Kick tendon injury - how long off and what rehab?

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kit279

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My black horse, Kallie, was kicked back in November - a high kick above the right hock which caused some damage to the flexor tendor. He had 4 months box rest and was quiet as a mouse for this and the subsequent scans have been really good and the tendon has healed well, which the vets say is in keeping with the mechanism of injury as traumatic injuries seem to heal up better than spontaneous 'wear and tear'. The vets were keen on a controlled programme of walking then trotting and cantering before turning out but I'm away too much for that to be feasible so we doped him and turned him out and he was great, really quiet with minimal antics. He's been turned away in the field for 2-3 months now and looks great - sound, fat (amazing for him!) and happy.

I've been thinking about when I should start to bring him back into work and wondering about other people's experiences. The vets are happy for some quiet work but Kal is my absolute favourite horse of all time and he can have as much time off as he needs. However, looking at him, he is sound and the leg has healed and at some point he will come back into work - the question is when and how.

Any thoughts very welcome.

Here is the boy recently :)



 
Hi,

My horse had a tendon injury almost 10 years ago now, when I got him. He was a point to pointer and came to me with the injury. He is 17.2 and chestnut, so the thought of containing him in a small area was not appealling!! He was on box rest, then turned out in a small yard, before going out to the field. But I was told right from the start, by my vet (who is an equine specialist) if I wanted to gaurntee that it was not going to cause any more problems then it would be 1 year untill I sat on him again! It was 1 year to the day after I got him before I rode him...and touch wood he has never had any problems with it and I hunt, compete, do common ridings etc but I think you are best to take advice from a vet on subjects like the tendons, they can cause so many issues in the long run, just becuase he is 'sound' does not mean that he is ready to work on it. There can be very slight unsoundness that is hard to see. My advice...stick to what the vet says, its not worth risking a horse of a life time....Luckily my gamble paid off and I got my horse of a life time!
 
I am really interested to hear the progress of your boy, my horse suffered near identical injury - a kick above the hock, and the tendon was at least 50% severed (I assume this is more so than your boy?). This happened on Xmas day, he spent 6 weeks box rest, then did 6 weeks swimming, then we commenced 8 weeks of walking (which was hell!). The scan has now shown that it has healed well, but there is some scar tissue which the vet described as inelastic, therefore under any strain it may tear bits of this scar tissue and make him sore. Also, the fetlock on that leg drops ever so slightly more (he's sound though).
So now he has been turned out, the vet suggested for 4 months, with light varied work a couple of times a week, and then to 'crack on'.

Sorry for the essay about my horse, but I am interested in the comparisons, my vet thought it quite a rare sort of place to injure!
I would imagine the 'traditional' way of bringing a horse back to fitness would be best in this case, lots of walking of increasing times, my vet suggested on hard surfaces to provide a firm buffer for the tendon, building up to trot and canter etc. Your horse is further down the road than my boy, and the exercise is good to help repair and 'align' the tendon tissue. My horse's 'controlled walking' involved much broncing, rearing, and general bad behaviour so I can't believe his leg was hurting him too much!
 
I suppose the most important thing will be regular controlled walk work building up in length of time.

If the scans show the injury is healed, then you could do this from any time from now onwards.

For me it then boils down to when, in the grand scheme of life & work, you can devote the time to do it.
 
My horse struck into his front superficial flexor. He wasn't lame, but a scan showed a very small hole. He was box rested and walked out in hand for 3 weeks, then turned out for two months. He is now back on walking road work (led off another horse). I'm making sure that if he's not on the road, then he's on a "sound" surface, ie no soft patches, ruts etc. I'm probably being a bit precious, but as the latest scan shows he has healed completely, I don't want to aggravate anything, as the plan is to get him out competing in about 6 weeks time, when he's hardened up. I know that its hard if you are working, but they do need consistancy in the work, and really if you want him to compete again, time is going to need to be spent on him. Its all worth it in the long run!
 
As others really. Mine struck into himself out field and the vet was suprised at how little damage he had done considering the 'size' of his leg when he first saw him, but I think this was more due to the fact he had broken his skin so was swollen more from that.

I would start with walking twice daily (all I could do and in hand to start). Starting with 4 minutes and building up to 45 mins (yes very early starts before work!!!).

My vet told me as mine was a bigger (17hh), solid looking chap and that I was littler and he knew I was a decent (ish!) rider whoose balance wasn't going to affect the horse, that he said I would be ok to ride him. I didn't until he was built up to 30mins twice daily, and then prayed ;)

Then I introduced trot similary. All whilst on roads (or hard stone tracks). We have many hills around us though so didn't have much choice but to introduce these quite quickly.

Best of luck
 
One of our family horses did a tendon, he had 6 weeks box rest then a year in the field.
Then he was bought back to fitness properly with 6 weeks walking ect.
He returned to full fitness, hunted, evented, SJ for another 20 years without a lame day and his leg looked completely normal and tight without a mark. You would never known he had an injury.

Time best healer imo
 
Good Lord, he's twice the size of when you first got him :eek::D Nice to see.
I'd be doing a good old fashioned fitness plan, with 50% more of the walk work. But I guess that might be too cautious! Good luck, I bet you can't wait to get back on him. Love to dear old Pipador.
 
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