Deep digital flexor tendon injury

[myprincess]

My horse had an MRI scan and has a lesion in his ddft he is going back for Bursoscopy surgery does anyone have experience of this? My vets being abit vague, they also recommend wedge shoes, would like to hear your experiences and did your horse make a full recovery I like to think he will return to showjumping one day

 

[ycbm]

A lot of the horses with your horse's injury go here. It can also be done at home. Your chances of getting him sound again in shoes, especially wedges, are less than 1in 5, that why your vets are being cagey.

Rockleyfarm.blogspot.com

Lots of people on here have done barefoot rehabs, reword your title including ' in the foot' and lots of people will help you.

 

[Hoof_Prints]

My horse had a bad DDFT tear, in an unusual area that was very likely to re-injure. We had her operated on, the scar tissue was too thick to access the tendon sheath so she was closed back up without anything being done. She had bar shoes put on but my farrier hated them and filed them down to a normal level (we had to keep them on because of the insurance). She hated being kept in and just used to bolt off and bronc around the icy fields when we tried to in hand walk her, so we just took the shoes off and chucked her on in the field. After 7 weeks rest we started very gradual riding work, from 10 minutes walking up to trotting and cantering in straight line for an hour. We did our first jump at 11 months post injury and she has since done 2 hours very intense xc training and full days hunting over 4 foot hedges and galloping down roads ! She has never had a lame day since, she is probably the soundest horse on the yard. We kept the shoes off, fed her MSM for a couple of years to help and she lives out all year round. I hope your horse heals well too !

 

[TheSylv007]

My horse was very slightly lame last year and an MRI which diagnosed a tear in her DDFT in the foot. The tear needed debriding or else the chances of her healing properly were less than 30% as the tendon tissues were misaligned and in a bit of a mess. After she came home from Newmarket she had a bit of box rest and then started walking in hand twice a day. Her op was in August 2014 and I was supposed to build up to half an hour twice a day and then in mid Oct starting riding but I slipped a disc so she carried on walking with various family members I roped in as I couldn't walk! I finally started riding in Feb this year, building up again and at no point has she shown any signs of lameness. She was in her normal shoes during her rehab as the vet advised me not to change anything or else I wouldn't know if any unsoundness was due to being footy or the tendon. I wanted her shoes off in April but the farrier didn't get the memo so shod her. The next shoeing we had the hinds taken off and last week she had the fronts taken off and I hope to keep her that way. So far she's coping very well and her feet are doing well. I'm hacking, schooling and did a dressage test a couple of months ago and she's been fine. I won't jump until she's much fitter and will aim to try in August which will give her a year from her op.
It's gone well for us and even when she escaped from my other half who was walking her on the road, and galloped all the way home, she's never shown any unsoundness since the op. Hopefully you will have a similar result. Whether she remains sound to jump a lot will remain to be seen but I'm hopeful.