My mare is about to come off a month of rehab for a mild suspensory injury (front right, top 1/3rd). She has been cleared to start back light work this week. Are there any boots or wraps that may help with some support until I get her fully back into work? Or should I just leave her bare? Thanks in advance!
Leave her bare – wraps don’t offer any sort of appreciable support, and if anything, can cause more harm than good when you’re dealing with a healed injury since they can constrict and/or overheat the tendons and ligaments. You can if it makes you feel better, work her in boots, but it won’t support or change anything.
I think the best thing you can do for a suspensory injury is keep them out and moving as much as possible, full turnout type deals (once the vet okays it).
And of course, take it very slow. Try to only work on firm footing, no deep footing – and avoid working any sort of circle for the first six months. Whatever time the horse had off from work, multiply that by two for a good guideline of how long the rehab should take.
I think the other best thing you can do is draw up a rehab plan with your vet. Your injury is fairly mild as far as suspensories go - the location and type anyway – so you may not need a super long rehab regime. However, IME, the suspensories tend to be very quick to be reaggravated. When I’ve dealt with front suspensories in my own horses, it has been one-two months of walking only (on trails) and a gradual 10 week conditioning program thereafter that did not include cantering or circles until the final week.
It is worth it to go slow with suspensories, IME, because once they start to hurt, the rest of the horse tends to unravel. Staying on top of chiro & massage, and keeping as much turnout as possible, will go a long way to keep their comfort.
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You won’t find anything out there with a solid basis of research behind it to demonstrate that the product does offer support. However, the vets I use have said that in their opinions if any product does provide a meaningful degree of support it would be a trace or Saratoga bandage, correctly applied, and figure-eighted around the fetlock. Be careful wrapping with either as the elastic content makes it easy to bandage bow a horse and they both can hold heat so icing after is prudent. (Unless your vet recommends otherwise, icing the affected leg after exercise is probably not a bad idea no matter what you do.)
My guy goes in Saratoga bandages, and actually did prior to his suspensory injuries. He’s inclined to stock up and I like that they don’t slip as he works loose the retained fluid.
Thank you! As of Wednesday she will be on full turnout 24/7, like she was before the injury. We did 1 week full lock down, 1 week of 30 min hand walking twice a day, and we are finishing up a week of limited supervised quiet turnout 30 minutes twice a day. We did oral HA for 2 weeks, and a Legend injection every 7 days. Her exam Thursday went perfectly, no reaction, and he cleared her for light work as of this week.
He did say no circles, work on firm level footing, no deep footing, and to take it slow. He said to start out with 10 minutes walking, and add 10 or 15 minutes each subsequent ride. The good news is I have the perfect, flat, large grassy area to ride her, so I have that part covered. I want to take it slow, and don’t mind doing so. We have no urgent plans. I was planning on going to her first dressage show this fall, but am going to push it off. I have no highly competitive plans, just trying to create a fun, well trained, all around horse.
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My horse is rehabbing a SDFT injury and my vet recommended polos or tendon boots. She agrees they are probably not going to do too much but thinks they are more helpful than harmful.
What Beowulf said, in spades.
Thank you everyone! I am hoping that our long road to rehab goes without reinjury!
Did I read that correctly?? It’s been three weeks since the injury?
Mine started with 60 days stall rest with hand walking. Followed by a recheck ultrasound prior to limited turnout and riding.
I did use Pro Choice Ventech Elite SMBs for a couple of years afterwards, and then gradually used them less often.
I don’t know the degree of injury, but it does sound like a quick rehab. I would suspect she’ll reinjure at that rate.
My vet said it was very minor, upper 1/3 on her right front. It has been a month from diagnosis. He said I could have left her out and she probably would have been good to go in 8 weeks, but I wanted to go for the more aggressive, conservative treatment. Now I am worried! Should I get a second opinion before turning her out? He did say she was nonreactive to her exam last Thursday, and cleared her for light walk work and full turnout.
When my vet came out for mine’s suspensory branch strain, he said if he looked good in 30 days, I could start light trail riding - meaning at the walk over non-challenging terrain and possibly a return to light work in 3 mos, gradually building up to more. He characterized my horse’s as “mild”. It’s the right right hind, right branch (outside). He could find no core lesion and only one very small area of questionable fiber strain. Symptomatically though it was obvious from the thickening of the tendon and fill in the ankle that he had strained that suspensory.
My horse is 30 days out and he still has some residual tendon thickness and fill in the ankle and while not obviously lame, still protective of that hind leg. The ankle is cold though and my vet suggested start DMSO sweats. My horse is on 24/7 pasture turnout and is very level-headed and smart about it. I’m giving him 3 mos off - no work; just pasture turn out, and then will have him rechecked to see if he can start back into light trail riding.
Will see what the vet says at the 90 day mark, but I am expecting 6 mos before he’s back doing any kind of dressage. Suspensories can be tricky. Bowed tendons typically take a full year to heal, so that kind of down time is not outside the realm of possibility.
depends on the location. for a front, high, mild? doesn’t sound terribly quick. month of stall-rest, then turnout and tack-walking? is that right?
FWIW, one of mine had a full blown suspensory injury when he was 9. this was a long time ago and treatment might be different now, but he only lasted a week in the stall before he started acting neurotic and was doing more damage to him whirling and spinning and constantly weaving; we turned him out for a year. he healed impeccably well and never had a problem on that limb again, and he was an eventer doing N with some T level training up until he was in his 20s.
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Well my mare injured herself during her first turnout. She is moving sound but she is pretty swollen and banged up. Sigh…I should have sedated her but she was getting 30 min of turnout twice a day and was calm and quiet, so I had no idea she would be a complete fool. On a brighter note, her suspensory doesn’t seem sore. So, now she has injured herself in new ways :no:. So, several days of bute, liniment, cold hosing, and barnyard turnout, and we will reassess what we have.
