I would ask your vet about Renovo Equine. This stuff is amazing and helped my guy when he did a suspensory tear.
RenoVō® Equine Allograft | Regenerative Therapy for Horses
You can write to them and they will give you case studies.
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RAyers really covered the shock / progressive loading that needs to happen and is often missing from a standard arena only rehab. I do want to mention that while turnout is not on a hard surface (usually) it does also add (in a positive way) to the impact their body takes on and adapts to handle which is why it is so imperative and why these types of injuries are more common with less turnout.
Someone mentioned Cushings, OP has your vet discussed that possibility with you?
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I had this exact issue on one. We did strict stall rest and progressive rehab (hand walking on roads and fields, then walking under saddle, worked up to over an hour daily). He was on stall rest until he couldn’t handle it mentally (about six months) and then we moved him to turnout. In total about a year of rehab, and he’s rock solid on that leg. To be fair, this horse is now retired for other reasons, but that leg is healed beautifully!
I’d be getting a second opinion from another vet (always good to have), a Cushings test, and a new barn. Clearly something isn’t working, and it’s likely your PT and turnout situation. Three months to jumping is incredibly short, and the success of a soft tissue rehab usually depends on the PT that is done following initial layup.
ETA: you’ll likely need a new barn for this horse going forward to maintain soundness, but even in the meantime you’re looking at more than a few weeks of layup and rehab. If the barn is a typical training and show facility, they may not be able to do this for you and there will be unintended pressure to adhere to the routine and get back to riding asap. A rehab barn would be ideal, but really anywhere that can accommodate progressive turnout and daily exercise on varied footing will work - if the barn routine is set up for that. Spend 6 months or a year there really making sure the horse is bulletproof and then reevaluate.
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18 heading towards 19 is senior years. Things are going to heal slower or not completely at this point.
I’d step down. Keep the good ol’ guy safe and happy. Give him some time to heal and come back slowly. Keep his job easy and let him be a schoolmaster. It sounds like he’s earned the right.
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My mare had a more serious ligament injury (though not wildly so) along with a few other issues, and we did a very, very conservative rehab plan with her. What helped tremendously was walking, lots and lots of walking. She could not be handwalked, so tack walking it was (she was infinitely better behaved when she was saddled and ridden during her 5 months of stall rest). The most boring ‘flat lesson’ of your life, let me tell you-- walking around and around the ring, inside or out, up and down the barn driveway for real excitement, but walking is amazing for conditioning.
But the real game changer? Turn out. Lots of turnout, in a big enough paddock or field to get her walking on varied footing. A change of trainers and barns did that for me (not by choice, but my trainer retired = new program). My suggestion?
-Second opinion vet check, test for Cushings as well
-Move barns for more turnout, and to save you $$
-Step down job for Dobbin-- if he’s cleared to jump or is good to flat/do beginner cross rail stuff he’d make a good lease for someone, get somewhat off your bill and give you the financial wherewithal to lease or purchase something new.
Don’t beat yourself up. Your vet gave you a rehab plan, one assumes. You followed it. Other folk’s personal experiences are not your own. But…you have it in your power to make Dobbin’s life more ‘horse like’ so take this opportunity to do so. This barn and program will be there once you get him settled somewhere. You can come back!
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If you like technology I recommend getting an Equestic clip. It’s a device that (among other things) measures trot symmetry rhythm, landing force and push off force. It’s like a clothespin or a chip bag clip that goes on the left flap of your saddle, and you control it with an app on your phone. There is a subscription version that gives you more detailed analysis. That lets you see how consistent each diagonal is.
I found it invaluable the first time my horse injured his stifle. As we increased the work I could see changes in symmetry before they were noticeable. Back then his symmetry changed for the worse when we started adding canter. After a couple of days experiments (WT day with a return to pre canter symmetry, then another WTC day with increased asymmetry) I pushed the canter back another couple of weeks before trying canter again.
The more recent injury allowed me to see that landing was the most uncomfortable part of the stride, and I continued to handwalk after the vet gave me the okay to tack walk. I’d put the clip on a surcingle and jog in hand once a week for a symmetry check. I also found that keeping the injured stifle on the low side of a cross slope (in road shoulder) was more comfortable for him. Once we had achieved as much healing as we could get, the clip showed me that unstable footing in the form of that thin layer of mud on dry ground after rain was uncomfortable for that stifle.
I have a 10% off discount code if you want it.
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@Tini_Sea_Soldier1 he most certainly deserves a good retirement. When I bought him I looked at his whole show record as one does. He did up to the 1.35m with a pro, then his whole life has been taking a junior or an ammy from the .90s-ish to the 1.10m in one season. He’s basically just done one season per rider since he’s been 8. He’s an excellent teacher and such a good sport. When I bought him I committed to making sure he had the retirement that he deserves.
I’ve always hoped to lease him out for a couple years before full retirement. Even if we’re never cleared to jump again he has excellent flat work and someone could have a lovely time doing dressage on him- he’s got all the buttons, great lateral work/lead change etc. And based on all the showing mentioned above he’s truly a zero prep horse show kinda guy. And he has great manners and is so easy to deal with for clipping/farrier/loading etc
In addition to the turnout benefits mentioned repeatedly above, he plays in turnout like a four year old. (Actually we have a four year old at our barn that is much better behaved…). So if I could get him a good 12 hours he would probably keep his head on a little better and not pull such theatrics.
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@RedHorses I am a scientist, and very interested in data. I will look into that after! I also pride myself in having a pretty good eye for it so I could put it to the test.
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My mare tore a front check ligament while out on a lease at age 17. This horse does NOT tolerate stall rest (imagine handwalking a rabid kangaroo), so I brought her home and turned her out 24/7 with a very quiet 25-year-old companion on a few acres of gently rolling hills. (At weaning time, a few other broodies joined their little herd)
After 6 months, ultrasound showed about 98% healing, so we did three rounds of shockwave and started undersaddle rehab, including lots of hacking.
After 13 months, she was back in the show ring (in a step-down job).
This week, she took yet another kid to their first rated show and came home with ribbons in the short stirrups and the hack division. This mare is now 20 years old. She has lived outside 24/7 (in Canada) since she hurt herself. Hasn’t missed a day of work since we started rehab.
For soft tissue injuries, absolutely nothing beats Dr Green and Tincture of Time, followed by a healthy dose of varied terrain hacking.
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@DarkBayUnicorn my boy is so tolerant of stall rest but he’s such a good boy I don’t want to impose that on him. I do live on 5 acres of agriculture zoned land so I could fence it in. Unfortunately I just don’t think it’s suitable in the winter so I’m not sure it’s worth the effort and cost.
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@onlyTBmares mine are boarded with my trainer (when I said I brought her “home” I was unclear that I meant “back from lease”). I am lucky she has outdoor options, thanks to a small breeding program and her own retirees.
If you can find a nice outdoor boarding option, they are totally worth it for rehab.
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Have you had your vet out to look at this, second, tendon?
Until you do, I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself. We’ve all had broken legs that turned out to be abscesses, and tendon injuries that turned out to be skin.
Fingers crossed…
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Update us once you get a diagnosis on the new injury. Sure there could be something going on that will make him more injury prone or have trouble healing, like Cushings. But maybe not, and it’s hard to guess at a timeline or prognosis without understanding the new injury.
I would say that the good thing about the minor first injury and shorter rehab is that he probably didn’t lose tons of general condition making the second injury a complication of the first, necessarily. Although some lack of fitness plus a lot of turnout shenanigans is not a great combo!
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We did get a diagnosis, it’s a partial tear on the check ligament. He was sound when she did the ultrasound and is recommending just getting on and walking straight lines on hard surfaces for about 6 weeks. She expects him to return 100% but of course time will tell. She did also recommended testing for cushings and any other metabolic/endocrine issues but that needs to be done next week when she can pull blood in the early morning. So now I just have to decide what to do…the vet was a little concerned about throwing him out in a field because 1. He has injured himself twice in turnout 2. He could get “fatter” and founder (oops, didn’t reduce his feed as he’s been off) 3. She doesn’t want him to get completely unfit because of his age and would prefer him doing walks under tack.
We did come up with an option, which is fencing my property in and throwing up a tiny shelter and making the fence a “maze” so he can’t just gallop around like a moron. He wouldn’t come into a stall at night which she also likes because then there isn’t the morning gallop out into turnout. I’m a little undecided about if I want to do it. It’s not a long term solution because we get very very wet in the winter and we have so much clay that it turns into an ice skating rink. So is it worth the money and work for a couple of months? I’m trying to decide.
I’m also trying unsuccessfully to find something that has good care and turnout, doesn’t require full training while we’re just walking, and isnt so far away that I won’t be able to go out and walk him. I’ll continue to look into that as well.
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While I didn’t go through a check ligament, I did go through a side bone fracture. You have my sympathies. Obnoxious and not career ending but need a lot of supervised care. And heaven forbid they do something stupid that makes the injury worse.
If I was to go through that again, I would send him somewhere specifically that does rehab, and you’re paying for the rehab care (which may cost similar to training but at least the money is well-spent on the hand walking, tack walking, drug administration, etc). The day to day hands-on care was so.damn.difficult when I had other critters to take care of plus a family. It took up so much of my time, and I was constantly worried. It wasn’t until after my horse was back to a light workload that I learned about rehab barns and was thinking to myself “if only I’d done that.”
The place recommended to me was about four hours away so it wasn’t like I was going to be able to see him every day. But they came highly reviewed and catered to the QHs, TBs, and other sporthorse types.
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6 weeks is a pretty short time for a partial tear. I assume that would be your next ultrasound recheck? Are you doing any biologics or other therapies, or just rest and walking? I will echo that for the difficult ones, specialized rehab facilities are totally worth it. The atmosphere is quiet, and they are often doing enough stuff throughout the day to feel busy. Great if you can get somewhere with a treadmill.
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I think a few others have mentioned but with how limited his turn out is it can cause most horses to really act silly. The more outside time I think the calmer you’ll find him and if not there’s good ole drugs lol. My guy is rehabbing a 25% tear to his Sdft and it’s honestly healing super. The vet is really happy with how it’s coming along. He has stayed on turn out (just in individual so he can’t party with his buddies) I also mention this because he is a horse with diagnosed cushings that is managed. He’s turned out as close to 24/7 as I can just with a muzzle and some thyroL when the grass isn’t dead. Definitely get him tested and if he’s got it treat it. You don’t have to always retire them/step them down/ feed them next to nothing or limit their turn out. If caught early you can do a lot of preventative work that will keep them going strong and healthy. And I think the turnout and walking on varied surface along with our hand walks on hard surfaces has done tons for how well it’s healing. Gotta show that injury how strong it needs to heal
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Is there anyway you could turn him out with a (very calm) companion? I know friends can mean playing, but if you find the right “role model” I think it can help them settle down.
My vet and my trainer both prefer active rest. As much turn-out as possible so they don’t run. It is individual turn-out or maybe with one quiet friend. Thankfully we have 2 round pens for turn-out. We added trazadone and ACE tabs as necessary. Sometimes we have been able to turn out 24/7 with the initial day or two done with better living through chemistry to ease the transition.
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