# annular ligament injury



## madhorsechelsea (2 June 2012)

hi, my horse has been diagnosed with an annula ligament injury - has anyone experienced this and wot has been the outcome.  thank you


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## TheresaW (2 June 2012)

My mare injured her annular ligament about 3 years ago. She had around 4 weeks box rest, but was going a bit crazy, so we made her a small pen in the field which helped.  She then went onto normal field rest, for months, and came back into work after around 9 months. i took it slowly, building up walking for a few weeks, then introducing trotting.  She has never had a problem since, touch wood.  She is now 19 year old, and although I am generally just a happy hacker, we do lots of fun rides, and we have tried our hand out on the hunting field.


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## dollymix (2 June 2012)

my experience with one of my mares is very similar to that of the above (except Doll loved box rest- non-stop pampering was just up her street!) I also cold-hosed for twenty minutes twice a day on recommendation of my vet during the 4 weeks total box rest. 

She is such a laid back girl that I was able to fashion a 'water-boot' by putting on a travel boot and putting the hose pipe down it until it was just above her fetlock. obviously you wouldn't be able to do this with every horse, but she was a star and just stood and enjoyed her hay in the sunshine. 

I was able to bring her back into full work, although took my time over it and she went on to do TREC, fun rides and popped round the fences at the local farm ride with no issues. She is now out on full loan and although a little arthritic, no problems from the annular ligament injury


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## Vanha12 (2 June 2012)

My mare tore her annular ligament (fetlock) a week before our first event this year.  She had a scan to determine where and then steroid injection.  The problem comes from the annular ligament thickening and putting pressure on the tendon sheath as far as I am aware and not the injury to the ligament itself.  The vet said that she should be able to continue for the season but would need op to cut annular ligament at some point. She had a week in hand walking, then gradually came back into work but as soon as we started jumping the fetlock became hot and puffy so I made the decision to put her in for the op straight away and not compete this summer.  She had the ligament cut just over three weeks ago and has just started walking in hand.  The fetlock looks great so far and she is full of beans.  I will know more about our return to work next week when she has another scan and injection but I am hopeful that she will be able to come back for the last few events in the autumn.  I should add that at no time was she lame during all this except at the first scan when she was 2/10ths on flexion.  Don't know how similar our injury was but best of luck with yours.


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## lmuir (13 July 2012)

Hi

My eventer had this injury two years ago - prognosis from vet was terrible because I wouldnt have him operated on. 9 months in the field, strict exercise regime when he came back into work and he has been sound on it since (touching wood!) and eventing. 

I currently have a tendon injury with my other horse and have just bought an ARCequine machine on the recommendation of lots of people - www.arcequine.com. Might be worth a look,

Lucy


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## Ruftys mum (16 July 2012)

Rufty damaged his annular ligament 2 years ago and was on and off lame for 4 months due partly to a mis- diagnosis of navicular syndrome. He was 17 at the time.

I obtained another vets opinion and he was then rested for 8 weeks(Out in a small paddock)Had physio and a magnetic boot. He was brought back into work very gradually over a period of 3 months and now (touch wood )has been sound for 16 months. He is ridden about 5 times a week, just hacking, upto a period of 2 hours.I just keep trotting on roads to a minimum and avoid any fast work on boggy or uneven ground. No sharp turns either

The vet thought he would be fit for light work only but I have gently pushed him on.I check his leg every time I ride him to ensure nothing is brewing

With rest and care your horse should be ok


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## foraday (17 July 2012)

http://www.centurion-systems.co.uk/

Yes, used the mini pulse and horse recovered and is still eventing!

Good luck


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## LucyLou26 (26 August 2014)

madhorsechelsea said:



			hi, my horse has been diagnosed with an annula ligament injury - has anyone experienced this and wot has been the outcome.  thank you
		
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My highland mare is currently going through treatment for an annular ligament injury and is booked in for surgery next week so fingers crossed it will all be okay! Apparently this issue is more common in the stockier breeds and the surgery she is having done is carried out often. 
Before deciding to go through with the surgery, our vet carried out shock wave treatment on her which took course over about 6 weeks with lots if checks. After this we walked her round in hand for 6 weeks increasing it by 5 minutes each day, twice a day which wasn't fun! Time consuming and expensive! Neither aided any improvement.
Surgeon reckons rehab after surgery won't be too lengthy - 10 days box rest then almost walking (some of which is ridden) almost straight away. What a relief that will be seeing as haven't ridden in over 6 months!


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## Jordanmiles90 (22 January 2015)

Hi Lucy! I'm currently going through an annular ligament problem with my horse, I've tried giving him steroid injections which made him sound for 4 and a half months, however I think it maybe starting to ware off now, my vet said if it doesn't last more then 6 months then the only option would be is to operate! Could you let me know how yours is now after having her operated on? My horse is 20 years old now but is still very much in good health etc! Also do you know the rough cost of the operation? Thanks!


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## Vano (21 July 2019)

Vanha12 said:



			My mare tore her annular ligament (fetlock) a week before our first event this year.  She had a scan to determine where and then steroid injection.  The problem comes from the annular ligament thickening and putting pressure on the tendon sheath as far as I am aware and not the injury to the ligament itself.  The vet said that she should be able to continue for the season but would need op to cut annular ligament at some point. She had a week in hand walking, then gradually came back into work but as soon as we started jumping the fetlock became hot and puffy so I made the decision to put her in for the op straight away and not compete this summer.  She had the ligament cut just over three weeks ago and has just started walking in hand.  The fetlock looks great so far and she is full of beans.  I will know more about our return to work next week when she has another scan and injection but I am hopeful that she will be able to come back for the last few events in the autumn.  I should add that at no time was she lame during all this except at the first scan when she was 2/10ths on flexion.  Don't know how similar our injury was but best of luck with yours.
		
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Hi, I know this was quite a few years ago, but I wondered how your horse recovered from her operation.  Mine horse has just been diagnosed with annular ligament thickening and has had steroid jabs last week and will see how that goes for the rest of the season.  But op has been recommended and looking to do in October and hoping she will be back up and running for the Spring!  She only just 6 so not a great start and hoping this will not effect her competing.


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## dotty1 (21 July 2019)

My horse had annular ligament surgery 18 months ago.  She is still not sound and not expected to be as the scar tissue from the cut ligament adhered to the tendon sheath.  I believe if I had just rested her she would have been sound.  She was insured so vets wanted to operate and I thought it was for the best.  
The leg looks perfect, no swelling just must pull when flexed and makes her lame.


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## ILuvCowparsely (21 July 2019)

madhorsechelsea said:



			hi, my horse has been diagnosed with an annula ligament injury - has anyone experienced this and wot has been the outcome.  thank you
		
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my frist mare did this but she did heal in the end


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## Vano (22 July 2019)

dotty1 said:



			My horse had annular ligament surgery 18 months ago.  She is still not sound and not expected to be as the scar tissue from the cut ligament adhered to the tendon sheath.  I believe if I had just rested her she would have been sound.  She was insured so vets wanted to operate and I thought it was for the best. 
The leg looks perfect, no swelling just must pull when flexed and makes her lame.
		
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so sorry to hear that.  I am waiting to hear if my insurance will cover.  So holding off on op for now, but tough decision to make.


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## mandyroberts (22 July 2019)

My horse had annular ligament surgery Sep 2019 (he was 5 years). Only slightly unlevel but he had hardly done any work as he was immature, so I had the op. Took a while to get him back in full work as I was rather cautious but he feels fine now. However the wear on his back shoes is still slightly more on the operated leg so I'm having vet out this morning as my insurance has an exclusion from Dec 2019. He has been in full work for about 2 months (I'm sure most people would have got there more quickly but he is very immature for his age and its only this year I feel he is strong enough for full work). I plan to do dressage with him, no jumping. I'd be interested to hear if others have uneven shoe wear long term?
He feels better than ever so I hope they just say that's how it is....


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## mandyroberts (22 July 2019)

Dotty1: I thought the steroid injections wore off and the only long term solution was to operate. So it depends on the age of your horse. I had a 22 year old who developed annular ligament problems and I had steroids which worked perfectly - lasted 1-2 years so covered him for the rest of his days. They can only have a certain number


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## mandyroberts (22 July 2019)

LucyLou26 said:



			My highland mare is currently going through treatment for an annular ligament injury and is booked in for surgery next week so fingers crossed it will all be okay! Apparently this issue is more common in the stockier breeds and the surgery she is having done is carried out often.
Before deciding to go through with the surgery, our vet carried out shock wave treatment on her which took course over about 6 weeks with lots if checks. After this we walked her round in hand for 6 weeks increasing it by 5 minutes each day, twice a day which wasn't fun! Time consuming and expensive! Neither aided any improvement.
Surgeon reckons rehab after surgery won't be too lengthy - 10 days box rest then almost walking (some of which is ridden) almost straight away. What a relief that will be seeing as haven't ridden in over 6 months!
		
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My recommended rehab was 3 months.
2 weeks box rest, 2 weeks 5 mins walking a day building up to 10 mins, 1 month restricted turn out, 1 months ridden walking (still on restricted turn out).
He managed to kick me in the ribs and broke 6 towards the end of the walking in hand (at just under 4 weeks), so did restricted turn out which was fine for a few days but then he started going loopy so I bit the bullet and put him out with his pals (sedated to start with). It was all very peaceful but he had longer off because of my ribs.
And starting ridden work was not fun.....
I was told it is common in stockier breeds, cobs, ponies and my horse is a warm blood so they suspected DDFT so annular ligament was good news!


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## meleeka (22 July 2019)

Mine had a month box rest with in hand walking pretty much straight away. I think they like them and to be moving as soon as possible.  I had awful problems with rehab. My boy was fine with box rest but he turned into a kite when trying to hand walk, so much so that he was unsafe, even sedated so I put him in a pen sooner than planned. 

He took a year to become sound because they found a bone chip. They thought heâ€™d injured himself whilst leaping about during his rehab, I think it was there all along personally. A high dose of bute for a week brought the swelling down and he eventually came sound.


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## AandK (22 July 2019)

There are lots of threads in the vet section on this. 

My 22yo had his AL cut in Aug 2015, he also had PRP injected into a tear in his sesamoidian ligament. Rehab was 2 weeks box rest, 6 weeks in a pen with 5 min in hand walking week 1, 10min week 2 until 30min week 6. At this point if it had been just the AL, he would have continued walking and adding trotting. Due to the other injury, he then had 2 months field rest. He was then sound when trotted up in the Dec, 4 months after the op. Made a full return to work (low level eventing) with no further issues on that leg. Sadly had to retired him in March, but nothing related, was a different leg.


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## dotty1 (22 July 2019)

mandyroberts said:



			Dotty1: I thought the steroid injections wore off and the only long term solution was to operate. So it depends on the age of your horse. I had a 22 year old who developed annular ligament problems and I had steroids which worked perfectly - lasted 1-2 years so covered him for the rest of his days. They can only have a certain number
		
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My horse didn't have any steroid injections, wish I had had gone down that route as it worked for her mother.  She was 10 when she was operated on.


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## Louby (22 July 2019)

Im currently going through this.  My 5 yr old got kicked right near her annular ligament, there was a wound and initially we thought the swelling was because of it.  When it didnt improve it was scanned and she had 4 weeks box rest with in hand short walks, I used ice boots during this time  She is now in a sectioned off area of the field for a couple of hours a day, trying to keep her as quiet as possible and she has another scan due a week Friday.  The swelling has come down slightly but she is definately lame.  My vet has said the op is the last resort and Im praying she comes right.


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## ew0855 (22 July 2019)

(Mild) annular ligament injury back in Feb - 6 weeks off then gradual increase in work ... did his first endurance ride on Friday. Kept it steady but no problems


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## AJ22 (19 September 2019)

Louby said:



			Im currently going through this.  My 5 yr old got kicked right near her annular ligament, there was a wound and initially we thought the swelling was because of it.  When it didnt improve it was scanned and she had 4 weeks box rest with in hand short walks, I used ice boots during this time  She is now in a sectioned off area of the field for a couple of hours a day, trying to keep her as quiet as possible and she has another scan due a week Friday.  The swelling has come down slightly but she is definately lame.  My vet has said the op is the last resort and Im praying she comes right.
		
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How are things going with your horse? I hope she is improving. I'm going through this now, with a 17 year old 14.2 mare. She has had 4 weeks box rest with ice packs and a bit of hand grazing, and is now in a small pen for an hour twice a day. She is sound at walk now, but wouldn't be at trot, and there is still a little bit of swelling. 

I'll be getting the vet back in a couple of weeks. We're not going down the operation route - my mare has other soundness issues anyway, and is prone to colic, so I don't want to put her through a general anaesthetic at her age. I'm just hoping she'll come sound enough eventually to at least have a happy retirement, and if I can ever hack out again that will be a bonus.

I'd be interested to hear more from those who have had success with the resting approach. At what stage did you move from box rest to field turnout? Did you wait till the horse was sound at trot? Did you take shoes off? My farrier took her hind shoes off yesterday but her fronts need to stay on to keep her sound in front. He was very positive about the prognosis, which cheered me up a lot!


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## Lady Jane (19 September 2019)

AJ22 said:



			How are things going with your horse? I hope she is improving. I'm going through this now, with a 17 year old 14.2 mare. She has had 4 weeks box rest with ice packs and a bit of hand grazing, and is now in a small pen for an hour twice a day. She is sound at walk now, but wouldn't be at trot, and there is still a little bit of swelling.

I'll be getting the vet back in a couple of weeks. We're not going down the operation route - my mare has other soundness issues anyway, and is prone to colic, so I don't want to put her through a general anaesthetic at her age. I'm just hoping she'll come sound enough eventually to at least have a happy retirement, and if I can ever hack out again that will be a bonus.

I'd be interested to hear more from those who have had success with the resting approach. At what stage did you move from box rest to field turnout? Did you wait till the horse was sound at trot? Did you take shoes off? My farrier took her hind shoes off yesterday but her fronts need to stay on to keep her sound in front. He was very positive about the prognosis, which cheered me up a lot!
		
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My old boy was 22 when he developed annular ligament problems. He had steroid (I think) injections and came sound immediately each time. 3 days rest and then built up the work but never past gentle hacking. He had 3 of these injections and it got him through the next 5 years. I will say he was only very slightly lame and it sounds as though your horse was quite visibly lame? Good luck


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## windand rain (19 September 2019)

mine had surgery 17/18 years ago so things have certainly moved on. She also had a torn manica  which took a long time to heal I think the surgery now tidies this up if it has happened but we had to restrict movement totally for 6 months with a years mixed box and walkinn rehab. She did have short bouts of lameness so we covered her (rare breed) the time she had off to have her foal she has been sound since. Gets a bit stiff but turmeric cures that so is still doing everything any horse does and is fit and happy at 23/24


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## AJ22 (19 September 2019)

Thanks. That's useful to hear. I have discussed steroid injections with the vet, and it is still an option, but there is the added risk of laminitis if you give them to ponies.


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## sam72431 (19 September 2019)

Upon scanning it was found that my horse had thickening of the annular ligament, they couldn't see any further damage and neither could the surgeon so she was booked in as was sound following medication of the ligament.  

Unfortunately when they went in they found much more damage (2X DDFT Tears and manica Flexoria needed to be removed) I don't want to be a merchant of doom but I would perhaps see if they can see any further damage further in.  It is a funny one for me as I'm glad we did opt to operate rather than just medicate as we would never of known how much damage would of been sustained but at same time the damage is so significant would I of put her through all of this?! It is going to be a long road to recovery and we have had lots of bumps in the road.  She is worth it and I am happy as long as she is even if she can never be ridden again I have given her a chance at life but I wish I would of known what was going on in there before opening her up!  I think they can do deeper scans rather than just ultrasound but we didn't discuss this due to her being so sound.  I hope this isn't the case for you as there is a really good recovery with annular ligament I think about 90% I think we have just been the unlucky 10% so good luck!


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## sbloom (19 September 2019)

As always do look to the why, not just treating it....not seen feet even mentioned, and know of one case where the feet were TERRIBLE and the vet hadn't mentioned them and said that now the first had been operated on the second would fail and need doing at some point.  When I mentioned this case to a hoofcare professional I really trust they said that it was so often hoof related, and I found stuff online at the time, though darned if I can find it now!


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## AJ22 (19 September 2019)

Thanks again for the new responses. The comments are all useful background for when I next speak to the vet.

Luckily she does have very good, balanced feet, so I don't think that has been an issue, but thanks for suggesting it - it hadn't occurred to me. This seemed to have occurred in the field and we think she must have slipped running downhill for her lunch. It was the week of all those storms so the ground was wet.

She has been scanned. The DDFT appeared to be fine, although sore from having pressure put on it from the thickening of annular ligament. I'm hoping there's nothing more serious that we couldn't see. 

Sam, I hope that your horse does recover well eventually. Your sentence about her being worth it and not worrying if you never ride her again is exactly how I feel! It's so hard to know what's for the best, but my horse seems to be coping with the confinement relatively well. 

We're going to keep going with the resting option for now, and scan again at some point.


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## sbloom (19 September 2019)

From what I can read hind annulars are more subject to injury, fronts more to repetitive strain type issues which end up with injury so would be more likely to be hoof related.  Worth reading up as much as you can about feet, it's easy to see a neat foot and not realise it's not functioning well (I see it a lot but especially in shod horses).


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## Louby (19 September 2019)

AJ22 said:



			How are things going with your horse? I hope she is improving. I'm going through this now, with a 17 year old 14.2 mare. She has had 4 weeks box rest with ice packs and a bit of hand grazing, and is now in a small pen for an hour twice a day. She is sound at walk now, but wouldn't be at trot, and there is still a little bit of swelling.

I'll be getting the vet back in a couple of weeks. We're not going down the operation route - my mare has other soundness issues anyway, and is prone to colic, so I don't want to put her through a general anaesthetic at her age. I'm just hoping she'll come sound enough eventually to at least have a happy retirement, and if I can ever hack out again that will be a bonus.

I'd be interested to hear more from those who have had success with the resting approach. At what stage did you move from box rest to field turnout? Did you wait till the horse was sound at trot? Did you take shoes off? My farrier took her hind shoes off yesterday but her fronts need to stay on to keep her sound in front. He was very positive about the prognosis, which cheered me up a lot!
		
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Hi, she got injured in June, had the 4 weeks box rest with in hand walking, then the small pen.  My vet didnt think she was a candidate for surgery at that time as it was mild but there was also a small suspensary branch injury too.  She progressed really well, we made the pen larger, then she had a mad moment in the field and made matters much worse, her scan shown it had gone from 60mm to 90 odd mm and surgery was mentioned.  We scanned 2 weeks later and the vet was amazed how much she had healed, taking us back to surgery is now not an option, she was barely 1/10th lame and he said I could ride her in walk for 20 mins a day but we agreed to turning her out with the other 2 to keep her sane which I did and on day 2 she got kicked off the other mare!! and ended up with a wound and was lame on the other leg too, hopefully all resolved now.  So I havent been back on yet, I wanted to wait until her next scan which is next Thursday and Im hoping we will be able to start doing something as she is bored.  She is back on her own again, I darent risk it and I feel mean.   He did warn me that she could go back to square one at any point if she ran about and it truely feels like Im on an emotional rollercoaster.  Ive kind of let go a bit, I had too, its been a really hard 12 weeks and Im thinking what will be will be as I cant glue her hooves to the ground so just have to hope we come through this.
On a plus note, the swelling is looking really good so fingers crossed.
Hope all goes well with your horse.


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## AJ22 (19 September 2019)

Louby said:



			Hi, she got injured in June, had the 4 weeks box rest with in hand walking, then the small pen.  My vet didnt think she was a candidate for surgery at that time as it was mild but there was also a small suspensary branch injury too.  She progressed really well, we made the pen larger, then she had a mad moment in the field and made matters much worse, her scan shown it had gone from 60mm to 90 odd mm and surgery was mentioned.  We scanned 2 weeks later and the vet was amazed how much she had healed, taking us back to surgery is now not an option, she was barely 1/10th lame and he said I could ride her in walk for 20 mins a day but we agreed to turning her out with the other 2 to keep her sane which I did and on day 2 she got kicked off the other mare!! and ended up with a wound and was lame on the other leg too, hopefully all resolved now.  So I havent been back on yet, I wanted to wait until her next scan which is next Thursday and Im hoping we will be able to start doing something as she is bored.  She is back on her own again, I darent risk it and I feel mean.   He did warn me that she could go back to square one at any point if she ran about and it truely feels like Im on an emotional rollercoaster.  Ive kind of let go a bit, I had too, its been a really hard 12 weeks and Im thinking what will be will be as I cant glue her hooves to the ground so just have to hope we come through this.
On a plus note, the swelling is looking really good so fingers crossed.
Hope all goes well with your horse.
		
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So sorry to hear you've been having a rough time, and I can completely sympathise. My horse won't mind being turned out alone if she can see other horses, but I'm sure we will have setbacks along the way too. Good luck for your next scan.


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## sam72431 (19 September 2019)

AJ22 said:



			Thanks again for the new responses. The comments are all useful background for when I next speak to the vet.

Luckily she does have very good, balanced feet, so I don't think that has been an issue, but thanks for suggesting it - it hadn't occurred to me. This seemed to have occurred in the field and we think she must have slipped running downhill for her lunch. It was the week of all those storms so the ground was wet.

She has been scanned. The DDFT appeared to be fine, although sore from having pressure put on it from the thickening of annular ligament. I'm hoping there's nothing more serious that we couldn't see.

Sam, I hope that your horse does recover well eventually. Your sentence about her being worth it and not worrying if you never ride her again is exactly how I feel! It's so hard to know what's for the best, but my horse seems to be coping with the confinement relatively well.

We're going to keep going with the resting option for now, and scan again at some point.
		
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Thank you!  They couldn't see any damage on the DDFT literally nothing at all, fingers crossed not same for you!  She is behaving relatively well, we are 4 months post op now and up to 10 mins walking twice a day.  She is a monster in the evening when the yard is busy though!! 

Good luck!


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## exracehorse (19 September 2019)

Annnular ligament 4 years ago. She tore three holes.  Two years field rest.  Ligament thickened and shortened so was slightly off in trot.  But was only brought back to potter around the lanes. One year later the check ligament went on same leg.  Sheâ€™s now a field ornament.


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## spotty_pony (19 September 2019)

My boy had an annular ligament injury about a year and a half ago now. He went hopping lame out hunting. Ground was very wet and we hadnâ€™t been doing much but Looking back I think it was on the verge of going anyway. He had 4 weeks box rest although I was allowed to graze him in hand. I cold hosed it Twice per day and bandaged it. He was on Danilon to start with to help with the swelling and we had it scanned at the beginning and again once he was back in work and there was a big improvement. I was told he could have the ligament snip operation but it was likely the other one would go at some point too and need operating on. My vet said if I wanted to continue hunting him and keep him in harder work he would definitely need the operation but I decided to semi retire him and now at 20 he still enjoys his hacking. I got him back up to full fitness last year and took him on a hunt ride for his final glory and a couple of cubbing outings whilst the ground was good which Iâ€™m pleased we did.


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## spotty_pony (19 September 2019)

spotty_pony said:



			My boy had an annular ligament injury about a year and a half ago now. He went hopping lame out hunting. Ground was very wet and we hadnâ€™t been doing much but Looking back I think it was on the verge of going anyway. He had 4 weeks box rest although I was allowed to graze him in hand. I cold hosed it Twice per day and bandaged it. He was on Danilon to start with to help with the swelling and we had it scanned at the beginning and again once he was back in work and there was a big improvement. I was told he could have the ligament snip operation but it was likely the other one would go at some point too and need operating on. My vet said if I wanted to continue hunting him and keep him in harder work he would definitely need the operation but I decided to semi retire him and now at 20 he still enjoys his hacking. I got him back up to full fitness last year and took him on a hunt ride for his final glory and a couple of cubbing outings whilst the ground was good which Iâ€™m pleased we did.
		
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Also forgot to add he does have a lump on the back of that leg now where the ligament has thickened but although it doesnâ€™t look very nice it doesnâ€™t bother him at all.


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## AJ22 (19 September 2019)

spotty_pony said:



			My boy had an annular ligament injury about a year and a half ago now. He went hopping lame out hunting. Ground was very wet and we hadnâ€™t been doing much but Looking back I think it was on the verge of going anyway. He had 4 weeks box rest although I was allowed to graze him in hand. I cold hosed it Twice per day and bandaged it. He was on Danilon to start with to help with the swelling and we had it scanned at the beginning and again once he was back in work and there was a big improvement. I was told he could have the ligament snip operation but it was likely the other one would go at some point too and need operating on. My vet said if I wanted to continue hunting him and keep him in harder work he would definitely need the operation but I decided to semi retire him and now at 20 he still enjoys his hacking. I got him back up to full fitness last year and took him on a hunt ride for his final glory and a couple of cubbing outings whilst the ground was good which Iâ€™m pleased we did.
		
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Thanks very much for all that. How long was it in total before you had another scan and put him back in work? It's helpful to know that he still has a lump there, so I don't have to worry that my mare's swelling hasn't completely gone.


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## AJ22 (11 October 2019)

Just an update on my 14.2 17yo mare. The vet came yesterday and said it was much improved from the first visit 7 weeks ago. She is sound at walk but still 1/5 lame in trot. She's on one Danillon a day (needed anyway for front leg arthritis). The vet now believes she can at least have a happy retirement - that was in doubt immediately after the injury. There's an outside chance I might be able to hack next year. She has other issues, and doesn't owe me anything, so I'll just be grateful to have her around as long as she seems happy.

Our initial regime was 4 weeks box rest and ice packs twice a day. Towards the end of that 4 weeks she was going out in a very small pen twice a day. We've gradually increased the pen size over the last 3 weeks, and the vet advised continuing to increase it over the next 6 weeks. Then she can go out in a small field.

Keeping fingers crossed she continues to slowly improve.


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## Ladythewelshy1995 (17 March 2020)

AJ22 said:



			Just an update on my 14.2 17yo mare. The vet came yesterday and said it was much improved from the first visit 7 weeks ago. She is sound at walk but still 1/5 lame in trot. She's on one Danillon a day (needed anyway for front leg arthritis). The vet now believes she can at least have a happy retirement - that was in doubt immediately after the injury. There's an outside chance I might be able to hack next year. She has other issues, and doesn't owe me anything, so I'll just be grateful to have her around as long as she seems happy.

Our initial regime was 4 weeks box rest and ice packs twice a day. Towards the end of that 4 weeks she was going out in a very small pen twice a day. We've gradually increased the pen size over the last 3 weeks, and the vet advised continuing to increase it over the next 6 weeks. Then she can go out in a small field.

Keeping fingers crossed she continues to slowly improve.
		
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hi AJ22, similar story with my mare, as below. I thought I’d write this for anybody who might be frantically searching the internet for information on this injury at the moment. I wanted to put my story somewhere, because I thought that if it helps one person then it can only be a good thing, having spent the first few weeks after our diagnosis frantically researching, reading stories on the internet and generally scaring myself silly. 

My 24 (almost 25) welsh D mare went lame just before Christmas, as many did with the bogging wet ground. We didn’t think too much of it, thought she might have tweaked something a bit out in the field (was barely noticeable) and continued as we were really, she’s retired, so we just kept her steady with less turn out, kept an eye on it etc. She came sound, only to do it again in January. This time, she was in more pain so we gave her some danelon, she came sound again and we eased her off of it, with no problems. Then came late January, she did it again. This time, vet was called and a work up was done. Within 10 minutes we had a suspected diagnoses. The vet came back two days later to scan, and confirmed that there was a partial tear in her near side annular ligament. My heart felt like it had fallen straight out of my body, we were beyond gutted. Options given by the vet were operate, or inject. Straight away, I was on the internet, googling and searching, finding lots of unfinished stories about the injury where people have put questions up and never said an outcome and becoming more and more upset and worried. 

So, I have decided to put this up in order to show people that it isn’t always bad, and to get off of google and look at what is in front of you! If I hadn’t taken a step back from the situation I know it would have sent me stir crazy. Lady was sound, although on Danelon (1 Sachet morning, 1/2 at night). She was totally normal and to someone who didn’t know her you would never know the issue was there. 

After the initial diagnoses on 6th Feb, we were told to continue with short periods of turn out in a small paddock (size of two 12x12 stables) for an hour or so, it’s been tricky as we have very little grass and she gets bored very easily!! Plus a 5 minute walk in the evening before bed. After 4 weeks, she went down to 1/2 sachet morning, half in evening. We iced her leg twice a day with some frozen peas (lol) and the hose. We saw the swelling very slowly come down, less heat, and gradual improvements each day. We did have two occasions where she managed to get her heals up in the air in her paddock!! Extra icing and danelon those nights. We confined with her normal diet which is thunderbrooks chaff, thunderbrooks daily essentials and micronise linseed. She also has a pinch of black salt in morn!! 

We’ve been 3 days off the danelon now, (since Saturday 14th) and she’s doing great. 

Well, vet came out yesterday (16th)  our hearts have been in our mouths for 6 weeks just hoping we are going in the right direction with it. So pleased to say that she trotted up sound, even after the flexion! So sound that the vet didn’t feel the need to scan. So now we are up to 1 hour turn out in morning, 1 in evening at 20 mins walking in hand split morning and night. We are over the moon that we are moving on the right direction. For us, the operation is a no go. Not at 24, the injection seems to come with risks and she’s an EMS candidate, sweet itch, allergic to her own sweat type pony so we will continue as we are. It’s going to be a very long road to recovery and we have to accept that she might never be 100% again but she’s still here and happy! 

Our little Lady is our world, she’s been a mother daughter share for almost 15 years (bar a few years where she was sold and subsequently came back to us!!!) 

I hope that this gives some hope to maybe even just one person who’s going through what we are and have been. It is a long old road and I’m sure we will have set backs, we are certainly not out of the woods yet, but for now we are progressing well and she is looking brilliant for coming out of winter. 

I hope this gives someone a little bit of light in a dark time.


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## Mbe (5 April 2021)

TheresaW said:



			My mare injured her annular ligament about 3 years ago. She had around 4 weeks box rest, but was going a bit crazy, so we made her a small pen in the field which helped.  She then went onto normal field rest, for months, and came back into work after around 9 months. i took it slowly, building up walking for a few weeks, then introducing trotting.  She has never had a problem since, touch wood.  She is now 19 year old, and although I am generally just a happy hacker, we do lots of fun rides, and we have tried our hand out on the hunting field.
		
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dotty1 said:



			My horse had annular ligament surgery 18 months ago.  She is still not sound and not expected to be as the scar tissue from the cut ligament adhered to the tendon sheath.  I believe if I had just rested her she would have been sound.  She was insured so vets wanted to operate and I thought it was for the best. 
The leg looks perfect, no swelling just must pull when flexed and makes her lame.[/QUOTE


dotty1 said:



			My horse had annular ligament surgery 18 months ago.  She is still not sound and not expected to be as the scar tissue from the cut ligament adhered to the tendon sheath.  I believe if I had just rested her she would have been sound.  She was insured so vets wanted to operate and I thought it was for the best. 
The leg looks perfect, no swelling just must pull when flexed and makes her lame.
		
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hi dotty just wanted to see how your mate is doing now?
		
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