Life after tendon injury

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JoshuaR97

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My horse has been off since Feb.. He is just being left until Spring of next year and I'll get a vet out to review him but he is still not 100%.. But I'm trying to keep thinking positive that he'll come sound but if did what would he be able to do with an 'old injury' just light hacking? I know some go back to full work but I'm not sure I would want to risk it happening again..
 
Lots of horses with tendon injuries come back to a normal life, just give yours lots of time, that's the best "cure". How old is your horse and what do you use him for ?
 
bonny said:
Lots of horses with tendon injuries come back to a normal life, just give yours lots of time, that's the best "cure". How old is your horse and what do you use him for ?
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He's 11 dutch warmblood.. low level show jumping and hacking really.. so he was never doing anything hard working with me
 
I imagine he will be fine for that, most horses need at least a year off and then to go slowly for a while but once fit again he should be ok....just be sensible with his work for a few months.
 
bonny said:
I imagine he will be fine for that, most horses need at least a year off and then to go slowly for a while but once fit again he should be ok....just be sensible with his work for a few months.
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Yes hopefully.. Somedays he looks better then others but doesn't help when he wants to be a prat in the field but then my farrier says he can't be in pain if he wants to mess around.. Hmm guess time will tell
 
The more time you can give him the better the chances of a lasting recovery. Whatever time you think he will need, double it if you can.
 
DunDally said:
The more time you can give him the better the chances of a lasting recovery. Whatever time you think he will need, double it if you can.
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The last review he had the vet's said he is better but not 100% and to just turn him away until Spring and then we'll review him and go from there.. Hopefully a few more months rest and it will hopefully have done the trick but the trouble is I can't wait forever because I'm currently riding my 14.1 and being 6'3 I'm just a tiny bit to big for him so might have to think about buying another one and still keeping my warmblood
 
JoshuaR97 said:
My horse has been off since Feb.. He is just being left until Spring of next year and I'll get a vet out to review him but he is still not 100%.. But I'm trying to keep thinking positive that he'll come sound but if did what would he be able to do with an 'old injury' just light hacking? I know some go back to full work but I'm not sure I would want to risk it happening again..
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My horse did his tendon in 2013 ( april ) i managed with slow intro to get him to 1 minute trot in 1/2 hr ride before it went again- we had steroids 3 times> Feb this year after it went again I gave him 3 months off and brought him back at snails pace ie 4 months of in hand walking before a rider. it went again 6 weeks ago so ripped shoes off selling his stuff - he is now retired aged 14.
 
My mare had a tiny 4mm tear in her tendon. Vet said 6 months but I gave her a year off as I wanted to make sure it was completely healed and then she was back to full work. She competes at 1* level so it hasn't effected her at all. I just have to be very picky about the ground I run her on, nothing hard! She has boots with strike guards in as hers was caused by impact from only having brushing boots on. I also have a very strict routine for her legs after fast work and xc to make sure they cool quickly.
Just take your time and see how he is. Time really is the best healer for these types of injuries.
 
My oldie (at least 18 when he did it) perforated his tendon - vet said the scan resembled something close to Swiss cheese.

Anyway, he had all the remedial work the vets could offer for the first 6 months...still 2/10ths lame.

We turned him away as a companion thinking he would never come good, took 18 months before he was field sound and 24 before he was ridden again...but eventually he was doing everything (and more!) that he did beforehand including jumping ...so...moral of the story is that it takes time but most horses do come sound in the end.

Mine then spent the next 5 years teaching all the kids on the yard to ride, he was a massive favourite right up until his death (colic)
 
Mine managed to do both forelegs tendons at the same time at beginning of Nov. he was supposed to be box rested for a month. I had to turn him out after 2 weeks as he was getting so stressed and showing colicky symptoms. He had scans and field rested until the following Sept when I was able to start in-hand work with him. We went on to do HT, SJ at about my max height of 2'6" (coz I prefer to be closer to the ground than flying in the air!).

Time is the best healer and of course being sensible afterwards. I didn't boot/bandage as the heat is supposed to make the fibres more susceptible to stretching causing damage.
 
JoshuaR97 said:
The last review he had the vet's said he is better but not 100% and to just turn him away until Spring and then we'll review him and go from there.. Hopefully a few more months rest and it will hopefully have done the trick but the trouble is I can't wait forever because I'm currently riding my 14.1 and being 6'3 I'm just a tiny bit to big for him so might have to think about buying another one and still keeping my warmblood
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Fair enough, I only speak from my own experience. My horse has done his tendon twice. The first time flowed vets instructions to the letter with regard to box rest, walking out, introducing footwork etc. All was good for a year or so and then the tendon went again (he had not been jumped, just low level dressage and hacking). So he was turned away for a year, then lightly hacked for a year then, due to other circumstances (mine not his) he was turned away for another 6 months. He was then scanned and the hole was completely healed. He was brought back into work and today he won his first novice dressage test with 77%. I had no other horse to ride while he was out of action. It was tough going but worth it. Whichever way you do it I wish your horse a full recovery
 
mine had a bad tendon tear in a place difficult to heal (low down, but not quite inside the hoof ddft). vet said she'd never come back right and would not be able to jump, and if she did.. it would be small jumps on bute. 2 years down the line she was doing hours of XC over big jumps, winning at 1m show jumping and now she's decided she loves hunting and happily jumps huge hedges all day out hunting! she's not been lame since. She went barefoot and we keep her living out, ditched the box rest and bar shoes after gradually lowering them, she has fronts on now as she had her foot butchered due to an abscess and she is still going strong. She also hammers down the road at 100mph out hunting for hours so she's clearly fully healed! never shoes the slightest lameness. The vets can be all doom and gloom but that's better than giving you false hope I suppose, just try to keep them moving so the fibres can line up linear (think of elastic) as scar tissues healed up all criss crossed so it can't stretch easily, if the horse is built up slowly the fibres will align and return to good elasticity so there is less chance of re-injury. She's never been on any bute since the injury. good luck!
 
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Reading these posts are making me so much more positive about my mare. I left her with a trusted friend whilst I went to Malawi for a month, when I came back she had sore soles of her feet and a 1 cm tear in her DDFT (straight through the tendon) just behind her Navicular :( We are now on our 5th month of no riding, just walking in hand for an hour a day in total :'( she is 1/10 lame on her left fore still- although my vet has told me to crack on with riding now, I am so reluctant to as she was used as a SJ/Hunter before and ideally I'd love to be able to pop her over some show jumps again as she will never be a dressage horse with her patience (or lack of it) and she LOVED to jump. Its quite hard sometimes reading other forums where the prognosis is all bad - I'm just struggling to stay motivated with her, and now the weather is getting bad I've began to bring her in off the wet mud so not to stress her tendon even more. She is such a diamond of a horse, I really want her to be able to jump again- I am blessed that I will be able to hack her out on her leg if it stays like this and doesn't improve anymore, but for her sake, she is too intelligent and forward to plod about. If anyone who has had success with this type of injury has any tips or recommendations to help with her recovery that would be greatly appreciated. TIA x
 
I got a pair of magnetic boots from eBay. No brand and they were only about £10. I put them on everyday for a bit when she was injured. Not sure if they helped but vet said they were worth trying and I still use them to this day on her legs after competing.
Just allow lots of time to recover. I have seen a few with tendon injuries get pts due to riders not allowing enough time off or they rush the very slow process of bringing them back in to work (one brought theirs back into work for quite a bad tendon injury, within a month was doing BE on the poor thing and of course it broke down again and she had it shot).
 
Llee94 said:
I got a pair of magnetic boots from eBay. No brand and they were only about £10. I put them on everyday for a bit when she was injured. Not sure if they helped but vet said they were worth trying and I still use them to this day on her legs after competing.
Just allow lots of time to recover. I have seen a few with tendon injuries get pts due to riders not allowing enough time off or they rush the very slow process of bringing them back in to work (one brought theirs back into work for quite a bad tendon injury, within a month was doing BE on the poor thing and of course it broke down again and she had it shot).
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Do you think the boots made a difference? My other half very kindly bought me a set of the Veredus magnetic boots, I've been using them over night for the last couple weeks, not a lot of research on their effects yet, but like you said, its worth a try. Is your horse back to full work now ? and could I be cheeky and ask what the routine is you use for after exercise that you mentioned in your original post?
 
JoshuaR97 said:
My horse has been off since Feb.. He is just being left until Spring of next year and I'll get a vet out to review him but he is still not 100%.. But I'm trying to keep thinking positive that he'll come sound but if did what would he be able to do with an 'old injury' just light hacking? I know some go back to full work but I'm not sure I would want to risk it happening again..
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That is nothing -


In case you don't know my horses history

He did his tendon 3 years ago. Month off then started in walk in hand for 1 1/2 months - and spent another 2 months building up with rider to 45 minute walk before we introduced a 1 minute trot in - zoom forward and we got to 3 one minute trots and tendon went - more time off and back to beginning and got to 1 minute trot and it went again
more steroids. and it went again in Feb 2015 - 3 months off then 4 yes 4 months in hand and got to a rider walking and 2 months of walking once a week then twice over a period of 2 months and went again. I have given up now and my horse has retired - I am exhausted after spending 5 months in hand walking and 1 month riding before it went. That's it now for a year, I may or may not try in a year otherwise he just a field ornament.
 
Time. If you end up hacking your horse for another year or two before you do anything more it will all help in the long run! Bringing out of the mud will be a God send!

My big grey lad literally tore his SDFT in half. Ping! Snap! Whoosh! Gone! 6 months in a box, 3 months in hand walking then turnout. I could quite easily have had to put him down at any stage. Just shy of a year after the initial injury I had him out to his first ridden showing class. He has never had a days bother with it since 4 years down the line. Yes it looks like a banana and the middle section is purely scar tissue but I am very careful with him. He doesn't get to go play in stubble fields beyond a trot, he will never get to gallop down a beach, the ground hasbto be so incredibly perfect before I will even consider jumping him and even then no more than 2ft6" as I don't want the strain of landing any steeper on that leg. But he likes being a show horse and so that is what he does. It doesn't stop me worrying about the peg, especially when he is hooning round the field with the ponies! If he injures the leg again it is curtains for him.

Don't give up just yet, time is your greatest friend!
 
I'm so sorry to hear about your boy, sounds like you did everything and more and still just had a bad outcome :( Do you mind me asking where about was your horse's tear in the leg or further down in the foot? And am i right in thinking that by perforated you mean the tendon was blown completely or was it more of a tear ??
 
EKW said:
Time. If you end up hacking your horse for another year or two before you do anything more it will all help in the long run! Bringing out of the mud will be a God send!

My big grey lad literally tore his SDFT in half. Ping! Snap! Whoosh! Gone! 6 months in a box, 3 months in hand walking then turnout. I could quite easily have had to put him down at any stage. Just shy of a year after the initial injury I had him out to his first ridden showing class. He has never had a days bother with it since 4 years down the line. Yes it looks like a banana and the middle section is purely scar tissue but I am very careful with him. He doesn't get to go play in stubble fields beyond a trot, he will never get to gallop down a beach, the ground hasbto be so incredibly perfect before I will even consider jumping him and even then no more than 2ft6" as I don't want the strain of landing any steeper on that leg. But he likes being a show horse and so that is what he does. It doesn't stop me worrying about the peg, especially when he is hooning round the field with the ponies! If he injures the leg again it is curtains for him.

Don't give up just yet, time is your greatest friend!
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Im glad he is back to his job for you :D I'm holding out riding until spring when the ground isn't so soft, I'm finding comfort in looking at all the holidays I can take her on, just to hack. Its just a little heart breaking being on a competition yard where my girl is just going to waste :'( I just want my bestie back to normal, you know? But hearing your stories is giving me a bit more hope to just hang in there and be patient :D Thank you
 
another to join the broken pony club!!!

my lad did his SDFT front leg in 2013 had surgery on both fronts 9 months off work, pulled him back in slowly, got him eventing this yr and he damaged a hind, surgery for that and he is currently in a field! im hoping to pull him back into work end of jan/feb but this time round he will (hopefully) be a dressage pony, with some hacking wont risk eventing him again although maybe in a few years i might try my luck over a cross pole or 2! He turns 8 next year, its very depressing when they constantly go at a young age but there isnt much you can do, time and patience..... im not great with patience so i brought myself a 4yr old to play with in hope he stays sound to event next season!!
 
TheGingerPony said:
Do you think the boots made a difference? My other half very kindly bought me a set of the Veredus magnetic boots, I've been using them over night for the last couple weeks, not a lot of research on their effects yet, but like you said, its worth a try. Is your horse back to full work now ? and could I be cheeky and ask what the routine is you use for after exercise that you mentioned in your original post?
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They certainly helped stop her legs puffing up but that could just be because of the pressure rather than magnets. She is back in full work and competing at a much higher level now than before her injury. I tend to un-tack completely as quickly as I can and then after giving her a quick wash off all over I focus on her legs. The are all cold hosed for a couple minutes, then hibiscrubbed (this is purely in case she has any cuts, nothing to do with tendon injury), I then have some re-usable Ice cube bags which I got for about £2.00 each. I wrap these in J-cloths or a tea towel and then bandage them on her leg. These stay on for about 20 minutes before a cooling gel/clay is put on in their place. I only use the ice packs if she has worked very hard (eg. 1*'s and championships where the tracks tend to be longer or on slightly harder ground) When it comes to taking her home I will brush her legs clean and pop on her magnetic boots.
It may seem a little over kill but I have found this works best for her.
 
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