Suspensory Ligament Essay

• Suspensory ligament injuries:

The suspensory ligament is found down the back of the cannon bone that starts just below the knee or hock and splits into two parts that pass around the back of the ankle and end on the front of the long pastern bone. Acute front suspensory ligament injuries are most commonly found in eventers and jumpers due to the speed and the increasing load on the forelimbs from jumping and the chance of misstep.

Signs: These types of injuries can sometimes be hard to spot. Lameness ranges from barely at all to severe, depending on how bad the damage is. If the tear is in the main part of the ligament or the branches, the leg may become warm or swollen and sensitive at the site. If the tear is higher up the ligament, it

may be hidden by other structures in the leg so it will become harder to detect.
If the injury is major e.g. tearing the ligament, can take about eight to 12 months of recovery. But if the injury is only minor it may only take around 8 weeks.

• Deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) injuries:
The deep digital flexor tendon runs down the back of the leg and behind the back of the heel and then attaches to the bottom of the coffin bone. The main job of the DDFT is to help flex the leg but it is also a support role at the heel, this is where the tendon fibres fan out to pass over the navicular bone.
When a horse is jumping it is more at risk of causing damage to the DDFT because they are more likely to stretch the tendon to the max if they are pushing off from a gallop or after landing from a jump. A horse with poor conformation or poor shoeing could be more likely to be affected by this injury.
Signs: this type of injury is also quite hard to pinpoint but if it is noticeable there will sometimes be heat, swelling and sensitivity at the back of the pastern or above the heel.

If the injury is lower down in the foot you might not be able to see any signs.

If a horse suffers a mild strain it may only take around 6-8 weeks. If a horses suffers a tear the injury may take up to 8 months to heal. Doing too much too soon is almost certain to cause the injury to reoccur in the future.

• Sore muscles:

When working you build muscles, but over working can cause strain and pain. The large muscles of the back and hind quarters are used mostly among performance horses. They can strain their muscles if they are asked to work too hard for too long. Most muscles strains are mild and the amount of damage is small. But it is a very common injury and can stop the horse from preforming to his best. A jumping horse may also experience sore muscles due to being put into draw reins for too long and not being able to stretch out his neck and back properly.

Signs: When a horse has a sore back it is sometimes hard to tell, most of the time he will be a bit stiff when he begins to work and his hind legs might not step up properly under his body and won’t carry himself

properly.

• Bone bruises:
Performance horses can often bruise bones in their feet and ankle joints, the coffin bone, the ends of the short and long pastern bones and the lower end of the cannon bone. The foot and ankle come under tremendous force, and that force is focused on the small areas where theses bones meet. Although a bone bruise isn’t as serious as a fracture, there is still a tiny amount of damage to the bone. Just like any bruise there is internal bleeding and swelling, but in this case the fluid builds up within the bone.
Signs: Bone bruises are so painful, so they horse that is suffering them will become sore.
When a horse suffers from a bone bruise it will take them around 3-4 months to recovery properly and may benefit from an extended course of anti-inflammatory medication.

• Bone spavin:
Bone spavin is a bony growth within the lower hock joint of the horse, the main cause of this is osteoarthritis or the final phase of degenerative joint disease and can cause lameness that is serious enough to bring a competitive horse to the end of its career. A number of different things can cause bone spavins but amongst show jumpers it is usually resulted in extreme strain on the hind legs when taking off for a jump. When suffering from this injury horses may tend to jump more to one side, they might swap legs in front of a jump or might struggle changing from one leg to another over a jump.
Signs: the main signs of bone spavins would be that the horse would become unwilling to work, it would start to drag its toes behind itself and it would also shorten its stride from behind.
With the right treatment; light work, correct shoeing and some medical help, a horse will be able to work normally but unfortunately not up to the same high performance that it was used too.