My poor boy is broken....DDFT !!!!!!!!!!!! (Also in NL)

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Sharonr

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I know this is not the first time this has been posted, but it is the first time for me to have this happen to one of my horses
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Poor Taz was scanned this morning as he could hardly walk and he's got a hole in his deep digital flexor tendon in his hind leg.

So upset and vet can't tell me how long he's likely to be on box rest. He's mentioned that in a few weeks I can walk him out for 5 mins but I know from previous experience what Taz will be like and I'll probably get injured doing this. He goes ballistic when he finally gets out.

Stupid boy was tearing round field on Monday afternoon apparently so he must have done it then.

Feel like its the end of the world right now and just looking for a wee bit of advice.

Vet has suggested getting wedge shoes on him but he's not been shod on the back for 2.5 years so don't know if this is a good idea or not? I've seen some posts saying barefoot is best. Has anyone ever claimed LOU for such an injury as I understand that they will always be intermittently lame after this sort of injury?
 
Your vet has probably suggested a graduated (wedge) shoe or pad to reduce strain on the DDFT and give it the best possible conditions for healing. If I were you I would consider it despite him not having shoes on at the moment. Barefoot may well be a good option once he's further along in the recovery process.
 
I too would go with the wedge shoes it will raise the heel therefore reduce how much the tendon stretches. My old horse hurt his annullar ligament and farrier trimmed him so that his heels were slightly higher than they were before and this help greatly to keep him sound. As for loss of use I'm afraid you are a long way away from thinking about that as you have to go through the box rest, bring him back into work, then if that doesn't work further rest and treatment before back into work again,. Many horse recover fully from tendon injuries so wouldn't worry to much right now. Altho do have a hug as it is such a long painful road and would not wish to go there again
 
PS steroid injections can help, but luckily my horse didnt need any.

He are back to hacking and light schooling. There is hope.

I also fed my horse tendoneaze and windgall
 
My horse is broken due to tears in both front DDFTs.
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Yes it does feel like the end of the world when they're diagnosed! Has yours had an mri scan to diagnose it? I am currently going through the loss of use claim, and my mare is due to be freezemarked with the 'L' stamp on Monday, which at least will draw a line under it all. Petplan have been really good about and paid for her mri scan-the vet advised me to claim LOU as soon as I could before the claim period ran out. We originally thought that it was just her right foreleg that was wrong, however the scan revealed that the left foreleg also had a DDFT tear! Apparently this was an old injury, but I have no idea when/how she did it, as she's never been lame on that leg.

How old is Taz? I think its the kind of injury that can happen anywhere, its just extremely unlucky. My mare did hers landing funny at a x country course back in March 08 whilst she was on loan. The first few weeks are crucial so its good you've caught yours early-lots of box rest is advised. Angel was on and off lame so it took ages to diagnose properly. She was put on box rest and then field rest, and tweaked it again just before Christmas last year. At that point her loaner returned her to me, she had a couple more weeks box rest then hooned around the field as soon as she was turned out again!

In may this year I started bringing her back into work, slowly. The vet had told me when she had the mri that she was unlikely to ever be sound again, and would be a light hack at best. However she's been hacking sound since then, dying to have a canter, until 2 weekends ago when I stupidly let someone who was too heavy for her ride (i'm advertising for a sharer at the moment). She went hopping lame but was better with me the next day. I don't think she'll ever be 100%, and she probably will go lame from time to time. She's not in any pain though, and I have such trouble keeping weight off her in the summer for me it would be better to lightly bute her if she needs it so I can continue to hack her out.

For me it does leave me in a tricky situation though-I hadn't planned to have her back off loan for quite some time as I wasn't in a position to practically keep a horse. If her injuries weren't so bad I'd have put her out on loan again for hacking only. No-one would want to take a horse like mine on any more, and god knows where she would end up if I sold her as a companion, so she'll live out the rest of her days with me (she's only 14). I have quite enjoyed having her back though, and having a second chance with her-thats about the only good thing to come out of this!
 
Taz is only 11 so loads of years left in him yet I hope.

Things have changed since I posted this couple of days ago.

He wasn't coping at all with box rest, wasn't eating or drinking, had bad diahorrea, sweating up, box walking, and just generally very anxious. So as he was going down the route of getting colic, I have ended up phoning vet and basically telling him that I was turning Taz back out into a restricted paddock.

Vet was ok with it as long as I keep him bandaged overnight and psychologically, it is better for Taz to be outside. He seems so much brighter this morning than he's been for the past 2 days. And thankfully, he put his head down as soon as he was out and started to eat. His poos were like bullets this morning!!!!

I did find an article written by someone in America that did say that horses are designed to repair whilst on the move so turnout is essential to them healing as nature intended.

I did feel that if he was kept in for a couple of months then all that healing time would be undone in 5 seconds flat when he eventually got turned out as he'd go ballistic.

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I've made the right decision. So far, so good, he just got turned out yesterday and he's come sound already whereas he was crippled the day before!!!

I think if he's happy he'll heal quicker too. Farrier is coming out next week to glue some wedge shoes on so he doesn't have to go through nails getting banged into his foot either.

So happy horse, happy mummy at the mo!!
 
I have had horse with 80% tendon tear and spavin op to name a few of his many incidents and I always turned him out in stable size paddocks linking about 6 together so he couldnt run from one end to the other.He recovered from all injuries with this type of turnout and it kept him sane.Im sure it helps shorten healing period .Vet was happy with arrangement and horse was relaxed and content munching grass.
 
Dont dispair, its a long process but can be done. Returned my eventer who had a hole in front leg, returned him and upgraded him this season to advanced. We are more careful on ground conditions so pulled him at Chatsworth even though he could have afforded 30+ time faults for a top 5 finish. We have finished the season early as he has slightly irrateted around the fetlock more than likely from being in the field and hitting himself, but have on first scan been told he will be ready for next season, still sound, but just hacking in walk and bandaging at night, cold boots not on now, just waiting for second scan to see if still on course. He is 10.
 
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