Comments

The description/picture of your horse sounds/looks an awful like like a horse that I had. I got told a lot of things and tried at lot of things to make him better. Eventually, I learned about DSLD. There are some websites and groups on the internet that may help guide you and your vet to a diagnosis like

dsldequine.info/
information for diagnosis, care, mangement, case histories, and special vet pages

groups.yahoo.com/group/DS...
group message board for exchange of information, raising awareness, and promoting research. An experimental treatment is available that may help your horse feel better.

www.freewebs.com/dsldhors...
newsletter

The point is, it's not a leg disease! In fact, breakdown of the
suspensory ligaments is a late-presenting symptom of the chaos that
starts in many parts of the animal's connective tissues and
progresses through acute degeneration and phases of relative
stability.

Eyes, lungs, ligaments and tendons through the body, the aorta, the
stomach lining, fascia of the skin and organs have all been examined
cellularly and found - various parts in various horses - to have been
affected.

The reason we get so hung up on the legs is that broken down
suspensories were the first consistent sign that we unknowing humans
could see from horse to horse. Plus, it's horribly dramatic. But
before a horse breaks down like that it's being attacked through many
areas of it's system. Because the suspensories form the stay
mechanism that holds the fetlock in place - and therefore is a
significant weight-bearing structure - it's breakdown is more
dramatic and obvious.

For example, when a horse's skin hurts because the fascia is in an
acute phase and they pull away from touch ...we may just think
they're cranky. When their gut hurts from acute phase of the organ
linings we think they have colic (here, we call it false colic). When
their lungs are in crisis, we think it's allergies ...etc, etc.

Bottom line, legs are a symptom, NOT the nature of the disease.

Nikki was a beautiful girl - what a beautiful smile and dimples! I'm so sorry for your loss... I'm not a parent and can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must be to lose a child.

Nik was beautiful! I'm so very sorry for your loss. How hard...I can't even imagine. <<>>

We wear our hearts on the outside when we become parents.
Hugs to you!