Deep flexor Tendon?

[mazziek]

Hello,
does anyone have any experience of these injiries? my Highland was x rayed and the vet reconed he had torn his deep plexor tendon in his foot, he has been on newmarket glucosamine supplement for 3 -4 months and he now looks perferctly sound to me, but when can i start riding him again?? bout month after field rest he looked sound, trotting in field lovely. Vet wanted to box rest him but he had other ideas and bust doors down!! Advice would be greatly appreciated, want to get him into hacking again but would rather wait so he perfect.

 

[AmyMay]

What did your vet say about his return to work??

Personally I would say it's too early to return to work - but others may disagree.

In your shoes I think I'd probably be thinking about getting on him towards May/June.

 

[Stasha22]

My mare had a similar injury a few years ago, but she also damaged the collateral ligament. She was off for a year.

 

[kerilli]

tbh tendons need 18 months. a year is not long enough. i know that's really harsh, but in my long and very bitter experience, that's how long it takes. the fact that he's sound/whizzing around the field etc, doesn't alter that fact.
can you have him scanned to see how it's healing? i don't know if it's possible to get an accurate scan in the foot though.
fwiw the old nagsmen used to cut a horse's tail off just below the dock if it did a tendon, and not put it back into work until its tail was fully grown again...
the longer you give him to heal now, the more chance he has of having a long and useful, sound life.

 

[seabiscuit]

18 months minumum field rest.

 

[kerilli]

mazziek, don't forget that the ddft is more important load-bearing wise (and harder to injure) than the sdft. that is a really major injury. if he injures it again and it breaks down completely then it's curtains, quite literally, because that tendon is what holds his foot on to his leg (more or less, don't shoot me, please, experts!)
i know you probably want to get back in the saddle asap, but honestly, the best thing you can possibly do for him is to chuck him out in a big field for at least another year.

 

[meliacaribe]

If he is insured, or if you can afford to do it, you need to establish with your vet whether or not scanning is efficient in the hoof area, and if it is you need to go ahead and get it done. Scanning is a much better way of establishing the degree to which the tendon is damaged. It also means that if you scan it now, you could then scan again in 4-6 weeks time and compare the scans to see the rate of healing. This will then give you a much better idea of when and what you can start doing with him.
Again, if he's insured, there are injections (very expensive) that he could have that would help aid good recovery. Ask your vet about 'Hyonate', it's just worked wonders for an eventer of ours that had slight damage to both front DDFT's!

 

[RachelB]

Firstly, your vet should be the one guiding you and advising you on this. DDFT tears are a major injury. The recommendation for SDFT injuries is approximately a year's box rest, and DDFT tears are much worse so it should be 18 months ish at a guess. My vet wants to re-asses my mare (tore her DDFT along the length of the navicular bone last Feb) in April. She has been sound since September but there's no way I'd cut short her recovery time. I will see what my vet says, and I'd advise you to do the same. I'd say it will be about another year before you can ride unless you want to run the risk of the tear re-opening (which is what happened to my mare, and which is why she will only ever be a happy hacker again IF I'm lucky).

 

[RachelB]

Oh and I forgot to say, if the tear is in the foot as in my mare, it's more than likely you won't get a good enough ultrasound scan to diagnose it. Maiden had MRI which was expensive but WELL worth it.

 

[lucemoose]

MInes got tears in both DDFTs, havent seen scans (nor has my vet grr)
He went lame end of July, diagnosed during August and was on box/small field T/O.
In September he was on proper box rest until he got so lethal in his box he was put in a round pen for T/O.
When he started to go ballistic in there he went out into a small flat field with a dopey companion until December when vet returned and stated she would rather he was box/pen rested again.
Put in a pen, tore of his wedge shoes so is back on box rest until the ground is dry enough.
He will hopefully be turned away to do his thing for a year, I am desperate to give him a fighting chance.
I am allowed to walk him/ride him at the walk which I am doing to keep him sane and also so he gets better on his stupid wedge shoes.
We were diagnosed through nerve blocks and MRI.

 

[mazziek]

Thanks for all your replies, vet said he would be back in work by bout now just gentle 10 mins walking everyday but i wasnt so sure myself, i would rather wait longer till he is 100%, i have been told to get MIR scan but its gonna cost me 2500 unfor dont have that sitting in back pocket! he more than happy in field fighting with his shetland pal! just wondered though how lame were your horses before they weer diagonsed??

 

[RachelB]

My horse went 9/10ths lame the day after her tear. She was then half/10th lame until she was diagnosed by MRI three and a half months later. My MRI only cost £1120 so I don't know where you got your quote from!!
I can't believe your vet would suggest such a short recovery time for a possible DDFT tear. The risk of re-injury is just too high IMO. If I were you I'd give it a year, there's nothing like being over-cautious with tendons. Once a tendon is damaged there is a higher risk of re-injury and consequently a higher risk of complete breakdown. Giving a sufficiently long time for rest and recovery can help a lot. Whether your horse is sound or not I really wouldn't suggest you started riding again yet!
But then again I'm no vet

 

[lucemoose]

To Mazzie, my boy was lame about 4/10ths the day after jumping, though I know he didnt feel good to me the week before.
A day later though and it was back to under 1/10th lame, the vets could barely diagnose due to the lack of lame steps.

To S, I cant believe my vet wants him walking either! Up to 40 mins her words were " just dont go off any precipices!"
Farrier wants me to get him fit and take him jumping..he is sceptical of the severity..

 

[cellie]

My horse tore his but fortunately only 10% tear.He was restricted for 8 weeks box and paddock.It depends on severity check your scans and ask your vet what size tear it was .I didnt start any work until we had the all clear on last scan.
When he came back to work he did one month walking then trot etc.

 

[Gonetofrance]

The only way you can really determine the damage is with a scan.
Some horses are unlevel on a little damage, and some are sound on a lot of damage, and a little bit of heat is the only indication.
18 months should be the timescale. The racehorses that return from injury too soon invariably go again, or never recover their level of form, and the ones that are given time have a much better chance.

 

[Miss Tipps]

I can only re-iterate what everyone else has said - don't skimp on the recovery time. My mare severed her DDFT and after having a tendon split op was off work for 9 months (vets advice). I'm sure it wasn't long enough as I never managed to get her back into work fully despite several attempts. She would seem ok at first, but as soon as I started to increase the intensity of the work she would go lame again and eventually I gave up and had to retire her.