Any tendon experts? How long after pulling a tendon will a vet scan?

Birker2020

Birker2020

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Basically I turned my horse out sound Thursday night, Friday night I rode him in the school and he was lame, and he has an inflamed tendon. So sometime between Thursday night and Friday night he has pulled a tendon, although he has been very, very slightly suspect on this leg for a while now (diagonal opposite leg has bone spavin and horse has been overcompensating) he has not been lame, and there has been no heat/puffiness whatsoever.

My friend is a physio so she has kindly pulse magged the leg for 15 mins twice a day since friday night, and I have put an icepack on his leg friday night, and ice cupped his leg twice a day, plus put ice tight on his leg Saturday night and tonight and kept him on box rest since Friday night, with 1 1/2 bute friday night/sat morning and one danillon saturday night, this morning and tonight (ran out of bute). Yesterday morning and evening the tendon was still up and warm (and my friend felt a pulse) and the back of the leg had a very slight bowed look, the horse is only lame in trot (worse on a surface in a circle but considerably less so trotted up straight on concrete). This morning the leg was almost completely down. I am going to call the vet in the morning but I would like him to come out and scan the leg tomorrow but I believe there should be a few days between the initial injury and the scanning of the leg.
Can anyone throw any light on how long this usually is please?

I think the injury may be a check ligament injury although someone has pointed out that it is a bit far down the leg for that (its on the inside about two thirds up the cannon bone). I think its a check ligament injury because a previous horse many years ago had this injury and I remember the tendon was up and down like a yo yo from one day to the next.

Does it sound like a check ligament injury to you?

Sorry for long post just wanted to get all the facts x
 
I might be wrong but my vets have always told me 10days. One of the horses i worked with went hopping lame on the gallops scanned 3 days later and tendon was fine no sign of a hole. then 10 days later hugest hole youve ever seen. i found that very interesting. i'd keep ur horse on box rest and keep icing/cold hosing as many times as possible. Fingers crossed for u!!
 
Lace57 said:
I might be wrong but my vets have always told me 10days. One of the horses i worked with went hopping lame on the gallops scanned 3 days later and tendon was fine no sign of a hole. then 10 days later hugest hole youve ever seen. i found that very interesting. i'd keep ur horse on box rest and keep icing/cold hosing as many times as possible. Fingers crossed for u!!
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Hi Lace 57. Yes my physio friend said 7-10 days, the internet said 5-7 days. Trouble is there is nothing to feel now, everything has gone, heat, swelling, puffiness. But I worry that if I turn him out/ride it could be disasterous so I will do as you say and keep on box rest. Think i will ring and speak to one of the vets over the phone. Thanks for your help x
 
I'd say 5-7 days as well. Whatever you do don't turn your horse out or do any work. It's far better to lose a week of work than to annoy the leg and make it worse and possibly pop a hole in it if there was't one before. Hose and Ice as often as possible. The less swelling the less chance of it busting a hole or enlargening one.

Personally if the injury happened on Friday I would get the vet out on Wednesday to scan. You can get them out to scan when the swelling has gone down and if there is a hole to be seen then then the treatment will still be the same if the hole hasn't finished expanding and you could scan it again 5 days later when it has settled and find it bigger.

Is there any specific part of the tendon than is more swollen than the rest or is it a full tendon thing?

If he has a pulse and is really hopping lame then he could also have a hoof abcess, these sometimes throw the tendons up for a while until they have popped.

Either which way no work or turnout until the vet has been is what I recommend
 
EKW said:
If he has a pulse and is really hopping lame then he could also have a hoof abcess, these sometimes throw the tendons up for a while until they have popped.

Either which way no work or turnout until the vet has been is what I recommend
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Hi EKW I thought it might be an abbcess so I tried tapping the nail holes and shoe with a hammer but got no reaction. Today when I went up to muck out before work I discovered a slight scab over the check ligament and horse had grazed leg around that area a couple of weeks ago (think he did it on a fence post sticking his leg through the fence) as nearly every other day there is a piece of fencing down where he hits it with his foot.
 
Scanning cant be done until the swelling has gone down, the scanner cannot read through this. Keep cold hosing as much as you can be bothered each day, box rest, and bute. When my mare had her tendon problem, the vet left about 7-10 days until scanning.
 
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