including over the back, and his trot was a dream to sit.
My lovely mare started showing signs of general body soreness, did not enjoy being brushed anymore and started not wanted to pick up her left lead canter. This was a huge flag for me as she was always so willing to try. Eventually after numerous xrays and then finally an ultrasound of her ligaments on her back legs it was very clear it was ESPA.
I immediately retired her, it simply didn’t feel right to ask her to work when I knew she was sore, she stayed with me for two more years with bute then previcox to manage her. It is a devastating disease. For what its worth she had excellent conformation except for somewhat straight hind legs and I would not say she had extravagant movement.
I have seen numerous references to, and individual experiences with, some trauma (mental or physical, usually physical) precipitating the development of ESPA symptoms.
Are there lines that are more likely to carry the genes for ESPA? I don’t know much about it, other than its appearance and outcomes. I have a mare with intermittent lameness that we are struggling to diagnose (with multiple, very high caliber vets) and I have not actually gone down this rabbit-hole, nor has it been recommended. When does it usually show up and how does it present?
Yes, there are lines (I don’t remember them), and there are likely more that nobody is willing to actually talk about and get tested, which is a huge part of the problem.
It usually starts showing up in the teens, but can show up earlier, especially if there’s an injury.
The previous comments have listed multiple symptoms, from lameness, to sensitivity to being touched/groomed, to behavioral changes, to dropping fetlocks on an otherwise sound or “sound” horse. It’s a system disease (Equine Systemic Proteoglycan Accumulation) , which means all connective tissue is affected.
My horse also had a history of tying up.
He was super spooky, looks and silly too.
Turnout on grass, with a herd so he moved was ideal for him. A consistent exercise program meant I had to find trustworthy people able and willing to ride him when I couldn’t.
Better diet, an IR diet was helpful when it became a “thing”, helped. Would we have avoided his tying up if we’d known about IR diets sooner?
Was the diet and tying up related to or exacerbating the ESPA?
That’s the rub, we keep learning how to be better stewards, alas too late for some.
I knew one that fit this pattern. She was doing grand prix dressage and blew a hind suspensory (branch injury). Long layup and surgery. Never came back right from that and both hind fetlocks started to drop in pretty quick order. She was I think early teens at time of injury. Her sire is a very prominent name that unfortunately I’ve seen come up a lot in these discussions. I am sure the DSLD had something to do with the original suspensory injury, but I think that injury and time off really precipitated the more clear signs of disease.
I’ve seen others with similar chain of events. Hind suspensory branch injury or two as a relatively young horse (before other signs of the disease were apparent), and then rapid progression of dropped fetlocks following that event. Some remain comfortable enough for light riding or retirement for some time. Others do not.
Has anyone noticed the sacrum seems to protrude more as this advances? Thank you.
the SI/sacrum area almost can’t not be negatively impacted. The straighter and weaker the hind legs become, the more tipped and non-functional the whole pelvic area becomes
Thank you!!! That’s exactly as I thought.
What happens first, the swelling or the drop? Wondering if there’s a pattern. This is a devastating disease & I commend everyone who offered their animals to study.
With my mare, the drop came before the swelling. She swelled from the fetlocks to hocks when she first went lame in one leg. A few weeks later the other leg did the same. The vet thought it was a sprain. It was the farrier that first noticed. This was her late teens. But all horses are different.
My boy couldn’t maintain topline muscle at all as his DSLD advanced and he would contort himself into all manner of positions to stand comfortably. He had an alarmingly sloping croup and and pelvic tilt. He needed weekly body work to stay even semi OK plus steroids and acupuncture from our vet.
He also (as mentioned up thread) tied up several times.
It is a horrible condition, my boy was PTS aged only 10.
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