Horse question - check ligament

[The jiffle king]

Hi, I know there are not too many horse owners on here but it’s worth a try to see if anyone knows as we are not on any equestrian forums

Our horse has a check ligament tear on his front right and we’ve had the vet and the ultrasound confirms this rather than a tendon.

Swelling has now gone down but we are still icing and wrapping. Walking of 10 mins 2 x a day has started and now 15 mins x 2 on roads is the next plan

The question is at what stage can we exercise him in a manège? Vet said road work to start with and we can call and ask them but wondered if anyone had any experience of this ?

Happy to clarify anything if unclear and hoping there are more horse owners on here than I expect

[anonymous-user]

Ligaments can be funny things in horses. I'd say best to wait for the vet to do another scan to see how the progress is. Nothing worse than getting almost there and then having to start from scratch again. My sisters friend went against the advice of the vet and started her horse off in my sisters sand school. Went back to square one then had the cheek to blame the school for being too soft....

[The jiffle king]

Thanks. I know that’s the answer but was just hoping someone else had a different experience. Once he gets to canter in a few weeks he can use the school but until then it’s roads all the way

[Thevet]

most important question imho is when did tear happen? 1 month is dramatically different to 6 months ago, then how bad was tear. Thenyou must understand that ligaments mend slowly, torn collateral ankle ligaments for me took 4-5 months to steengthen and 6-8 months to lose 95% of swelling, horses obviously take a huge amount more weight/tension than our connective tissues so may need more careful recuperation.

[The jiffle king]

Thevet said:

most important question imho is when did tear happen? 1 month is dramatically different to 6 months ago, then how bad was tear. Thenyou must understand that ligaments mend slowly, torn collateral ankle ligaments for me took 4-5 months to steengthen and 6-8 months to lose 95% of swelling, horses obviously take a huge amount more weight/tension than our connective tissues so may need more careful recuperation.

Thanks, tear happened 3 weeks ago and he’s on a strict walking schedule with a small pen to eat in daily to stop him being an idiot. Ultrasound showed a small tear so careful rehabilitation is in order. It’s a knee check ligament and not a tendon which is good but very aware of the slow process