When you call the veterinarian to help you pinpoint the intermittent lameness in your horse, the last two words you want to hear are “suspensory injury.”

“Like tendons, suspensory ligaments can take a very long time to heal,” said Lisa Fortier, DVM, PhD, ACVS, associate professor of large animal surgery at Cornell University (N.Y.). “When the suspensory ligament does heal, re-injury is very common. Most people, when they hear their horse has a suspensory injury, have the same gasping response because there’s no quick fix.”