Fired tendons? (Also in NL)

My exracehorse has been bar fired. It is a method used (not so much these days - think its illegal in England but legal in Ireland) where the tendon has either hot bars or hot pins pressed against it which burns the leg. This is supposed to encourage healing of the tendon by increasing the blood supply and generally sending lots of healing stuff down to the tendon. It is barbaric and noone is quite sure whether it does work or not although the theory is good. It is done under sedation/anasthetic.
 
Great, thanks.
From responses in NL opinion seems to be it can strengthen the tendons..? Do you know anything along those lines?
It's a potential horse i am talking about, who sounds like a sweetie in other ways, but I do need to know if the tendon thingy would affect his ability to event at a low level?
 
No, firing doesnt strengthen the tendons. As guildford said, it creates an inflammatory response so ther is increased blood flow to the limb in the hope that it promotes healing. Nice theory but this neglects the basics of tendon physiology!

A healthy tendon is like a crimped elastic band. By firing a tendon it creates scar tissue and massively reduces the elasticity. Less elasticity means reduced function and more chance of injury.

I have known horses that have been fired and carried on competing but at the end of the day a fired tendon will never be as good as an unfired one!

And i also think it is a horrific practice!
 
hi, we have a pony thats fired, we had tried everything else, and touch wood its definatly made a huge improvement to him. i think that it does something to put the elasticity back into the tendon. we do showjump him but only twice a month and always on a good surface. i suppose we are a little over the top with him but its taken two years to get to this point.

dont think it would put me off buying one to hack about on but i do think to event they have to be tough and sound.
 
It's absolutely barbaric and only done so that a horse can continue racing for his owners, NOT done for the horse's benefit. Like those "house" cats in America that are de-clawed so they don't damage the furniture doing what cats do. Or fighting pit bulls that have their ears cropped so that they are less likely to get ripped off in a dog fight. Like the Spanish horses that work in the bullrings - they are de-voiced so their screams don't upset the audience. All good for people (some would argue) but not good for the animal.
 
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