I’ve got a happy and not so happy story… the happy one took a lot of work but was absolutely worth it.
First one, v slightly lame in trot, but not consistent. Over a week i asked multiple people to look at him, he looked fine… and only once did someone agree he looked v slightly off.
Sent him for a work up. The first day they couldn’t find the problem. He was worked in hand and ridden, hard and soft, straight and circle. Nada. They said they’d try again the next day… at which point he did show up as lame.
X rays were clean. Nerve blocks and scans showed it was his straight sesamoidian ligament. Apparently a very unusual one to injure and they weren’t sure if he’d ever come right… I was devastated. How could this minor lameness, that initially no one but me could see, be career ending?!
It was a slog. He had to do 12w box rest. Started out with 5 min in hand walking twice per day every day. Increasing 5 min per week. After 6 weeks one of the sessions was ridden till we were doing 45 min ridden and 45 min in hand. This all had to be straight lines on a firm surface- ie not in the school. At that point he was allowed pen rest- so tiny field about the size of a large stable, increasing by a few metres each day to a small paddock.
At the end of the 12w he was reviewed and declared sound and to start trot work over the next 12w and increasing the walk work slowly so he was doing 2hrs or so, starting with 2 min of trot broken down into tiny sections, building up an extra 2 min every week.
At week 10 of this stage I felt it ‘go’ again… I cannot explain the despair I felt. The rehab had taken over my life, and I was having to go to the yard three times a day and spending hours and hours walking him, plus all the extra time on care (endless mucking out!) and cost of hay/bedding.
We had to go back to the beginning, 12w of boxrest with in hand walking. By the time we got to week 10 I had to call the vet back. My dope on a rope first pony type was getting so distressed he reared with me on board when there was a scary incident on the road (that he normally would have taken in his stride). I explained that we couldn’t go on like this. The vet said he wasn’t 100% but had significantly improved so try turning away for 3 months.
I didn’t want to move yards for 3m as I was worried that would cause even more issues so he was turned out for 16 hours a day in the same routine as his field mates. He went out slightly sedated the first time to try and avoid too much hooning about and after the first 2/3 days was back to mr chill and a lot happier.
When the vet reviewed him he had improved again but he thought he was still a bit stiff on it. He suggested we bring him back into work, walk hacking for 15 min every day and building him back up again. I can’t remember if this time it was 6w or 12w again… but anyway, we worked through the same program. When the vet came back he was really pleased and said he was now 100% sound, but still sensitive if the ligament was pressed. We continued with several weeks of walk, then introducing tiny bursts of trot building to 20 mins. So much walking I cannot tell you! I used a tracking app to keep a record of everything and was absolutely meticulous.
At the end of that he was indeed still sound and by now incredibly fit and strong. We started canter work and he remained sound. Going forward we limited school work and moved from dressage to endurance where we both had a whale of a time and he excelled.
It was a hideous time but with a pivot of direction in terms of his work he came back much stronger and fitter. He looked the best he had in the decade we’d owned him.
Unfortunately several years after that he did a field injury to soft tissue in the other foot. We had a work up at home this time, nerve blocks showed the lameness was in the foot but X-rays were clear. I decided against mri as whilst that would tell us which structure he’d injured it wouldn’t change how we managed it.
i had already decided I would never do a long box rest again (obviously the first injury recovery went on much longer than the initial 12w we were told it would be).
We agreed we’d try a mix of limited paddock rest for a few hours a day, plus box. It was a bit difficult to organise on the yard so was really difficult and stressful. After 6w he was improved but not right. Our only option if I didn’t want to do full box rest and walking again was to turn away fully for 6m and see.
We did that. At the end of 6m he was sound on the straight and a circle on the soft but not a tight circle (7/10m) on the hard (I know that’s contrary to normal with soft tissue). I think he would have coped with v gentle low level hacking a few times a week but not more.
However, he was now in a lovely chill herd of retired gentlemen and was really happy. If I’d wanted to bring him back into work we’d have had to move, with no guarantee that he’d be happy, nor that he wouldn’t go lame again when we tried ridden work and he’d have lost his spot at retirement livery… so I decided to retire him. He was 20 by this point and owes me nothing and is still happily living his best life, hanging out with his mates and eating all day.
I think our success the first time was due in the main to his personality- he was naturally a very chilled out dude and not normally at all spicy so it was easier to keep him calmer (and with all 4 feet on the ground!) for the majority of the rehab. Obviously if your horse is naturally sharper then this is something to consider.
I absolutely do not regret all the time effort and money we put into the first injury and rehab. But it went on a lot longer than anyone expected and he (understandably!) struggled with it and I didn’t feel it was fair to ask him to go through it again so that he could stay in work.
Additionally the decision was influenced by the fact we’d had him for more than a decade, he’d been a complete joy and we couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful horse. By this point he was obviously older too, so I felt he earned time to just chill and I was happy to fund his retirement indefinitely even tho it means I can no longer ride/afford another to ride. I am aware that if we’d repeated the box rest he probably would have fared better physically (obviously no guarantee), but I felt it would have been at the expense of his mental health.
In your circumstances I would keep her in if possible until you have the work up and answers/a plan. Could you possibly send her to rehab livery for a time? It then takes away the upset of seeing others go out every day and her expecting it and getting upset when they leave. Perhaps a half way point of 6w of boxrest rehab livery and then if all is well turnout with one quiet friend as a compromise, whilst you work through a long walk rehab.
Good luck and please update with how you get on