DDFT lesion - I'm too scared to trot up my horse!

Happy Hunter

Happy Hunter

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She has had the MRI, we have been diagnosed.
She has had 3 months off, with spells of box rest.
She has had cortisone injection (the 4 inch needle was a bit much!).
Now looking field sound.

I have had restless nights
I have investigated her being a brood mare
I have considered the worst so many times!

Now this weekend its Trot up on hard ground time - I'm terrified!!!
Soon to come - Wedges, followed by rehab (possible barefoot) - but she is just such a footy woos!

Hoping for the best - prepared for the worst.

Vets of course are extremely guarded as to a plan of re-hab, but there is a fine line between guarded and leaving me in the dark... It would obviously be easier if he was riding her and seeing everything on a day to day basis! If anyone has had any similar injuries please reply and I can compare and contrast and discuss with the vet - obviously!

Thanks all :D
 
My grey is recovering from a tendon injury at the moment. She is on paddock rest until the end of the month and after that I will start walking her out in-hand for 10mins to start with. Slowly, slowly building it up.

I'm glad to say that my Vet didn't suggest wedges (as I would have refused to put them on my horse) as she's rock-crunching BF.

ETA - I hope the trot up goes well. It's so nervewracking. Good luck. :)
 
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My horse is 18 months sound now from DDFT injuries to fore and hind leg at the same time !

Each injury is different of course, but for me it was having a specialist orthopaedic vet and a strict rehab programme that made the difference, I think, between success and failure. Although I think my horses sensible attitude helped as well.

My re-hab was different to yours in that I had 4 weeks complete box rest, then hand walking building up from 10 mins a day to 45 mins (that’s hard work and very dull) for the next 6 weeks and then I started ridden walking. Miles and miles of roads and tracks for the next 4 months slowing introducing some trot. Turn out didn’t happen until about month 6 and then it was a small paddock on his own (he will remain on individual turn out for the rest of his working life now, as an added precaution). In between all this was regular scans and shock wave therapy on one of the legs. I was able to start some basic schooling again about 8 months in and canter work introduced about 9 months in. Month 12 scans showed tendons normal, no scar tissue at all.
But tendon repair can take 12-18 months to fully complete, so it was a case of keeping things nice and steady.

My vet was very much of the view that the tendons need to start ‘work’ again as quickly as possible to generate the necessary repair process and to avoid scar tissue forming, but that was best done in a controlled way – e.g. in hand and ridden walking and no turn out to avoid a hoolie around in the field.

My friends horse had a similar injury and she decided to turn him away and 8 months on, he is sound at walk around his field but not sound in the other gaits – a likelihood of the scar tissue forming and restricting the elasticity of the tendon.

Mine doesn’t jump at the moment, although he may return to that at some stage, he won’t hunt again and I am very careful about the terrain I ride across and the type of surfaces I work on.

A tendon injury is a really miserable time for anyone and I really feel for you so I really hope everything works out and you can get back to normal again very soon. The best advice I can give is to take things nice and slowly in a controlled way, as best you can.
 
Mine tore his DDFT just by the navicular bursar in April time, he was diagnosed by MRI early in May and had an injection to the navicular bursar. One month of box rest and then in to wedges to take the pressure off the tendon. He was then allowed out in a tiny turnout area, he is very sensible though and didn't do any running around. We also started walking out in hand, building up from 5 minutes and adding an additional 5 minutes every 5 days. Once he was over 30 mins of walking, one month in, I then kept increasing the time but in ridden work. After 2 months of boring walk work we then started introducing trot work in small gentle bursts and built that up in the same way as the walk work.
After 6 weeks of work with trotting for increased periods we then introduced canter on good ground in the same way. He was still on a very small turnout at this point but once we had a couple of weeks of canter work it was agreed that he could have a larger turnout area as long as he didn't charge about, which luckily he didn't.

We are going to our first dressage competition this weekend since the injury and in another couple of weeks he will be allowed to start jumping again. We have had vet checks at every stage before upping the work and he is also now back to normal shoes rather than wedges as they were decreased gradually as the work was increased.

He's been a very good patient which helps a great deal and we have only had a few moments of leaping about under saddle.

I'd also agree with the above that to avoid scar tissue forming it is better to have very gentle exercise rather than being box rested for too long.

I guess it all depends on the extent of the injury. I too also dreaded the vet checks but came away feeling more confident each time. Good luck with yours.
 
Mines torn his SDFT, his rehab so far has been PRP therapy followed by a week of pure box rest then 2 weeks of 10 min walking, 2 weeks of 15 min walking and 1 week of 20 min walking followed by a rescan. Currently hes on week one of 15 min walking and hasnt been lame at all throughout any of it! Did have a mishap last week where i had been turning him out in a stable sized paddock and he escaped and hooned about so is now stuck back in the box fingers crossed it hasnt set him back!!

Best of luck with the trot up :) hope all goes to plan :)
 
mines blown both suspensories, hes had PRP followed by 3 weeks strict box rest, tried handwalking but no way was i going to hold him, so hes turned out in a sand a rubber pen for a few hours a day depending on weather, then handwalked for 5 mins around the yard. Already seeing improvements with picking his feet out/farrier and also stepping underneath on turns sometimes. Scan in december.
 
Mine was diagnosed with ddft damage,impar ligament damage,bone bruising,pedal ostetis,navicular bone modelling and swollen collateral ligament damage back in march /april time - had field rest as he basically give up on life on box rest , had wedges - slight improvement but not enough for my liking and he is now at Rockley - been there about 5 weeks and by all accounts surprising us all :) He starts on road work this week and his feet are already changing - good luck with everything and don't be afraid to fight for what you think might be a better solution for your horse - it took me nearly six months to get a referral letter from my vets to send him to Rockley and a hell of a lot of arguments with them and also my farrier but neither of them can dismiss the progress he has made in just over a month compared to the time they were treating him
 
Thanks everyone - somethings to digest.
Bounce yours sounds near similar - Mine is a Cleveland mare, so I'm hoping for the most sensible side of her to shine through! - She is moving yards in around a month so fingers crossed I can create some kind of shape of paddock that reaches both sides of the field for her to chat, the water trough, and the gate to get in and out - All whilst trying to make it an odd shape small enough for her not to gallop about!!! She is turned out with a calm buddie now, so in hand walking can start and progress to ridden in a month or 6 weeks or so (to correlate with the new yard probably) She loves exploring so I wont mind walking for the whole winter if it helps!

Toomanyhorses - You win with combined injuries! Wishing yours all the best!

I have been emailing rockley for quotes - but they havent replied yet,,,

Oh and the news - - Trotted up last night SOUND!!!
(and yes I did it three times and got mum and another person to triple check!!!)

Moving on up - SLOWLY and in walk ;) !
 
My mare tore her ddft within her hoof, similar situation to Bounce. That was 4 yrs ago, she was given a very guarded prognosis, however,is sound, in ridden work and is doing great. I dont take her inthe school anymore, we just hack nowadays but when I think the Vet said it could be pts, then I feel very lucky. Time and patience are the key
 
Mine had a lesion in the foot also. Took shoes off, slow return to work, lots and lots of walking. Unable to box rest so paddock rested. 14 months on back in full work and jumping again. Good luck.
 
Thanks all - have you all had the Cortisone injections too?
I wonder if anyone has managed to wean themselves off it? not that this is my plan, for now its working wonders for me!
Or if it starts to loose its effectiveness?
 
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