Monday 11 March 2013

Fred's Stifle Ligament - Day 5

I managed to lunge Fred again yesterday afternoon for 10 mins at trot each way, during which time it caught only once.
Fred's off-hind stifle was catching badly this morning, 7am. Took her for a 1 hour walk in hand with Emily, her best friend, being led by my husband.
Her stifle was audibly 'popping' at times - so dissapointing.
However, Fred did her first ditch jump - quite a big ditch with 3ft. wide of running water in the bottom of it. She followed Emily accross it in style!
The Vet who did the operation is coming tomorrow to do Emily's teeth and vaccinations, so I will have a word with him then.

2 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry to hear this. I would expect some sticking maybe until she warms up, but I know you were disappointed that it kept on doing it. Do you think your vet will give you the okay to work her a bit harder?

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  2. Hey, Maureen, I just realized that desmotomy is not just a UK term for ligament splitting, the surgery Brandy had. From what I've read, it sounds like desmotomy is cutting the ligament. In that case, from what my vet told me, rest IS the proper rehab. He told me that Brandy wouldn't be able to sleep standing up if she had that and also that it can contribute to arthritis later. Those are two reasons he recommended the ligament splitting. At any rate, the two rehabs are completely opposite.

    The difference is that in ligament splitting the ligament is left intact, but through a small incision in the skin, the vet "pokes" holes in the ligament in multiple places very close to each other, using a scalpel. The hard exercise the horse gets for rehab causes inflammation and the formation of scar tissue which causes the ligament to "pull up," thus solving the problem of the stretched out, floppy ligament catching on the patella.

    So am I correct in my belated realization that Fred had her ligaments cut though?

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