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 Expert
Posts: 2604
  
Location: Texas | I have a six year old gelding that is built rather straight behind and also has long pasterns. This causes him to get sore hind suspensories. We have ultrasounded and there are no tears or injuries. We've tried injecting them but improvement was minimal and didn't last. I am currently painting them every day after I ride with a mixture of aloe vera gel, DMSO & dex (which he has begun to hate). Does anyone have any experience with sore hind suspensories and have any suggestions on how to treat them?
Edited by TBone 2018-08-08 3:04 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | The first thing that comes to mind is shoeing/trimming. Most suspensory issues stem from improper angles. My gelding has long pasterns too but never had issues. After making sure his angles are good, shockwave and the equiscope have worked good for me on issues like this. |
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 Tough Patooty
Posts: 2615
Location: Sperry, OK | JLBerry - 2018-08-09 10:03 AM The first thing that comes to mind is shoeing/trimming. Most suspensory issues stem from improper angles. My gelding has long pasterns too but never had issues. After making sure his angles are good, shockwave and the equiscope have worked good for me on issues like this.
A suspensory issue/injury is usually a secondary issue/injury. In addition to checking angles on his feet, I would check for soreness up front somewhere that he may be compensating from. |
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Expert
Posts: 2604
Location: Texas | Per x-ray, hoof angles are good. He had long toes, low heels when I got him a year ago, but we got that back under control. He also had a hip issue (diagnosed via bone scan) which we have injected twice and is better. Unfortunately, both the vet and chiropractor say the sore hind suspensories is due to how straight he is built from the hip, stifle, hock and pastern, as well as having long pasterns. Was wondering if anyone has found any therapy that might help. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | I would go along with JLB and what she said to do. Just stay on top of the angles with Xrays! The shockwave really helps. There's a vet in TX that has gone in and released those that get a compartment type syndrome in the hindend and I heard those horses did better after the proceedure. I can't remember which vet was doing the proceedure. Anyone remember? Weatherford area if I remember. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 883
Location: Southern Indiana | Cold hosing would probably be your best friend. I really like EZ willow lineament and Finish Line original poultice. Those would be a lot better and more friendly on a daily basis than the DMSO mix. You could also invest in some Back on Track to help warm up and loosen his tendons & ligaments.
As far as finding the root cause...what type of ground do you exercise in, what exercises do you do, what kind of shoes are you using? Have you gave him any time off to let them heal? Is he lacking something nutritionally? Stall rest for about a week followed by gradual exercise increase may help. There may be no injuries, but those ligaments need to rest in order to heal and the only way to do that with a horse is to keep them up with limited exercise. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| i will probably get flames for this if you are using polo shoes that grip that can make one sore in the rear in some horses. |
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 Did I miss the party?
Posts: 3864
| uno-dos-tres! - 2018-08-10 5:48 AM I would go along with JLB and what she said to do. Just stay on top of the angles with Xrays! The shockwave really helps. There's a vet in TX that has gone in and released those that get a compartment type syndrome in the hindend and I heard those horses did better after the proceedure. I can't remember which vet was doing the proceedure. Anyone remember? Weatherford area if I remember.
Procedure is called a fasciotomy, and it's sometimes performed in combination with neurectomy. Common in most equine sports medicine hospitals.
And I've dealt with hind suspensory issues. Rest, PRP, not letting the toe sink extensively healed mine. But, proper hind feet angles are key in this and many other issues.
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Expert
Posts: 3300
| I’ve seen a lot of horses with suspensory issues that need a wider shoe that has a trailor kind of like a slider... it gives them more support and if he has bad hind end conformation he may need more support |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | uno-dos-tres! - 2018-08-10 7:48 AM
I would go along with JLB and what she said to do. Just stay on top of the angles with Xrays! The shockwave really helps. There's a vet in TX that has gone in and released those that get a compartment type syndrome in the hindend and I heard those horses did better after the proceedure. I can't remember which vet was doing the proceedure. Anyone remember? Weatherford area if I remember.
It's called a plantar fasciotomy/neurectomy and honestly may be contraindicated in the OPs horse because there's two times when we choose not to do it-
1- the acute suspensory injury
2- the horse with poor hind end conformation
When done in those two instances the suspensory apparatus can actually fail and you end up with a completely crippled horse. So I would definitely talk to the vet who manages this horse and see if they feel he would even be a candidate for it or not. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Have you thought about good old icing and occasional use of Surpass to keep the inflammation down? Maybe poultice? Or maybe mixing up some of those therapies with your current? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | I would think you can change up the angles in the back end to ease some of the pain. Ive done this a lot when rehabbing one with torn suspensory etc. It will give him some relief. What is considered a "correct" angle isn't always what the horse needs. I've seen some horses that have to be shod a little off in order to stay sound. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 417
Location: CA | Ice after a ride. I use the flow boot ice boots. Worked great for my horse. Also surpass on race days, and unless your horse tends to step all over itself during a run, keep back boots off. Heat in the leg is not your friend. If you absolutely must use them, dont put them on until right before you run. |
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Sore Hind Suspensories