Trail Riding after Suspensory Ligament Healing (Right Front)?

This is the second late winter/spring that my horse has had to be confined due to injuring his right front suspensory. Last year, I did very well in the beginning of the riding rehab (the 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. routine), but sort of fell off the schedule by summertime. This was when I could have been riding for longer time periods on smoothish/non-hilly trails. The horrendous heat and the torrential rains got in the way, plus I wound up with some “female” health issues that were terrible! I eventually had a hysterectomy/removal of tubes & ovaries in October, so I was laid up all fall.

I have no idea how my horse re-injured his right suspensory, but he did. It is not torn, but on ultrasound, there was a definite “place” that indicated injury, so he is in the confinement pen again.

I want to be sure to do proper rehab this time, no matter what. I want to be able to trail ride again! We are in the northwest part of South Carolina so our trails are fairly flat in most areas, although we do have slopes and even some real hills in places.

I have to say I am very nervous about the whole thing because I have a sort-of fear of downhills anyway and now I have a real reason to doubt my horse.

What have the rest of you done to rehab a horse after this type of injury, to be sure that he is sure-footed and safe to trail ride?

SCM1959

Ligaments are very slow to heal and always prone to re-injury, due to their low blood supply and in-elastic nature. Taking the proper amount of time to heal (confirmed by a follow-up ultrasound exam), excellent farrier work (long toes add unnecessary stress to the suspensory and other soft tissues), and a careful rehab program are key to keeping re-injury at bay. Do what you did last time: once the vet clears your horse back to work, increase stress in very gradual increments of time/distance, keep to a short trimming/shoeing schedule, and stick to firm footing and stay off the steep trails until next year.

The long term goal of returning your horse to full soundness and enjoying a safe riding partner for many years to come is worth being patient and going slow now.

Hi, I have an almost 18 yr old QH that had two tears in his Lateral Collateral ligament. I took him to a lameness vet, Dr. Merritt. Was on stall rest, had shock wave, was wrapped every day, took him back a few times for follow ups. My Vet said he is SOUND, but I need to stay smart.

Coming back was a long process. Took awhile to build from walking to doing trot sets, etc. Corrective shoeing is correct, takes the pressure off the soft tissue. Was about 7 ish months until he was deemed sound and able to go back into pasture 24/7 and be trail ridden on actual trails. Before then, he was to stay on VERY EVEN ground, so did a lot of road riding.

I did end up buying another horse, a 4 yr old. I still ride my old guy, but would consider him semi retired. He can NOT be in mud, so when wet, he has to be stalled, trail riding has to be more selective. His days doing endurance are probably over.

That said, I do trail ride him, vet recommends he wears boots, which I rarely did before, so we have had to do some changes, but a few weeks ago, I took him to Sand Ridge State Forest, and it was like I totally had my old horse back. I
just rode about 7 miles, instead of the 12 ish, I used to do on him.

Again, he is almost 18 yrs old, I have put a LOT of miles on him. He has some bone spurs and major arthritis, so his semi retirement isn’t totally because of the ligament, but post before mine is totally correct.

There is scar tissue and it never heals as strong as it was, so reinjury can happen, so going slow is really wise. As my vet told me, you can enjoy and have fun on him, but do not overdo it.

Hence, why I got a second horse.

Good luck!!

I guess I am not surprised to read the replies. I have had a sinking feeling ever since Rocky re-injured himself. He is 19 years old. I will not be able to get another horse since I don’t have room for another one. I hope he will heal well this time and that I am able to keep up with the riding rehab once cleared to do so. The weather in the southeastern US is not very conducive to that, particularly as we move toward summer.

The veterinarian comes on the 23rd for an ultrasound. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

What have the rest of you done to rehab a horse after this type of injury, to be sure that he is sure-footed and safe to trail ride?

One of my driving ponies had this happen to him. I have NO idea how he did it, and to top it off he got a case of springtime grass laminitis at the same time. What a nightmare! I just treated the laminitis with soaked hay and bute, and when that was under control I simply gave him a couple of months off (as Melissa says - ligament injuries are VERY slow to heal) and let a “tincture of time” in a quiet pasture with his harness mate do the healing. He came back perfectly sound, and is back to driving again. BTW - he injured himself when he was 19. He’s 22 now, and still a pistol! :smiley:

I’m sure your guy will heal right up, and you’ll be back on the trail before you know it - at least for the nice days of Fall!!

Sorry, I missed the part when you asked about rehab.

I am sure your vet will give you a program.

In my case, horse was in stall rest. I had to wrap his leg daily, was a process of poutice and DSMO, wet strip of a grocery paper bag, plastic, then standing wraps, needed wrapped and unwrapped half the day, the barn worker was a jewel and unwrapped him in the AM, I wrapped him in the PM.

This was almost a year ago, so cant remember details, but I think this was for about 6 weeks. I think I was able to ride at a WALK for awhile daily, NO tight turns, was basically to give him some controlled exercise. We have a large indoor arena.

I mostly just hopped on him bareback, once it got decent outside, I was allowed to do road rides, was better since was able to walk in straight lines, horse was going crazy being on stall rest, so got some ace and gave him 1cc before those rides to keep it very relaxed.

I “think” it was 3-4 mos before it “healed”, also, I took horse to U of I (hour away) for shock wave about every three weeks. Once Vet deemed it healed, was able to do trot sets, trot diagonal in arena, walk short sides, road riding was also exteneded. Was Spring at this point, so sectioned off a little pen on grass, aced him, then let him out, pen wasn’t much bigger than a round pen, he just cared about grazing, so never got hyped.

Mayb a month longer, put him on an unused pasture, was pretty flat, ground wasn’t too chewed up, w/a very old horse. Got ok to ride normal, but NO tight turns, horse can NOT be in sucking mud, so must be stalled or dry lotted after it rains. Once the rainy season is over, I do put him in pasture 24/7, put in stall only if it rains enough for sucking mud. He needs to be on EVEN ground as much as possible, so when the pasture got really rough from hooves, I did bring him in even when it was icy. So, the thing to watch is very rough and chewed up ground and MUD. Other than that, he should be able to stay outside,

I had ridden my horse, all was fine, did a solo w/my dog, rode all gaits, wasn’t a crazy ride, but wasn’t a pokey one either. Horse was TOTALLY sound. Next day, went to get my horse from pasture, fetlock was swollen like an orange. Vet thinks took a “bad step”. That was mid Nov 2012, horse was deemed able to be ridden “normal” Mid May 2013, but I needed to be SMART in how I rode him.

So, while days of galloping around are probably done, it is prob me that mentally has a longer long term issue w/his injury. When I took him to SR for a trail ride, he wanted to GO, I did let him blow up a few hills, but mostly held him a little back and cut our ride shorter than normal.

It was his “first off site” trail ride of the year, we have had a HORRID winter, so didn’t have a lot of chances, were in sand, so he really isn’t in shape yet, so again, his injury isn’t the only reason of the limits of that ride.

He is my 1st horse and I will keep him his entire life, want to keep him happy and sound. I was lucky to be able to buy another much younger horse (4 yrs old), so I am hoping having each other will allow both to have more off time, I ride 5-6 times a week, so I really have put a LOT of miles on my old horse, had him for almost 12 years.

Probably in the next year or two, even w/out his injury, I prob would have needed to reduce his riding, simply for all his wear and tear, has arthritis and bone spurs, found in his xrays during his injury process.

It sucks, but like everything, as things get older, limitations will come up, he will recover from this and if rehab is done slow, you will still have a lot of fun on your boy :slight_smile:

Good Luck!! Update after the vet comes :slight_smile:

When my mare injured her suspensory about 5 years ago, I was very concentrated on rehabbing her although vet was not very sure she would come back. I did not keep her stalled, instead she stayed out with a couple of really old retired horses. Vet really didn’t give any recommendation so I started riding her when she looked like she was walking sound. Prior she had a definite shortness to her stride, even at the walk. She started getting bored and acting out at everyone, biting at barn workers and threatening to kick. To keep the peace at the barn, I started getting on her and walking for 10 min. I did this for a few weeks and she seemed fine, so I increased by 5 min every week until she was walking for an hour. I did all this in the ring. I then started adding a little trotting, just on the long sides of the arena. did this for a few weeks and then added more trotting time still only on the long sides of the arena. She seemed to tolerate well, so then I started adding in trotting on the turns. I then started taking her out on trail walks avoiding bad footing. She came back to her previous level of work.