DDFT - Stories, Advice and box rest tips!

[Winningmachine]

Hi all!

We found out last week that my horse has a tear in his DDFT after he had an MRI Scan, I am absolutly gutted. I am still unsure of how big the tear is as I havent had the Vet Report back yet. They have put on Egg bars on the front to give him support of the heel. I have never had any experiance with anything like this so I am just looking to see what experiances people have had with this.

The vet has told me it will be 6-12 month rest and only a 25% chance of recovery He is on box rest for a month then vet will be out to asess him then maybe he can go out for half hour a day to keep him happy.

So what I am asking if anybody has had either good or bad experiance with this and if you have any tips or treatment methods to try and help the healing. I know time is a healer but would like to try everything I can to help my little man!

 

[sw4]

my horse had over a year box rest and was sound enough to become a field ornament, he had all the treatments bar shoes tildren shock wave ( he had other issues too)...would never do it again...google Rockley farm where the do a barefoot re hab, they seem to have much better results but was not so common as mine was ten years ago at least..Good luck!

 

[stencilface]

Yippee, you can educate another vet in the likely better result for your horse if you consider a barefoot option.

Mine had tears on both front ddft with a focal lesion on one of them. We considered barefoot and whilst waited trialled 8 weeks of egg bars which showed no improvement. He then went to rockley farm for 3 months for a barefoot rehab and 1.5 years on is better all the time. He was barefoot pre rockley, but he's better than ever now (aside from being lami prone and starting with arthritus)

Please if you want to look after the long term prognosis for your horse read the rockley blog and up the the many ddft and other horses successfully back in work without shoes.

And start by posting some good side view shots of your horses feet on here so We can have a look

There is a light on at the end of this tunnel.

 

[Winningmachine]

Sorry, I forgot to add that he has always been barefoot (13 years old) with really good feet. They also found cyst on his navicular bone so I am unsure whether that is why they have put them on for support.

I have read alot about barefoot vs shod on this so good to hear people thoughts. the vet is coming out in a months time to re asess him.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

friends horse currently has this, but not a tear as such just a line or something similar described on the MRI scan - wasn't explained in great detail and didn't like to ask as she was upset about it at the time.She's been away at a yard whilst friend was away on business and is coming home soon, me and my friend have been sorting out heras fencing for her as she's been turned out in a lunge pen during this time at this other yard. Think she said initial box rest and then could go out limited time (2 months or so) in a limited area hence the fencing to keep her contained like a lunge pen but a lot cheaper. Thinks she's in egg bar shoes and an equipak on sole of foot, sorry I have no personal experience of this myself and not really sure of the details as such but seems prognosis is good in her case.Hope it works out for you.

 

[ester]

What stencilface said, get reading, absorb as much information as you can, speak to the people that have done it (Nic at rockley has always been helpful and will talk to vets). Then see how you feel with all that new information you now have.

Bar shoes/solepacking can make them look more comfortable short term but for long lasting improvement, though not all hit the 100% mark barefoot has to be worth at least looking in to, but generally it still has to be owner-led, vets often then agree it is worth a try but they hesitate to be the first to recommend it as it isn't a quick fix.

 

[fairhill]

My mare had tears in both front ddft, diagnosed with mri last Dec. Significant scar tissue build up and vet prognosis was poor - palliative care, retirement and remedial shoeing.

I have gone down the unshod, turned out as much as possible route, and she is currently sound enough to do a couple of 3-5 mile hacks a week. She cantered sound for the first time last week, whereas in feb she could barely walk after 2 weeks complete box rest (for unrelated reasons). She’s got other issues so her rehab is taking a very long time!

Read up on Rockley as the others say, and then choose whatever route you think will work for you and your horse. Good luck!

 

[ester]

that's great news fairhill, you definitely need a fairly big dose of patience. I took my time over it due to mine's age and I was desperate to know if it would work or whether it had been a long wait just to get back to square one. He's falling apart a bit now in his old age but his front end is one bit that is absolutely a ok still.

 

[stencilface]

Falling apart horses is a pain. Feel like I've got a box of plasters to fix a leaking bucket

 

[ester]

lol, Frank stopped eating about 10 days ago... so he had a week of bute that ideally he shouldn't have because of the liver but while he was sedated I got mum to ask the vet to do a willy inspection at the same time. His back legs seem to increasingly move like they want to be in separate counties, but the front feet.. . they are cracking still!

 

[tallyho!]

Echo all others re: Rockley.

If I had a horse with another tendon injury, extended box rest would be the very last thing I would do. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but new research emerges with promising insights so do your reading.

 

[Puddleduck]

This was me 12 months ago. Dressage horse went suddenly lame in September, X-rays showed navicular bone deterioration in right fore. MRI in October showed ddft tear in same foot with navicular bursitis, collateral ligament damage and granulated scar tissue on the bursa rubbing the dddft tear and impacting healing.
Poor prognosis with the advice being box rest & time, overall view was slim chance of being ridden again and probably not the competition future I'd planned.
We put a heart bar shoe on which made no difference to the soundness so I decided to give barefoot a try. Contacted Rockley, my vet was happy to refer us to them but there was a 10 week waiting list so I decided to do it myself. Shoes came off end of last November and we started walking in hand on concrete and gravel surfaces. March this year he was sound on the hard surface at trot in a straight line and had gone from 3/10ths lame on a circle to 1/10th so we started walk hacking with a build up of trot work. September this year at our one year review my vet signed him off with the words "that's amazing".
Last week we hacked 6 days as as I was off work, we did 20 Miles including lots of trot. We've done a few light schooling sessions and pole work which I'm hoping to build up after Christmas.

 

[tallyho!]

If the horse world viewed shoes as not permanent fixtures for horses feet, and viewed more as temporary solutions, we would definitely see less extensive damage. Much of which is masked by shoes themselves and may not manifest for many years.

I do believe the standard of shoeing is not universal and whilst I've seen a few well shod horses with proper balanced support, the majority of pathologies are from examples of truly poor work which leads to a cascade of issues.

 

[scats]

Mine did his DDFT severely in 2014. He was also found to have advanced navicular. He's a stress colicker so box rest was a no go. We stabled overnight and turned him out during the day for 10 months.

He came sound enough for light hacking and schooling, but 12 months later started randomly spooking violently and spinning. He had time off for a field injury and we used again and still the same. Sent him for back X-rays and he had kissing spines, so we retired him. He did seem to cope fine with light schooling and hacking thought after the DDFT, but I'd never have jumped him, galloped him under saddle etc.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

Rockley all the way. Remedial shoeing and box rest are the worst things to do. Vets are light years behind typically in their approach.

 

[[131452]]

I was just about to post a thread when I saw this!
My IDx age 17 has had on and off very low level lameness for about a year , at one point Vet even described it as stiffness. Then he suddenly went severely lame in mid September. X-rays showed that he’s got rather large side bones in both fronts and a fracture in the right fore that he’s lame on.
He had an MRI on 03 November that revealed a 3 cm tear in the DDFT right below the navicular. A week later he had the steroid injection followed by egg bar shoes (he cannot go without shoes , he can barely walk without his fronts). He’s actually come sound with the injection which Vet feels is very positive but also to be kept in mind that it’s the effect of the steroid, not that he’s suddenly “healed “.
He’s mainly on box rest but goes out for an hour or two into a small pen most days. He’s coping with the rest surprisingly well, which is a huge weight off my mind.
I have physio coming tomorrow for first visit to help him with general stifness.
The plan is to rest him until the new year and if he’s still sound then start to slowly exercise him. We’ve recently moved to a fab yard where we have a horse walker , treadmill and a spa as well as two big schools so we have access to plenty of good tools and surface to work on.
My Vet feels optimistic that he will come back to the job he has -hacking out. I like to hack out for hours at a time and cover a fair bit of ground so whether he can come back to that I’m not sure.
I’m a bit desponded hearing the mixed experiences people have, though

 

[stencilface]

Don't worry, 17 is young (same age as mine lol) you still have time to research barefoot and try that

 

[[131452]]

I know where you’re coming from and completely agree that for some horses and ponies barefoot does Work and might be best but mine literally can’t walk without at least the fronts on. He’s also got an old seedy toe (that might in fact be a keratoma ) and he needs the shoe to keep the hoof supported.

 

[ycbm]

I know where you’re coming from and completely agree that for some horses and ponies barefoot does Work and might be best but mine literally can’t walk without at least the fronts on. He’s also got an old seedy toe (that might in fact be a keratoma ) and he needs the shoe to keep the hoof supported.

No, neither could my first rehab. He had to be shod one foot at a time because he could not stand on a bare foot to have the other shoe put on. After nine months he was doing BE Novice again.

Covering it with a shoe is not a good way to cope with seedy toe, in fact most seedy toe is probably caused by shoes.

 

[[131452]]

He was neglected as a youngster, he’s a rescue originally and his passport photos are disgusting ! That’s when the seedy toe happened, definitely not caused by shoes as he had none and his toes were starting to curl up
The MRI suggests that it may be a keratoma but as long as it doesn’t affect him the Vet doesn’t want the foot messed with unnecessarily.
I’m not prepared to put him through agony , particularly as he seems better in his new shoes (started eating properly for example ).

 

[JDH01]

Probably going to be shot down in flames on this one but having gone down the bar shoe root and then the turn out root and then the rockley route to no avail work out your own plan and go with your gut and if you feel it it is is right pts

 

[[131452]]

Thanks for that. He seems good at the moment but he’s on box rest, if he was on normal turn out it might be a different story . I feel very strongly that the plan at the moment is the best option, I’m not prepared for him to be in a lot of pain trying to get him to go barefoot and plus he has that weakness in the other front foot.
Is your horse still with you?

 

[ycbm]

Probably going to be shot down in flames on this one but having gone down the bar shoe root and then the turn out root and then the rockley route to no avail work out your own plan and go with your gut and if you feel it it is is right pts

I'm not going to shoot you down in flames because of course there are some failures. But the simple fact it's that there are three to four times more failures by going the shoeing and box rest route than there are by going the barefoot route.

One complaint I have about Rockley is that they don't tell us about the failures. Your horse went there and wasn't resolved, can you tell us more? Did it improve at all?

 

[ycbm]

He was neglected as a youngster, he’s a rescue originally and his passport photos are disgusting ! That’s when the seedy toe happened, definitely not caused by shoes as he had none and his toes were starting to curl up
The MRI suggests that it may be a keratoma but as long as it doesn’t affect him the Vet doesn’t want the foot messed with unnecessarily.
I’m not prepared to put him through agony , particularly as he seems better in his new shoes (started eating properly for example ).

Thanks for that explanation. It does make things very complicated for you.

If he stops eating again then you could maybe reconsider. It isn't agony turned out, and they get through the really sore on concrete stage quite quickly.

Best wishes.

 

[welsh_horses]

My mare had a tear in hind ddft. Vets gave a 50/50 prognosis on whether she would come back to ridden work. She had keyhole surgery in breadstone. We then had 6 months box rest followed by months of walking inhand. Was allowed on restricted turn out about 10 months after surgery, then turned away for a few months. Brought back into work slowly and 5 years down the line we are affiliated bd (for the last 2 years), hoping to step up to medium next year and even pop round the odd showjumping course. It is a long process but they can come right. Best of luck with your horse

 

[ycbm]

Probably going to be shot down in flames on this one but having gone down the bar shoe root and then the turn out root and then the rockley route to no avail work out your own plan and go with your gut and if you feel it it is is right pts

Can you please tell us whether your horse actually went to Rockley, or whether you tried a home rehab? Also, I'd find some information about the original injury helpful of you could give it.

I am particularly interested in researching failures. I have had one failure where the horse had a spur on the navicular bone. I would not try to rehab another like it.

 

[claracanter]

My mare had a tear in hind ddft. Vets gave a 50/50 prognosis on whether she would come back to ridden work. She had keyhole surgery in breadstone. We then had 6 months box rest followed by months of walking inhand. Was allowed on restricted turn out about 10 months after surgery, then turned away for a few months. Brought back into work slowly and 5 years down the line we are affiliated bd (for the last 2 years), hoping to step up to medium next year and even pop round the odd showjumping course. It is a long process but they can come right. Best of luck with your horse

A couple of years ago, my boy did a DDFT. Scans revealed nothing but there was a small amount of fluid at the back of the hoof( not sure what that bit is called: bottom of pastern??) so he had a steroid injection into there and then was box rested for two weeks and then out on restricted turnout. He came sound and when he was able to go out in a full size paddock 24/7 I turned him away for about 4/5 months until it was obvious he was bored silly, so I began controlled exercise.He is a very fizzy fellow so it was all a bit of a struggle through the rehab to keep a lid on him. Anyway he came back ok and I've done low level dressage with him. This June he had a re occurrence and was very lame again, had fluid again. He had another steroid injection, 5 days box rest, restricted turnout and came sound in about a month. Now back in work again, cantering really nicely. My only problem is he is a very quirky fellow who needs a lot of work to keep him sane but I don't feel I can give it to him because I don't want to push is leg. I will never jump him again and I'm very careful with ground conditions etc. and I will have a serious think if it happens again, but he has recovered without much intervention.

 

[LPL]

My pride and joy had a surgical flush for a septic tendon sheath as a result of a ‘superficial change’ to his DDFT which they could obviously only see when he had surgery via a scope. Surgery went really well but the period after didn’t. He couldn’t cope being turned out in the small pen by himself and paced constantly. We tried 6 weeks and the vets assessment was ‘he’s not horribly lame’ and considered his movement more of a weakness than lameness.

Anyway management still wasn’t working out, he would pace all day then come into his stable and rest it and it would swell and so on and so forth. So I’ve turned him out for 6 months and going to reasses in April. He’s obviously got his shoes off.

To me, it seemed to be stiffness around the surgery sites with some quite hard scar tissue as opposed to a specific lameness. But we’ll see I guess. He is only 6 so tentatively hopeful for a recovery. I can not afford to MRI so will only know Based on how sound he is.

It seems there is no hard and fast way to recovery. But EVERYONE I have spoken to has said shoes off. So here we are!

 

[Hoof_Prints]

My mare had a nasty tear in her DDFT, in an unusual and bad place apparently on the distal medial margin. She was on 7 weeks box rest with "in hand walking" which was in fact running off on the lead rope and broncing on an icy yard / charging around the field buted up with bar shoes. She was operated on prior to this and the scarring was so bad on the tendon sheath , they couldn't even reach the tendon so prognosis was poor. Eventually we gave up on the box rest as every day was a rodeo on the ice, whipped the shoes off and chucked her in a field for a couple of months. After an initial run around the field she settled down, and I very gradually started riding from 5mins walking, to 10 mins with trot out hacking only, no circles.

After 6 months she was schooling for half an hour and 11 months later she did her first jump. We fed her MSM and other tendon supplements for years, she returned to be a tank of a hunter , doing full days over deep and hard ground, jumping 4ft hedges! She never had a days lameness on it and did lots of fast galloping and jumping. Very sadly we lost her early this year to hairline fractures in the hocks and subsequent arthritis (field accident) . She was nwb lame to begin with, and apart from a little bump where the operation was, you'd have never known she had a problem with it.

 

[kathantoinette]

My cob had two tears in the DDFT, was turned out (no box rest) with heart bar front shoes (with raised heel) for 11 months then began walk work in month 12. Been in full fitness for the last 8 months, hacking and schooling, no jumping. All good up to now

Good luck