DDFT

[Starlite]

My horse is currently awaiting an MRI scan having been lame on his front feet and vets not finding anything on scans/xrays. The vet has said he strongly suspects DDFT.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Have horses recovered from this and into what level of work?

 

[fatpiggy]

My mare kicked herself from behind and sprained her DDF. 3 months of box rest and she was fine again. Trouble was, the boxrest did her arthritis no good at all so I retired her about 12 months later. She has had no further problems with the tendon and unless you look closely the leg looks fine.

 

[Flame_]

My mare has a tear in her DDFT inside the hoof capsule. She also has collateral ligament injuries inside both front feet. She had shock wave therapy, eight weeks box rest with walking in hand, and is now turned away until March. She was given a guarded prognosis with a less than 30% chance of returning to normal work. I hope your horse's injuries aren't as severe as mine.

 

[arrycat]

my horse has been diagnosed with a DDFT injury right inside his foot near his navicular bursa.
I was gutted!!! he has had 5 months of box, rest remedial farriery, with controlled exercise i have for about 3 week now been walking him out under saddle and hes doing ok
i like you dont know what level of work he will be capable of when he returns to full work hopfully he will stay sound
With tendon injuries its just time.... try not to get down hearted and stay postive follow your vets advice and dont be in a hurry to return her to work. i did some studying and omega 3 oils are good for strenghen tendons i also invested in some bi-flow magnet boots hope this helps

 

[RachelB]

My mare tore a hole in her DDFT along the length of the navicular bone in February 2007. She had 4 1/2 months of box rest then 18 months out. It was supposed to be 9 but she got seedy toe (un-related) and had to have extra time out... it did her the world of good though, she's fairly sound if a little cautious and will be hacking out in walk all winter now. She had a 25-30% chance of return to full work according to her MRI report, but in reality as her injury was caused partly by her conformation she won't do more than hack now.
Do a search on the forum for DDFT etc. and loads should come up. If you have any specific questions I am always happy to try to answer them from my extensive research and experience

 

[KIMBY]

My mare has collateral ligament damage to the right fore and is on her seventh week of box rest. I have done lots of research and possibly shock wave therapy is next. I today however had a long chat with Vet Cell Bioscience Ltd about stem cell therapy and they are willing to look at the MRI scan and give an opinion but did say the outcome is much better for tendons than ligaments may be worth having a discussion with them i found them very helpful

 

[cyearsley]

My boy had a ddft injury last year, six months off, 3 months gradually increasing work etc and another 3 months just flat work and then gradually introduced poles then jumping to the equation.... We have just completed our first ever sponsored ride jumping about 30 fences (only small ones and on great ground etc etc ) and am overjoyed with him! Has taken all in all just under 18 months to get here and though still slightly paranoid, am optimistic - she says touching wood and saluting magpies!!!

Time, patience, more time and patience and lots of tlc is the best thing to throw at the situation - and of course a great vet!

 

[morgan4eva]

Our horse developed inflammation in both DDFT where they adhere to the pedal bone, one was worse than the other. Total of 3 months box rest, cartrophen injections into navicular bursa and shock wave treatment. Then walking for 6 weeks and then introducing trotting. We are up to 5 minutes per day trotting now and he is looking good. Has egg bar shoes on as well and is turned out in limited area. Vet was quite encourgaing about prognosis as he said it wasnt a bad injury and we had caught it early.

 

[CLB]

My boy had an MRI scan back in Jan, after an undiagnosed injury in Nov (they though he had a bruised foot. The MRI showed leasions on his DDFT. He had a total of 2 mths box rest and then copntrolled walking in straight lines, for 2mths and is now trotting. He started off trotting for 2mins then increasing this by 2mins every 4 days. He was sound but today he was unlevel - im worried my vet has pushed us too quickly hearing about everyone else haveing rest. He is bored out of his mind and has to be sedated every day - im not sure if the kindest thing would be to turn him out for 6mths and then see how it is. I also tried shockwaves, not sure how successful thats been, vet back out this week!

(

 

[RachelB]

CLB - if you're going to turn the horse away, do it properly and make it a year minimum. There's no point wasting time with six month lay-offs IMO, not with something like this. I think they had it right back in the old days when the turfed the horse out, cut its tail off right below the dock, and didn't touch it again until the tail was on the floor!

 

[CLB]

thanks Silmarillion

12mths just seems so incredibly long, but hear what you say HORSES!!! I know everyones horse is special to them but I just feel like it is so unfair!