DDFT Tears in hoof

[Lancelot]

My wonderful friend hadn't been right on and off for a while. We did nerve blocks and X-rays and, after the last bout of lameness, he went off for MRI of the front feet.

The MRI has revealed 2 large tears in the deep digital flexor tendon of his right foot. He also has some bone bruising of the pedal bone on both feet, some inflammation at the insertion point of the ddft.

The odds I've been given are that there's a 1 in 8 chance of him returning to be a light (walk) hack, 1 in 3 chance of him being field sound.

The vet suggested 2 courses of action.
1 is to remedially shoe, medicate the foot and follow a controlled exercise programme. There is a slim possibility this route may give us a better chance of returning to low level work but there are no guarantees.
The other is to turn him away for 6 months, let him just be a horse, then bring him back and see what we have. Apparently this reduces the chance of him coming back to work as they tend to move less when left to their own devices in a field.

I decided against the shoeing route, he has been through so much with his front feet, has to be sedated anyway for the farrier & his feet just look sick tbh.

His shoes were taken off about a month ago now and he's looking pretty good. He's not happy over stones but in the field he looks great and perfectly happy. He has flat feet anyway but his diet is (and has been for years) as low in sugar/starch as I can manage so I'm happy I'm doing all I can in that respect.

My thoughts are to give him some more time, until he's really comfy, and then start him on short hand walks on surfaces he's happy with. We also have a matted walker I can use. The movement will increase blood flow to the damaged tendon and as long as he's walking on surfaces he's comfortable on then he should develop the hoof balance he needs.

I'm really interested to hear from anyone who has dealt with this type of injury before. Did your horse come back to any level of work/did you attempt any rehab? If so, how did you rehab? What level were you able to return to?

I am fully aware that the prognosis is very poor for these injuries and am realistic so would love to hear from people whatever the outcome!

Thanks so much

 

[Pinkvboots]

One of my horses had a ddft injury but above the foot in the pastern but unfortunately she never came sound enough to be ridden and my experience is not really the same area, I did want to mention that I would also have gone down the barefoot route rather than the remedial shoeing I believe that in a lot of feet issues the only way forward is to go back to nature and let the horse create the foot it needs, a different condition but one of other horses was diagnosed with very mild navicular so I took his shoes off and he was sound in 3 months, his still sound without shoes and is currently doing a bit of dressage and are hoping to get him out for some elementary tests this winter.

 

[PapaverFollis]

No experience of this but would suggest hoof boots and pads for your inhand walks. That way you have a comfortable, consistent surface for his feet wherever you walk him.

 

[SirBrastias]

My stories similar to Pinkyboots. 30% tear above fetlock and damage around pastern. MRI and PRP injections in Feb, followed by box rest and slow rehab. Originally coped really well with walk only, but after 2 months of introducing small amounts of trot have now turned him away. He wasn't staying sound in trot and the vets felt he was just going to get lamer and lamer.

Idea is to restart in new year and give it another go before insurance runs out but not hopeful (he's only 9).

Spent so long reading up and for every bad outcome there are miracles. At the same time as my ones tendon injury one of the other horses on the yard broke his kneecap in two and is about to come back into (limited) work.

All you can do is your best

Fingers crossed for you and your horse

 

[ycbm]

The prognosis is only very poor for these injuries for conventional treatment with medication and shoeing.

Turning the horse out is not a barefoot rehab,, and as your vets have pointed out movement is required to fix them.

This yard has restored dozens of horses to full soundness after they were written off by expert vets and farriers. See here for pictures and details:

Rockleyfarm.blogspot.com

A rehab is possible at home and without a track system, though more difficult. Many of us on here have done them and will gladly advise you if you choose to go down that route.

 

[Pascal96]

As ycbm has said. Look at Rockley Farm. Nick Barker has and still is achieving great results by taking horses barefoot. It will require a lot of effort on your part but it can be done.

 

[kathantoinette]

My cob had tears to the DDFT in the front hoof. No other damage. Was fitted with heart bar shoes and had a full year off. Brought back into work very steadily and returned to full hacking and schooling at novice level. Did a couple of prelim dressage tests, never jumped him again. He stayed fully sound for 2 years and sadly got diagnosed with lymphoma so was PTS a couple of weeks ago.

 

[fairhill]

My mare was diagnosed with tears in both front feet 2 years ago. Vet said it would never improve due to the scarring and to try remedial shoeing, bute and palliative care.

Instead her shoes came off straight away and I have done a very slow rehab with her.
I changed yards last year to one with 24/7 year round turnout, and less grass so that I could better manage her diet and weight.

She is now fully sound in front, landing heel first, and happily hacks on the roads for a few miles at a time. I could probably do more with her, but haven’t the time or inclination at the moment.

I got the performance hoof, performance horse book from amazon and read lots on here and the rockley website to help me.

Good luck!

 

[Lancelot]

Thanks all for the replies.

I should have explained that the biggest driver for my decision to to take shoes off is that I have an older horse who went through rehab at rockley after a navicular diagnosis some years ago. He is still in work, only light hacking as he is turning 20 next year and gets a bit stiff nowadays. He still enjoys a good canter though!! He taught me lots & I firmly believe this route will give my younger horse the best chance.

fairhill, did you give yours time off before beginning rehab or did you crack on straight away? I'm guessing the tears were diagnosed with MRI; did you re-do the scans after rehab? Just wondering if any improvement was seen?
It's very heartening to hear she has come back into work, I really do think my boy will prove the vet wrong, already he looks to be landing better. I am going to photograph and video this weekend to check for sure.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would turn away make sure you keep the foot balanced and the toe short as possible without making the horse sore with very minimal regular trimming .
I would give a period like this say six weeks or longer and then start a very gentle inhand walking programme and see how you go .
I would feed the forage plus winter performance balancer and keep the horse slim in the past many horses where fixed by prolonged turnout on the hills there’s nothing new under the sun .

 

[fairhill]

She had mri scans after being intermittently lame on the left front for a few months. She had X-rays (clear) and an injection for fetlock arthritis first to rule out everything else. The mri showed significant tears in both feet, with scarring in the left. Vet said she would continue to heal and tear in a vicious cycle. The mri maxed out the insurance and all her legs were excluded at that point so she hasn’t had a repeat scan. I can only go by how she looks and feels, and currently she’s the best she’s been for a couple of years! In front anyway...

Goldenstar has given good advice above. I got the diagnosis just before Xmas so was very much dictated by ground, weather and my time. It was marred with 2 weeks complete box rest after 2 months in (unrelated to the ddft issues) and that absolutely crippled her and set us back months. It showed that movement was key for her recovery though. And I was guided by her e.g. I only started trotting her out when I had seen that she was trotting and cantering in the field. Faster ridden work is still up to her, I don’t push her but when she offers a gallop along the river bank I don’t stop her!

 

[Maclinda]

Haven’t read all the replies to the threat but wanted to let you know about my horse. Four years ago she came in from the field lame and after nerve blocks and MRI scan she was diagnosed with tears to the DDFT in both front feet. Prognosis was incredibly poor and I was basically told it was highly unlikely that she would ever return to work. Best case scenario was she would be able to hack (in walk) down the road and back.

After consultation with my vet and my amazing farrier she was put on box rest for three months and shod with graduated heartbars. After the three month I was allowed to bring her back in to work.

She did have a steroid injection in her off fore once just after she came back but has never had the joint medicated again.

She has now been in full time work for three and a half years, back out jumping (BE100), she is currently doing elementary dressage (not once has a judge questioned her soundness) and this year she became horse champion at a showing Show.

My farrier and my instructor never quit telling people about this “lame” horse that was basically written off.

I’ve had over three amazing years that I never thought I would have so don’t give up hope.

 

[jj_87]

I would be very tempted to use an arc equine if you can. My mare broke per pedal bone wing, the arc was instrumental in her healing. Also just take your time, dont rush it

Good luck

 

[PeggyPatch]

My pony went lame with small tear in one front and inflammation on the other front leg (then due to stop start work of a young pony went lame with stifles on the back two....horses ) Any way.... I took her shoes off, turned her away and tried barefoot (which I'm still a strong believe on the basics of diet etc.). She had hoof boots on even in the field as she become so sore. After a year of trying this and going through 3 vets and being told to PTS (she was 4), I took her to a remedial farrier and alongside a vet they studied her moving with shoes, without, with shims, with wedges etc. and found her best heel first landing was when she was given a bit of a heel (her feet lack them which I'm sure relates to stomach and diet). After nearly a year and a half of being unsound she become sound in her first shoeing cycle (farrier expected 3 before you see a difference). I was told I could ride her then but due to her feeling weak, I actually long lined her for about 4 months in straight lines only. When she was forward and silly I thought she was ready, so started increasing her workload. She's been sound for probably 2 years now with increasing workload. We changed her shoes recently and she's gone back to being a little off, so have now switched back to old shoes and I'm hoping she will come right again (if it ain't broke don't fix it type thing ). I think if we had stuck to old shoes she probably would have been fine and continued her working career (fingers crossed she will).

All that being said, I do think it comes down to her feet not being right probably due to her own metabolic issues (nothing diagnosed). I know you say you work on diet etc but it's probably worth readdressing that as well. As you say, his feet look sick and that is an indicator of something going wrong, which is probably causing your foot issue.

 

[Lancelot]

Thank you for the replies, I am feeling a little more positive atm!

I have an arc equine, I used it for a previous hind suspensory injury, so that's going on every day.
He is looking really well, sound as far as I can see! Considering his shoes have been off for only a few weeks I am really pleased with him.

The plan is to start bringing him back in overnight from 01/10 so am going to start hand walking/using the walker then. He will have had 6 weeks off by that point. I've dug out the rehab plan we had from the vet for his previous suspensory injury and will use that as a guide... it's worked once so fingers crossed!

 

[Lancelot]

Short clip of the boy in question

https://www.facebook.com/1173883409390110/videos/512900502548204/