Recommend some Tendon boots

[sleepykitten]

Hi all,
I have a mare I'm bringing back into steady work after injuring her suspensory ligament. Would you use boots after this type of injury? If so, what would you recommend? Thanks!

 

[sleepykitten]

bump

 

[DoesDressage]

I have worked my mare in the veredrus piaffe boots since she damaged her sdft in April. Not cheep but worth the price, I've been very happy with them

 

[jenki13]

I'm not sure about horses But with humans it is often recommended that a support isn't used as it means the tendons/ligaments don't strengthen back up. As they don't need to support the joints because of the additional support.

I don't know how much support a tendon boot would offer either? As they aren't exactly "compressing" like a normal (human) support would be.. bandaging would probably be better in that sense. However on the flip side as they possibly don't offer a massive amount of support then it could be a good interim, when starting work/when you first increase the workload.

This might be a stupid question but are you doing a lot of walking in hand before riding? I did about 4 weeks of walking in hand (on the road) with a pony that did his check ligament before I even sat on him again.

 

[sleepykitten]

I'm not sure about horses But with humans it is often recommended that a support isn't used as it means the tendons/ligaments don't strengthen back up. As they don't need to support the joints because of the additional support.

I don't know how much support a tendon boot would offer either? As they aren't exactly "compressing" like a normal (human) support would be.. bandaging would probably be better in that sense. However on the flip side as they possibly don't offer a massive amount of support then it could be a good interim, when starting work/when you first increase the workload.

This might be a stupid question but are you doing a lot of walking in hand before riding? I did about 4 weeks of walking in hand (on the road) with a pony that did his check ligament before I even sat on him again.

Oh yes! A LOT of hand -walking! have done 3 months worth!! She is at the point where I have done about 10 mins ridden on a road surface twice a week for the past 3 weeks. seems to be going really well, just wanting to give her the best chance though and was wondering if it was worth investing in boots.

 

[rhino]

While boots are good at protecting against knocks, they provide little or no support to soft tissues. There is also the drawback that as boots cause heating they can further damage the internal structures of the legs such as tendons..

 

[jenki13]

Oh yes! A LOT of hand -walking! have done 3 months worth!! She is at the point where I have done about 10 mins ridden on a road surface twice a week for the past 3 weeks. seems to be going really well, just wanting to give her the best chance though and was wondering if it was worth investing in boots.

I thought you would have! But you know have to check sometimes .

I would say that increasing the number of days you walk out to 3 then 4, then increase 1 day by say 10min, should slowly build her back up again, without the need for boots/bandages...

Also if there is swelling (say the day after work) it may be best to leave alone i.e not cold hose, but not work again. Swelling is the natural healing process. So things like icing a bad ankle in humans can be counter-productive as you are reducing swelling... but it allows for increased movement range.

Hope the Rehab keeps going on track

 

[sleepykitten]

Thanks! So far so good, no heat or swelling to report. Just keeping everything crossed that she doesn't re-injure herself!