Sesamoiditis - Experienes, Treatments and Prognosis?

[happyhacker]

I am looking at a lovely warmblood gelding with chronic sesamoiditis for the past two years. Owners have done nothing except put him out when he comes up lame. The sesamoiditis is apparently the result of an injury in the pasture, maybe a kick, etc. He is now back in light work and appears to have occasional bad steps. We do the hunters and I am wondering if he will hold up when started OF, or if there are treatments that could help him heal. He is a beautiful horse and a lovely mover. We are willing to wait for further healing but are unsure about the prognosis for this condition.

[Fharoah]

Is this the seamoidean ligament demititis or seamoid bone, diagnosed my MRI, xray,or ultrasound.

[marta]

my friend's arab was diagnosed w/ sesmoiditis. she was told to give it 6 months rest (walk only) and then to resume return to work slowly. this is a long distance horse and she was told that she might not be able to do 100 mile competitions as a result of this. she's only 7 years old.
she's bringing her back to work now but has not resumed competition nor intense training. so far the horse has been sound.

[happyhacker]

I was told it was the result of injury. I am talking to the vet today. I will get more information. It was diagnosed by x-ray.

[Orchid]

I knew a horse with chronic sesmoiditis in his hindleg...they would treat him, bring him back slowly, but he never held up when work load increased to anything beyond walk/trot. He's absolutely gorgeous and only takes the ocassional off step in the pasture where he's retired now...it's often tempting to try and get him going again but it seems to always lead to heartbreak all over again :(

[readytorodeo]

I am looking at a lovely warmblood gelding with chronic sesamoiditis for the past two years. Owners have done nothing except put him out when he comes up lame. The sesamoiditis is apparently the result of an injury in the pasture, maybe a kick, etc. He is now back in light work and appears to have occasional bad steps. We do the hunters and I am wondering if he will hold up when started OF, or if there are treatments that could help him heal. He is a beautiful horse and a lovely mover. We are willing to wait for further healing but are unsure about the prognosis for this condition.

I have successfully treated 2 horses with sesamoiditis and both have not had any relapse and it has been 1 year for one and 6 months for the other. I used a laser and sweated the leg with poultice or leg paint from my vet. I also put them on OCD Pellets and have kept them on it. Both horses are now back to competing with no issues. PM me if you want more info

[BornToRide]

I guess it depends on the horse - my old QH had it before I got him, but he was totally sound and never had issues.

[merrygoround]

I think that with the tools available for assessing something like this, I'd get a complete evaluation. It could be something that with lay up time and careful rehab would come around. But it could end up as nothing but heartache.

The key to it all, is an accurate diagnosis.

[Hailey]

It really seems to depend on the horse. My mare actually pulled a piece of bone off one of her left-front sesamoids during a near-fall after tripping while being ridden. She was 4 years old at the time. The vet was very doom and gloom about her prognosis. Fortunately, the piece reattached itself and it's never given her any trouble since then. She's now 11 years old. Later on we x-rayed a hind ankle due to some minor lameness, and it showed evidence of sesamoiditis as well, though that wasn't the cause of the soreness. Again, it's never given her any trouble that I've noticed. I purchased her as a 3-year old, and nothing showed on the xrays taken at that time, so it occurred later.

The only way you can really know is to put them back into regular work and see if they hold up. I do dressage with my horse and don't jump her, especially after the injury, so she isn't subjected to the stress of landing from a jump, which might be one reason why it's never bothered her since then. Jumping might be more of an issue with this condition.

[Fharoah]

IRAP or joint injections may help. It does seem like alittle bit of a risk, are you buying the horse or being given the horse?

[happyhacker]

They are not giving the horse away, but his price is very low.

[Flash44]

...that's to compensate for the big vet bills....what you see is what you get.

[jjlynch03]

I do not know about it but i do know for insurance reasons-if you choose to insure-you have to tell them up front...and alot of them won't cover it at all so if it were to come up again-they won't cover ANY costs of it. So be careful about that.

[happyhacker]

Think I'm gonna let this one go :cry: From what I have heard, even with a complete evaluation and diagnosis, there is still no way to tell if he will hold up. I learned a lot about sesamoiditis, though:sadsmile:

[Hailey]

I think that's a wise decision. You did say that it's been a chronic condition for 2 years, and that he has periodically been lame. If the condition was discovered 2 years ago, and hadn't bothered him since he was back in work, that might be a different story, but it sounds like that's not the case. If it was going to heal, it would have by now. It's just not worth the risk.