deep digital flexor tendon?fobbd of by vets???plz help (longish):)

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Jo_Archie

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Hi am pretty confused so going to start from the beging!!!
i own a tb 13yr old had him over 2yrs now lifes never been so simple with him hes a real wuss n has had a hard,busy life on a event yard n done lots of jumping etc!i use him for general hacking,local level stuff n was hoping for some xc!
hes had a few things goin on in the two years i have ownd him,sore back from badly fittd saddle before i got him,stiff in a morning but walks it of after 3 steps,bruised sole,abcesse so we have had a run of bad luck :(
so hes been goin fantastic for months now hackin,schooling etc al the things he loves,i turnd him out 3weeks ago he came in on 3 legs hopping lame got vet said it was abceese,treatd it abit came out not loads he was sound rode him few times fine not lame,2weeks after same again hopping lame infront leg n didnt want to really walk forward also sore in his back legs...
so got vet he said thort it was tendon but wanted him in for xrays.hes been there 3days they ring me last night and say he has ring bone but that is not bothering him could we keep him for more test today they ring n say its deep digital flexor tendon,and he neeeds rest if we get him back to happy hackin n light jumping it wil be an achivement.....
while hes been there hes had nevre blocks she said they didnt make a diffence until she went higher up in the back leg then he went lame in front bad then they blockd his front n he was sound,BUT she said we dont understand this so am not going to tallk to you about it!!
so hes home now only a tiny tiny bit lame in his front leg other then that happy eating etc!
i must add he has a old bired wire injury to his front foot made a real mess of it but dosent realy bother him only hes more sensitive in that hoof but hes had it years.also he has a lod injury to his back leg not sure what he did but he has wingalls etc on that leg!
hes been sound for months and al this is really heart breaking :((
i only want to hack n local show i would neva jump again if he cuddent!!
can they tel a tendon injury from a xray??il feel am been fobd of!! i just want to get to the bottom of his strange spells he has like stiffness in the morning,when he rests hes stiff coming out of it then fine...i want to understand al this to help him n make the right choices by him!!
also there is not really much swelling in the back leg either???
walkd him up n down tonite to check him hes only a tiny bit head bobbing with his front leg but he walks that fast he does head bob...
al help info greatful :)))
 
Have a friends horse who is just coming to the end of 3 months complete box rest due to DDFT injury, this was in her hoof and only found via an MRI scan. She had initially gone hopping lame but was then only about one to two tenths lame, this was over a period of 10 months (just been used for very light hacking during this time) before it was decided enough was enough and the MRI was done at Liverpool. The prognosis is not great - anything between 2 and 30% to become hacking sound.
 
hi thanks for the reply..hes only had xrays so they wouldent be able to tel would they with out a mri???
yea hes not very lame now at all really in his back hinds hes sore in his front leg/foot!
they said the ddft is in the hind leg..
what was your friends horse like??simptioms??
he only came in hopping lame 3weeks ago n showd al signs of foot abcesse.
then it happend again n then he was sore in the back n hes a 100 times better again now???
is there signs for a ddft injury??if not i may have to send him for a mri scan !
thanks for the info
 
No they cannot diagnose a tendon injury from an xray, if the injury is low down in the foot then only an mri will be able to find it. An ultrasound scan will be able to locate the injury if it is above the foot. Sometimes they aren't very lame even if the injury to the tendon is quite bad, so I would advise caution & discuss thoroughly with your vet.
 
Hello, friends horse went from sound to hopping lame whilst out hacking, then varying degrees of lameness inbetween. When she got to Liverpool she was only about one tenth lame on a hard surface on a circle, yet the diagnosis is very poor. She comes off box rest next week, then it's 9 months in a paddock! I do wonder if a lot of the damage could have been avoided if she'd been MRI 'd earlier rather that continued being worked (albeit very lightly) and turned out. Hope your boy is okay!
 
hey yeah think maybe a MRI may be the way forward!lucky the big changes in him only happened 3weeks ago n hes only been rode twice in walk!hes 90% sound bless him n seems ok in himself!hopfuly he wil recover good :) he dosent have much luck :( i hope because of his injurys already from yrs ago it dosent restrick his healing??....i hope we get back to doing what we love :)
theres no more then normal heat/swelling in his leg.....hes always been bit stiff in a morning n whens hes been resting etc til he walks it of!also the vet said he had ring bone in the same leg but that dosent bother him..she also said he has alot of thing that hes lived with al his life n wil for the rest of it n porb not borther him!!!its so upsetting :(
 
spoke to the Vet today, i mentioned MRI, she says that would only be usefull if the issue was in his foot, which it isnt, it is higher up. She also says stem cell therapy would be no good as the tear is not in 1 place, there are a couple of tears, which are small, but also very common in horses.

so in the end she has basically said today, that plenty of box rest, very light excercise, maybe try magnetic boots, and in time he should be fine for Hacking and most probably light jumping, but no serious eventing.

if this is all correct then i suppose it could be a lot worse!!!
 
so the vets must have scanned the leg as well to know that he has 2 tears? will take 6 months of box rest/paddock rest to mend then youo will have to carefully have to bring him into work, lots of walking. ideally rescan the leg before bringing back into work to see if the tears have mended properly. hope he comes good for you. they dont always seem lame with a tendon injury.
 
If you look at my old posts you will see what I went thro when my horse injured her DDFT 2 years ago. She came sound so dont lose heart. Treatment involved box rest, remedial shoes, hand walking, ridden work whilst stabled (that was interesting as she got fitter), a re-scan (MRI) as her injury was within her hoof and eventually turnout. Unfortunately shes injured the other leg tearing round the field in March, thankfully the injury isnt so bad this time.

PM me if you want any further info.
 
Puzzled said:
Have a friends horse who is just coming to the end of 3 months complete box rest due to DDFT injury, this was in her hoof and only found via an MRI scan. She had initially gone hopping lame but was then only about one to two tenths lame, this was over a period of 10 months (just been used for very light hacking during this time) before it was decided enough was enough and the MRI was done at Liverpool. The prognosis is not great - anything between 2 and 30% to become hacking sound.
Click to expand...

The prognosis of horse with DDFT injury inside the foot with a barefoot rehab appears to be at least 80%, and most of those horses are among the at least 70% who have already failed to come sound with standard medication/remedial shoeing/rest. The barefoot rehabs, in addition, are not "hacking sound" they are hunting and jumping sound.

If your horse does turn out to have a DDFT injury inside the foot, look at rockleyfarm.co.uk
 
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