Possible DDFT injury but no lameness?

LauraElise

LauraElise

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Would be really grateful for any experiences/input.

My horse came in from the field with a very swollen hind leg from just below hock down over fetlock round back of leg two weeks ago. Absolutely no lameness. Box rest for 5 days, bute and cold hosing and swelling reduced to a 3 inch by one inch swelling just above fetlock on outside of leg (around annular ligament area).

One week of paddock rest and swelling still there. Vet called and trotted up and flexion tests and no lameness at all. Slight discomfort when area over one of the "branches" coming off DDFT palpated.

Vet baffled as no lameness and almost advised to start light work and see what happened. Not happy with this I have asked for ultrasound and this is being done next week.

Has anyone ever experienced a horse injuring its DDFT or other tendon and not showing any lameness at all? I am trying to reassure myself that it can't be that bad as he is 100% sound.

Many thanks for reading and any views or experiences appreciated.
 
My mare had a tear in her DDFT on her left fore leg. Her hind leg on the same side had swelling at the same time too and the vets said she had an inflamed tendon sheath. She wasnt particuarly lame on it but they did think she had got it as a result of the front leg lameness putting extra pressure on the back leg. I think if I was you I would push for a scan to try and confirm whats going on.

Good luck.
 
The worse injuries sometimes show little or no lameness... to be honest I'm surprised your vet didn't realise this and advise caution!

When my horse tore a 2cm hole in her DDFT below the navicular bone (so right under her hoof = nowhere for swelling to go) she was fine that day, next day she was HOPPING lame (9/10ths) and then every day after that she was 99.9% fine - only intermittently half a tenth lame. This did admittedly cause my vets to take a long time diagnosing the problem, but just because she was "sound" the next day doesn't mean it had healed. It took a bit of pushing to get her referred for MRI but sure enough, it showed a really bad tear.

Definitely get an ultrasound done if at all possible, and treat it as a tendon injury and cold hose until you're bored to death of it. That's what I DIDN'T do (thought it was an abcess) and that is possibly what caused her recovery to take much longer.
 
Good luck - very sensible decision, and hopefully it won't show anything. If it does, you'll know and can take the appropriate course of action - if not, you know not to worry!
 
Yes, Kizzy tore hers but there was no lameness, Liphook even rang me to say she wasn't lame in a straight line, just very slightly on flexion. I would be very cautious, think you are doing absolutely right with the scan. Good luck.
 
My daughter's pony has damaged both her DDFT and SDFT, 6 weeks ago, she did it at PC camp on last day, cam eout o stable after dinner alittle lame but nothing to bad then an hour later couldnt walk, so vet was called out immediately. We werent allowed to bring her home over the weekend but since then she was only lame for a couple of days after, since then hasnt been lame, she had had 6 weeks box rest being walked out each day, gradually increasing time. Yesterday, was first day she was turned out in a very small paddock and hopefully end of October, after she has been scanned again they will be able to start buidling up the ridden work.
Hope things are ok for you.
 
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Well, blummin typical, vet came back out today and after 3 weeks of no improvement leg was much less swollen today. So much so that vet did not feel ultrasound was necessary as she now thinks it is a windgall. Have to say I'm not convinced but putting horse back into light work and hopefully swelling will continue to subside.

Many thanks for all your input.
 
I'm so paranoid now that I'd be making her ultrasound the leg anyway and paying for it myself if my insurance wouldn't... but I'm no vet so I'm sure yours wouldn't take the risk of it being a tendon if she wasn't pretty darned sure it wasn't!

I hope your horse stays sound :)
 
No disrespect to your vet, but the windgall is there for a reason, Kizzy also had "a bit of a windgall" & also, as it turned out, a tear in her DDFT. I would be asking for the ultrasound just to be certain, if it is a windgall great, if its not then you won't make it any worse.
 
Sounds quite typical for a DDFT injury. My horse was intermittently lame, the vet would come out and she'd trot up sound, I think they thought my loaner was over reacting. It meant that it took 2 months to finally diagnose, by which time we'd missed out on the cold hosing which is vital. Go with your gut instinct, my mare is now semi retired because of her injury.
 
i had a battle for over a year with my vet about my horse. he had intermittent lameness and the vet kept saying box rest for a couple of weeks. yes my horse came sound and in fact it was rare that he was lame when the vet was there/due to come out.

i kept asking for nerve blocks/ x-rays and all that but my vet said it would be pointless, who was i to argue with a knowledgable person, i presumed my vet knew what he was talking about.

basically 2yrs after the intermittent lameness started to show i finally got a decent vet who listened to me about my horse. turns out he has either 'stretched' the ligaments so much they are no longer elasticated (so to speak!) or a tear to his DDFT in his foot and although he's doing well it may never be completely healed.
i wish i had listened to my horse instead of the vet now as if i had then maybe i could have stopped my horse getting worse.

i totally regret it and i know now that i won't just accept what people say about any of my horses, i will question things and go with my gut instinct. my new vet understands this and accepts it!
 
My daughter's 17 year old Fjord has just recently been diagnosed with DDFT in his left hindleg. You can quite easily see a triangular shaped tear on the scan. This is the 2nd time in 3 years. Because of this we are considering Stem Cell Therapy and Magnetic Pulsing. He is going to one of the best clinics in The Netherlands on Monday to see what they can do for him.
We are hoping that we will be able to get him back to full fitness as he is a super dressage Fjord (Afflilated = medium and was in training for advanced. They only needed 2 more points in the medium to move up).
However, we are also prepared to turn him away for 2 years if necessary.
We have read lots about this so hope he is a suitable candidate.
Has anyone tried this? What was the outcome?
 
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