How do you manage your DDFT horses?

[Aragon56]

I have a mare thats a light hack only due to a DDFT injury she sustained in March 08; the vet who did her MRI scan last year couldn't recommend any treatment for it, as its too severe an injury. However apart from bute when she needs it, she doesn't seem to be in any pain, and still gallops around the field. Some days she looks fine, other days she will be slightly unlevel but never hopping lame. I last had a vet look at her tendons last December, and she recommended putting her on devils claw to ease the stiffness which I did.

Last summer I did manage to do a bit of hacking on her and she felt fine, even in trot and a little canter in the school, she then started getting bullied in the field and went lame again, we moved her and she had the whole winter off in the field. This summer she has been ridden a handful of times, just hacking at walk. She feels ok in walk, but not in trot. I don't think she is in pain otherwise I wouldn't ride, but I can tell she is feeling it a bit at the end of a ride so I get off. She lives on fresh air so I haven't been giving her any devils claw, as she really doesn't need hard feed in the summer and I have trouble keeping her at a reasonable weight as it is.

I'm just wondering how best to manage it this winter? How often do you exercise your horses if they have this type of injury, and what work do you do with them? Are there any boots or wraps I should be using at night when she's stabled?

I'd prefer not to put her on bute long term, but I'm not sure if devils claw has really had much effect on her. I guess I could try danilon, or boswellia? I put her on tendoneaze last winter too but it did nothing except cost me a lot of money, and she refused to eat her food most of the time because it smelt so awful!

I'm not aiming to jump or do fast work or anything like that, but I would like to get her sound enough so that we could have a trot in the school or on soft ground. I think she really misses being out and about, the times we have hacked out she's enjoyed it and seems to have chilled out a lot, hardly any spooking compared to how she used to be!

Another thing in her regime this winter that will be different to last years is that she will be stabled at night, so I was hoping that might do her some good. last year the field got so muddy it really didn't help her tendons.

Thanks

 

[tabithakat64]

If your horse is now more lame than she was a few months ago I would advise getting her rescanned in case further damage has occured.

Based on what you've said above I would wait and see what your vet recommends but it sounds as though your mare in only comfortable with hacking in walk and not of soft ground, I would also be thinking about changing her turnout regime so she isn't out in deep mud, being bullied or galloping around much.

She sounds very similar to my own horse.

My horse tore (4cm horizontal tear over his fetlock joint) last November. My vet could find nothing seriously wrong with him (despite nerve blocking, x-rays and scans) so after 6 weeks box rest he was turned away and went lame again.

He was finally referred to Rossdales in February where they ended up operating to cut his annular ligament to releave the pressure on the tendon and also neaten up the injury site. Since then he has had two IRAP injections, he goes back for a third injection and his final scan next month.

Following surgery I used a magnetic wrap on the leg and started feeding MSN.

He had a couple of months of in-hand walking, followed by riding 30 minutes maximum in walk on a flat hard surface and restricted turnout in a 15x15 pen.

A couple of weeks ago he went out in a small flat field with a quiet companion and I also started trot work.

My vet has currently said he will be able to do very light hacking a few times a week and maybe some in-hand showing as he will never be completely sound. He will also need to be turned out in a flat well drained field in a small quiet group. Obviously this diagnosis may change when he goes for his final assessment.

 

[Izzwizz]

Hi my mare tore her tendon deep within her hoof in March 09. She had months of box rest as it was at first thought she had a bone chip which was causing her the pain at first. It was properly diagnosed via MRI last Sept. She had a lot of box rest and was brought back into ridden work Feb this year with lots of walking out, gradually increasing the time etc. We started trot work a couple of months later. She was turned out 24/7 in May on her own but next to others and we havent really looked back since. Shes ridden most days, hacking out, and we have recently started school work again, slowly but surely and only for 15mins after a walk first round the block. We had out first canter today in our lesson and all fine.

She has egg bar shoes on and will continue to do so into next year. I feed her NAF MSM twice daily with a bit of hard feed, shes a good doer but is on a near enough bald paddock. She gets a bit of haylage on a morning. Keeping them trim is a key factory as too much weight doesnt help. Izzy does sometimes feel her tendon I think though I also thinks its to do with adhesions which may have formed during the healing process that bother her, vet seems to think so too. I will never lunge her again as too much risk and stress on all body parts and probably wont jump her again (pity). We did however, do our first walk trot dressage comp last saturday and came 3rd in two classes so she is doing really well.

Through winter she will have a bit of turnout but I will monitor it as the mud doesnt help these sorts of injuries. I cold sponge her legs down when shes had harder work than usual and she doesnt wear boots atall. You have to be careful with them as they can heat the tendons up which is what you dont want to do. When she was on box rest I did use magnetic wraps to help with the blood circulation as this isnt great in horses legs from the knee down and they seemed to help with the healing. Unfortunately these injuries take ages to heal and roadwork seems to be the key with recovery. You may just have to do lots of walking for the immediate future and see how it goes. As other poster says maybe a re-scan is in order too. Izzy has no pain relief as I wouldnt want her to not feel it if she overdoes it in the field.

Good luck with it, there is hope for these injuries. I thinks its just a time and management thing. PM me if you want any other info. Your horse may just be suffering from adhesions pain, ask your vet for advice.

 

[Aragon56]

Unfortunately the insurance ran out on her tendons a long time ago, so I don't think I could justify rescanning her. It cost nearly £1000 last time and it doesn't seem worth it as she is semi retired now, all I want to do is make sure she's comfortable and hack out a bit. I think even the vet at Oakham who scanned her thought she was a bit of a lost cause, he didn't think it was bad enough to put to sleep, but her options were basically put her in foal (which I'm definitely not going to do), retire her or maybe lightly hack only if I'm lucky.

Her turnout has changed a lot since last year, she is no longer with a big group of horses as we moved her home, so now she just has my other horse with her and they get on well. Its usually her being silly in the field though and winding the other one up, although I always think at least she can't be hurting if she's hooning around having a good time, much as it makes me anxious! The field is well drained, but last year it got really churned up and we had no stables at the time so it was difficult to give it a proper rest. This year I think will be different.

I think I will try MSM and maybe consider a different type of shoeing, perhaps egg bar to see if that makes a difference. I also don't ever lunge or do tight circles, and she will never jump again. I don't boot her either as I know it can heat the tendons up-I did investigate getting some airflow ones but apparently they only work at fast speeds so theres no point. Perhaps I could try magnetic wraps to help with the blood flow when she is stabled at night this winter.

When I next have the vet out I'll ask if theres anything else she can recommend. She has had pretty much 2 and a half years off though so I don't think her tendons are going to get any better than they currently are. I would guess she has probably only been ridden about 20 times since she injured herself in 2008, so not a lot.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

 

[Izzwizz]

Sounds like your doing as much as you can do at the moment. I think the stabling will help her rest properly and the less time in the mud if it gets bad will most certainly help. The advice given with my magnetic boots was not to use for long periods of time so overnight may not be a good idea. You will have to look into that one. My guess is that its probably adhesions that are causing the discomfort, its a bit like scar tissue where the tendon fibres havent aligned properly. It affects the elasticity of the tendon and its ability to cope with stresses and strains, same as us really. Egg bars may help if the tendon is a bit tight, your farrier will know. Hope that helps.