# Distal Sesamoidean Ligament Injury



## keis (31 October 2011)

Hi,

My horse has recently torn his distal sesamoidean ligament and I just wanted to know if anyone else had experienced this and what the prognosis is.

The vet has him on box rest for 6 weeks and then he is to be rescanned, he is allowed to be walked for 5mins once a day.  Not a lot else has been said and just wondered if anyone else had any experience of this

Be interested to know,


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## jaye1780 (31 October 2011)

Hi, yes my tb had an injury to DSL too. He also had bone fragmentation which was operated on. He started with the same box rest as you but then they found the fragmentation so the operation was carried out and further box rest. 
It will be a year in March since the op but his leg is looking good and his prognosis that he could come back into work with the right care is looking promising! My boy has other issues going on though caused by his feet which was a part of why the injury occurred. I didnt own this horse at the time of injury but took him on as his owner wasnt willing to give him the time he needed to recover. After his performance leading in from his paddock today you wouldnt think there was anything wrong with him 
What caused the DSL injury in your horse? Best advice is keep religiously to the box rest/5 mins walk etc and look into any other factors that could be putting strain on the ligaments.
Good luck


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## keis (1 November 2011)

We have started to change the foot balance which may have contributed, but he has been grazed on a flat field and gone onto a hill so the vet thinks this maybe contributing factor.

So we are going to have to keep rested whilst the foot balance is changing and not turn him out on a hill (which maybe difficult at the livery yard!)


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## criso (2 November 2011)

When my horses feet were MRI'd after months of lameness, the DSIL was one of the injured areas together with the DDFT and collateral ligaments in both feet. His was a slight strain rather than tear.

He did have awful feet and I followed the farriers and vet's advice re shoeing and months of box rest followed by really slow bringing  back in to work.
He didn't improve and got lamer and lamer to the point that 18 months down the line if I turned him out he would come back in on 3 legs.

in the end in despair I sent him to Rockley farm to be rehabbed barefoot, down on Exmoor on some of the steepest hills you've seen  and fingers crossed it's worked. We are now doing everything including jumping.


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## jaye1780 (2 November 2011)

criso said:



			When my horses feet were MRI'd after months of lameness, the DSIL was one of the injured areas together with the DDFT and collateral ligaments in both feet. His was a slight strain rather than tear.

He did have awful feet and I followed the farriers and vet's advice re shoeing and months of box rest followed by really slow bringing  back in to work.
He didn't improve and got lamer and lamer to the point that 18 months down the line if I turned him out he would come back in on 3 legs.

in the end in despair I sent him to Rockley farm to be rehabbed barefoot, down on Exmoor on some of the steepest hills you've seen  and fingers crossed it's worked. We are now doing everything including jumping.
		
Click to expand...

Glad Rockley has worked for you  My tb is going through barefoot rehab at the minute, I have another thread showing how he was shod before and if you look at the pics you can spot a mile off why its caused so many problems. 

OP are you rebalancing through shoes or barefoot work? not condemning shoes just interested, do you have any pics of horses feet to show the issue? Good luck with the work, shame you dont have any flat grazing to help the rehab process. Hopefully you can get there without it


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## Meg2 (3 November 2011)

Hi Keis, my dressage mare suffered a 30% core lesion to the straight sesamoidean ligament of her off hind in 2006. She was treated with rest and SWT . She was not a good candidate for box rest as she weaves and when really stresses box walks. she was followed up by the diagnosing vet  for 18 months with scans etc but the healing was very disappointing and I was advised to retire her. They did suggest I could try stem cell and future prolonged box rest but I knew she couldn't cope with that so I retired her. She has spent the last 5 years in retirement and bred one foal. 
A few months ago when my other mare went lame I decided to tack her up and see how she was. She is absolutely brilliant, back enjoying her work and going better than ever, doing all the lateral movements and flying changes no bother! She is now 17. I haven't had her shod, just regular trimming. I plan to keep her barefoot if she copes ok. .
Good luck with your horse, let us know how you get on. Time is a great healer!


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## ihatework (3 November 2011)

One of my horses was turned out with a new fieldmate who promptly ran him into the ground for 30 mins before we could catch/separate them. He came in lame and swollen in front and this was later diagnosed as a  DSL desmitis. He had box rest, SWT and controlled walking before being turned away for 6 months. The ligament never bothered him again.


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## Amymay (3 November 2011)

My mare had this injury some years ago.

After a period of box rest (around 3 months) she was walked in hand for some weeks before being reintroduced to ridden work.  She was stabled for a further 2 months during the first exercise period, before finally being allowed turnout.

She returned to full soundness, but did have issues with the annular ligament further down the line, due to a build up of scar tissue.


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