# Collateral ligament damage in hoof



## Georgie1989 (24 September 2010)

Hi all, 

So i don't really post on here just a bit of a stalker but would love your advice!

My WB x has just been diagnosed with Collateral ligament damage that is so far progressed that the vet doesn't think he will ever recover from it and also thinks there are some other anomalies in the hoof as well. It is due to a shoulder injury that has taken the vets so long to pin point where the lameness was coming from as they couldn't seem to escape from the shoulder /neck area. Anyway he's finally had the MRI scan and everything has been revealed. Im absolutely distraught as i bought him 9 months ago with the hope of bringing him on to event. He's just turned 6 and was showing so much potential before all this kicked off. The vets want to start a course of injections to make him more comfortable but are adamant that the long term prognosis is not good. I can't help thinking that removing his shoes and turning him out in the field for a VERY long time and then maybe re scanning might help him. I just don't want to give up on him so quickly! He's the nicest horse ive ever owned and i owe him more than to just give him these injections and hack! So please any advice/ own experiences on things like this are more than welcome!


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## Rachel123 (24 September 2010)

Hi
my horse damaged his collateral ligament last year and did a couple of months box rest but the vet was very keen that he had remedial shoeing to keep his hoof balanced, he has recovered well and is back in work
I wish you the best.


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## cellie (24 September 2010)

Had same problem with horse aged 6 .Turned him away for over a year and  he is now barefoot eek:tb).I found him home as companion as I really didnt think he would ever come sound and  I didnt have  right facilities and  good enough paddocks  to give him time off.He is  now sound  his new owner is happy hacker so he isnt  pushed too hard . He also had course of adequan injections as he  tore tendon at same time.Time and rest mine ended up with  two years off because of various problems  but its much better than  other suggestions that  we had.Good luck I hope it  works out  for you. 
Mist on here  has had same thing with daughters horse I am in contact with her daughter if you need  additional info.


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## shirley123 (24 September 2010)

hi, my horse damaged his a few years ago now - the lateral in one the medial in the other!. the vet gave a poor prognosis which like you i was very upset because my horse had been showing great promise both showing as a riding horse and show jumping. my whole world fell apart for a while, it didn't help that i had had my home-bred mare pts because of navicular a few years back, it was like history repeating itself. BUT i didn't give up, after the m.r.i. i followed a strict rehab program ( read the book 'back to work' it helped a lot) given to me by my very strict vet. This didn't include any turnout for 8mths , it was horrid and i was tempted so many times but i glad i didn't. the rehab program lasted from oct to sept the following year.
my horse had one lot of steroid injections into the coffin joint in January, was shod with heart bars with pads till November then went back to normal shoes. has been on joint supplements but no Bute. He has had two successfully seasons showing and dressage since, but at a lower level then previously and i am now scared to jump him, he case he breaks!.
Only this week i have taken the plunge to take off his shoes ( having thought about it for a long time), i am doing this for various reasons 1, to help the long term soundness of my beloved horse.  2, to see if i can improve his way of going. 3, to see if he IS sound and that shoes are not acting as a sticking plaster!
please don't give up, my vet said if i was lucky i may have a light hack, and i have galloped along beaches, shown him - winning everything one year !! done dressage, hacked for 2hrs or so loads of schooling and 15mt circles.
a lot of horses do recover and there lots of infor on here about it good luck


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## Lainey123 (24 September 2010)

My boy was diagnosed with MRI just over a year ago with collateral ligament damage to his near fore. In short (as its a long story!) he had 9 months box rest, corrective shoeing with Natural balance PLR shoes, IRAP, Tildren and the joint medicated loads. He was only allowed out in a stable size paddock after 9 months anything bigger and he would go lame. Anyway, after all this time he was short striding and pottery and lame on a circle on his bad side. Soooooooo i decided to send him to Rockley Farm to be rehabbed barefoot. Outcome is that we went for our second canter across Exmoor last week, he's sound out on tracks and in a big field, he's landing heal first now like he should. It looks very likely that he will make a full recovery. Six months ago i was going to have him pts :-( he has been there 10 weeks. if you go and take a look at their blog my boy is Bailey W. You can private message me if you like. My boy is only 8 and did the injury when he was 6½ and i thought it was all over and i was totally devestated. Give it a go, my vet, oesto, farrier were all dead against it, but now are eating their words as they can't believe it either. 
Let us know what you do.
Lx


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## Lainey123 (24 September 2010)

shirley123 said:



			hi, my horse damaged his a few years ago now - the lateral in one the medial in the other!. the vet gave a poor prognosis which like you i was very upset because my horse had been showing great promise both showing as a riding horse and show jumping. my whole world fell apart for a while, it didn't help that i had had my home-bred mare pts because of navicular a few years back, it was like history repeating itself. BUT i didn't give up, after the m.r.i. i followed a strict rehab program ( read the book 'back to work' it helped a lot) given to me by my very strict vet. This didn't include any turnout for 8mths , it was horrid and i was tempted so many times but i glad i didn't. the rehab program lasted from oct to sept the following year.
my horse had one lot of steroid injections into the coffin joint in January, was shod with heart bars with pads till November then went back to normal shoes. has been on joint supplements but no Bute. He has had two successfully seasons showing and dressage since, but at a lower level then previously and i am now scared to jump him, he case he breaks!.
Only this week i have taken the plunge to take off his shoes ( having thought about it for a long time), i am doing this for various reasons 1, to help the long term soundness of my beloved horse.  2, to see if i can improve his way of going. 3, to see if he IS sound and that shoes are not acting as a sticking plaster!
please don't give up, my vet said if i was lucky i may have a light hack, and i have galloped along beaches, shown him - winning everything one year !! done dressage, hacked for 2hrs or so loads of schooling and 15mt circles.
a lot of horses do recover and there lots of infor on here about it good luck
		
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That's brilliant, so glad you have taken them off. My boy Bailey had collateral ligament damage and is barefoot and sound and we went for a canter across Exmoor last week. If you look at Rockley Farm blog he's the dun Bailey W. I never ever thought that he would be sound. His paces have improved without his shoes too.
Good luck let me know how you get on.


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## shirley123 (25 September 2010)

Lainey123 said:



			That's brilliant, so glad you have taken them off. My boy Bailey had collateral ligament damage and is barefoot and sound and we went for a canter across Exmoor last week. If you look at Rockley Farm blog he's the dun Bailey W. I never ever thought that he would be sound. His paces have improved without his shoes too.
Good luck let me know how you get on.
		
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Hi lainey, that's fantastic news, i keep looking at the rockley farm site and checking out everybody's progress.  The shoes actually come off this monday so i am hoping to see some positive changes this winter  It will be very interesting to see how his feet change.


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## Ted's mum (27 September 2010)

My warmblood ted was 5 when he was diagnosed with medial collateral ligament damage - he had IRAP, Tildren etc he has been hacking sound since the boxrest...he is now on permanent loan to my EP who is barefoot rehabbing him...xx


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## traceyann (27 September 2010)

My horse is sound after five irap six months box rest and good joint supplement and he nineteen with djd as well so there hope


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## Georgie1989 (27 September 2010)

Thanks everyone for all your replies! It has given us lots of hope and we are going to see the vet tomorrow to talk everything through and discuss options so fingers crossed!!


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## bumble stephens (27 September 2010)

Barefoot is the best way.Collateral damage often results from the inability of the foot to respond to different footing when shod, and the foot length changing during a shoeing cycle preventing correct balance.Good luck.


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## GingerNinja (4 October 2010)

Hia, I'm a bit like you and tend to stalk - rather than post! 

I'm in the same situation, my 7 yo, beloved mare stopped cross country in June. After nerve blocking, injecting the coffin joints, time off etc etc.... We went to Newmarket for an MRI. We were diagnosed with collateral/lateral ligament damage in both front feet, worse right fore. 

My vet and Newmarket were pretty optimistic about the prognosis, as there is no other ligament involvement. 

She's on 2 months rest, with shockwave, but keeping her turned out. Management is key according to Newmarket and we're spending a fortune on leverage reduction shoes, with bevelled edges....

I've got one more session of shockwave and then we'll look at her.

If she is still unlevel, then we'll look at other options. Newmarket seem to think horses that don't do well after treatment and rest, do well with bute... 

So we'll see - but good luck. You're not on your own!!


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## mrdarcy (5 October 2010)

Echo the barefoot argument. The hoof can grow exactly how it needs to support the injury whilst it's healing and keep changing as the healing progresses. Another advantage to barefoot is greatly increased circulation in the foot - we all know that the better the circulation the faster the healing. However I would say that simply removing shoes and putting in a field to rest isn't anywhere near as effective as a proper barefoot rehab program - the foot will be inherently weak internally from having been shod. A barefoot rehab program will not only remove the shoes, do the necessary trim (ensuring the foot is balanced), but will also then through slow work (in-hand to start with) on hard surfaces will build up the strength of the foot and stimulate growth and circulation to aid healing. This stuff really does work!


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## Ted's mum (5 October 2010)

definately barefoot...ted was instantly sound with no shoes!!!!!! darn shoes - I hate them!!


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## Union Jack (13 October 2010)

I stumbled across this forum looking for information on Lateral collateral ligament injury and after reading so many great success stories (and some not so) I wanted to share my experiences with you. To keep a long story short my 8 yr old warmblood jumper came up off, then lame in June and after the usual, lameness exams (3), blocks, radiographs, coffin joint injections was still undiagnosed but blocked to the hoof. Vet was adamant U/S would not reveal the problem and believed it to be a DDFT Injury. Decided to ship down to Washington from Calgary for an MRI which revealed 2 problems. Bursitis in the front right bursa with chronic scar tissue formation and Lateral collateral ligament injury in right front coffin joint. I was devastated, this horse had never been lame in the 3 years I had owned him and a talented jumper only shown to 3'6. So I was able to move him to a local thoroughbred facility that specializes in rehab and begin the long rest and rehab program. He had both bursa's pressurized with H/A and cortisone whilst in Washington and although the vet there said that we could pull the shoes we decided to put bar shoes on the front to relieve the bursa area. He has great feet and confirmation.
So he was on 90 days stall rest, handwalked the first month for 30-45 minutes a day (it became really difficult after that cause of the dancing around on 2 feet)! He was put on the Aqua pacer 2 days a week and on the hotwalker the rest of the time. Oct 10 we turned him out for the first time in a small paddock (16x24) and 2 days later we jogged him on the hotwalker for the first time, he was sound!! So far so good - it's early days yet and i'll keep you posted but If we stick to the plan the vet gave us and go really slowly he says there is a very good prognosis. Never give up, It's an incredibly emotional journey and I have been given another horse to ride in the meantime so I am not tempted to rush him back too quickly.


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## Leadhorse (22 September 2021)

Georgie1989 said:



			Thanks everyone for all your replies! It has given us lots of hope and we are going to see the vet tomorrow to talk everything through and discuss options so fingers crossed!!
		
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Georgie1989 said:



			Hi all,

So i don't really post on here just a bit of a stalker but would love your advice!

My WB x has just been diagnosed with Collateral ligament damage that is so far progressed that the vet doesn't think he will ever recover from it and also thinks there are some other anomalies in the hoof as well. It is due to a shoulder injury that has taken the vets so long to pin point where the lameness was coming from as they couldn't seem to escape from the shoulder /neck area. Anyway he's finally had the MRI scan and everything has been revealed. Im absolutely distraught as i bought him 9 months ago with the hope of bringing him on to event. He's just turned 6 and was showing so much potential before all this kicked off. The vets want to start a course of injections to make him more comfortable but are adamant that the long term prognosis is not good. I can't help thinking that removing his shoes and turning him out in the field for a VERY long time and then maybe re scanning might help him. I just don't want to give up on him so quickly! He's the nicest horse ive ever owned and i owe him more than to just give him these injections and hack! So please any advice/ own experiences on things like this are more than welcome!
		
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Sent you a message privately


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## Pinkvboots (22 September 2021)

This thread is from 2010 I bet half the people that replied are not here anymore.

Start another thread


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## ycbm (22 September 2021)

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