Ruptured tendon - advice please

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hackedoff

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My boy ruptured his superficial flexor tendon a month ago. it is v.bad-big hole where the tendon should have been on the scan. He has had a months box rest and it was settling donw and had gone cold. it has now swollen again and gone hot and hard and he is very lame. vet thinks he may have had a mad half hour in his stable.

he is 21 years old and upto the day of the injury was very fit , he did a 12 mile pleasure ride the day of the injury in preperation for a 20 mile competative ride I had planned for the following month and went around like a 5 year old. he fell in the filed that evening chasing mares half his age and ruptured the tendon.

My concern is that the vet has said it will be 12 to 18 months to see if he comes back sound and healed. Up here that means that he will be just right as we go into winter turnout in 2011 and as he wont be able to go into teh turnout field (huge slope which would wreck a weakened tendon) he will be on restrcited turnout till 2013 and I am not sure if keeping him going is the right thing to do.

If any one has advice especially in the ups and downs of this sort of injury I would be grateful.
 
HAve to say I'm not one for unneccessary PTS but a 21yr old with a tendon requiring months/a year of box rest and I'm guessing he won't be able to work and will be at a high risk of reoccurance? I'd be tempted to take him out for a good handgraze and have the huntsman come..
 
How would he cope with restricted turnout, boxrest and no work? If you think he could get through it and you accept the fact that if and when he does come back into work it's probably going to be light at best then I would give it a try for sure. However if he isn't likely to cope then pts would be the kindest option. I had a horse that damaged it's DDFT badly at the insertion and as the prognosis was bad I opted to pts rather than put him through the months and months of box rest and no work, that he would not have coped well with
 
To be honest I am a bit disapointed with the lack of responses. I am sure the 2 who have replied gave their honest advice but I kind of think maybe Horse and Hound readers don't equal Veteran Horse Society members...
 
I will add fattyboombom that having reread your reply I now can see the positive point you make. yes, I am happy enough if he's okay for light hacking. Mines bored but okay on box rest. I'm sorry to hear that yyou had to make what was no doubt a very hard decision.

SusieT I have owned this horse for 16 yrs I would be ashamed of myself if the thought that I simply couldn't ride him meant I would have him killed. I'm more concerned about HIS quality of life.
 
I have a 14yo that did a tendon for the first time in his life. He did plenty of other things during racing but never a leg. Now he has/had a 50% hole in his DDFT on a hind leg round the fetlock, which includes part of the tendon sheath missing where he must have banged into it. He is on 6months box rest then rescan. If he scans ok then 3 months walking in hand then turnout. Now by the time it comes to turnout this place will pretty much be a sheet of ice so he will more than likely be in till end of february/march time. He is fine on box rest, has his odd mad moment but they are few and far between and like your lad his leg occasionaly flairs up.

I have been through hell and high water with my horse over the last 7 years, I literally saw 1/2 the blood in his body pumping out of him before we left him at Newmarket vets with a 2% survival rate. I am not about to let him go due to a tendon injury unless there really is no other option. At the moment I am more than happy to have him sound enough to be a field ornament, I'm not fussed and I'm sure he is not fussed about being ridden either.

I'm giving my horse every chance in the world to recover. Yes age is against him slightly but as it is a new injury he doesn't have scar tissue to work around.

If I were you I would give your horse every chance to recover. If you don't mind never riding him again or having a light hacker help him. I give mine MSM 10,000 which is supposed to be really good for helping to rebuild tendon and ligament tissues. I'll let you know if it works or not in August when the Hocamaffe gets scanned again.

Working in racing I have seen some proper tendon injuries, some where the horse really should have been put down. But with tlc and r&r they can come right enough to do other things than race. Ok your horse is 21, he doesn't have the healing power of a 5yo but I would most certainly give him the best chance possible.
 
I would PTS. IMO there is a big difference between a 14yo getting seriously injured and requiring box rst for 18mths plus and a 21yo in the same situation. The latter undoubtedly has his best days behind him and will be 23 at least before he gets out again. Most likely he will have less than 2-3yrs of life left. He will have permanently compromised tendons and will not fair well on such a hill I would guess. Add to that he will probably have/has arthritis and box rest longterm will be hard on him. A 14yo could potenially have another 10 years of life after box rest and could enjoy the rest of his days in the field (assuming ideal turnout).

If you are intent on giving him a chance I would suggest finding alternative lviing arrangements for him to allow him to be turned out . -ETA i have just realised I might have misread your turnot situation.

Im sorry - clearly its not what you want to hear but Id PTS. What do describe is IMO no quality of life.
 
It makes no difference to me if he can work, it is not a deciding factor for me, as you might see from myu previous posts.. if he cannot go in the paddock again until 2013 and is lame and uncomfortable and has low prospect of becoming sound enough to light work (i.e this equals a good level of comfortable in the field) what is the point in keeping him going? Is it at all possible to get him a large box/small turnout pen to rest in which would at least give some quality of life?
 
Hi SusieTI wasnt going to respond to your further post, but having checked my earleir posts on this thread I stand by my comments, I am really shocked that people can assume based soley on the age of my horse that he should be PTS and that his only chance of recovery is to the level of light work. My vet hasnt said that but then shes just a qualified vet so probably knows less that you....

My view now I have owned him for 16 years and he deserves a chance to recover. FWIW yard owner has volunteered her only flat piece of land to be used by him for short periods of turnout as he recovers.

Glenruby if he has 2 to 3 years of happy retiment then I will be happy with that.

EKW many thanks for your post it has given me more food for thought and conviction that i should keep going.
 
I'm sorry to hear your news.
My lad was in his early 20s when he 1st pulled his tendon, rest and slow and gradual increase of work ment he went on to compete again under saddle in 2008 / 2009, then nearly 12 months ago at the age of 24 he decided to self halm in the field and pull his Superficial digital flexor tendon again, but lower down and also tear a hole in his tendon sheath! My vet didn't think he'd come sound enough to ride again :(
because of the hole in his tendon sheath there was no point in steriod injection ect because everything would just leak through the hole (i hope i'm explaining this right). So rest and bute was given for about a month. If he was younger there were other treatments.

I started off with box rest, cold hosing and walks around the yard. I then turned him out for short periods in a small paddock and increased the time as his walk times increased. nearly 12 months on and 25yr old next week, my boy is sound and i'm able to ride him :0D we're only on 5mins of trot (under saddle) work but slowly we'll get there. I'm happy just having a sound horse and a bonus now i can ride him again.

In my waffling, i'm trying to say give him a chance, same as you i've had my lad 14yrs and couldn't bare him being in pain.
I know a ruptured tendon is different then a pulled one, but i'm hoping in 10days his leg will be down and cold. but see how it goes and talk to your vet.
I hope this helps!
 
I'd be questioning the quality of life for the horse, be it 21 or 6, based solely on the extended period of box rest that he will have to endure.
You know your horse best- maybe he's perfectly happy in a stable 24/7- I've got one who is and 1 who isn't, for me they'd both have very different outcomes from an injury like this.
 
my 19 yr old did a tendon last august which lmeant restricted turnout over winter. my fields are mainly on a hill so i used the only flat free draining area and moved her when it got muddy .it was only stable size but kept her happy as long as she had hay and was near her friends. she was in at night and coped amasingly well. she certainly wasnt stressed or unhappy. a lot depends on your horses temperament as to how he will cope. i have another,my daughters horse who damaged her stifle and has required similar rest but i have needed sedalin on a regular basis. if you look back on old posts people gave me good advice om making a small all weather area. it can be done and imho 21 is not old....
 
hackedoff said:
Hi SusieTI wasnt going to respond to your further post, but having checked my earleir posts on this thread I stand by my comments, I am really shocked that people can assume based soley on the age of my horse that he should be PTS and that his only chance of recovery is to the level of light work. My vet hasnt said that but then shes just a qualified vet so probably knows less that you....

My view now I have owned him for 16 years and he deserves a chance to recover. FWIW yard owner has volunteered her only flat piece of land to be used by him for short periods of turnout as he recovers.

Glenruby if he has 2 to 3 years of happy retiment then I will be happy with that.

EKW many thanks for your post it has given me more food for thought and conviction that i should keep going.
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Very sorry to hear about your boy.

No-one has said PTS because he is only going to be good for light work?? My 12yo is retired and will live out his days with me, I worship the ground he walks on however if he injured himself somehow there is not a chance in hell that I would put him through a years box rest. He would be miserable, bored and would charge around. His quality of life (which is what people are talking about NOT his usefulness) would be poor and I would rather he had lots of painkillers and a few days being spoilt and then a quick end.

TBH you knw your boy and your situation better than anyone on here (obviously!) but you did ask for opinions, so please don't be offended when other people think differently to you.

I hope it works out for you.
 
Well I own a 21 year old and if he did a tendon I wouldn't PTS. I would explore every option and do my best for him. I would speak to the vet and see what is likely to happen if I just turned him away and let mother nature do her best. I thought modern thinking on tendons at the moment was to get them moving gently to promote healing. If you can afford it i would also look into stem cell therapy.
 
My Tb was 28 when he damaged a tendon in the field pretending to race again against my youngster. The damage was not as bad as your lad, but PTS never crossed my mind. Feeding MSM at the loading dosage is always a really good idea for all tendon injuries and if you can find a laser therapist nearby the results are amazing - 1/2 the recovery time and excellent quality of repair. I am an equine laser therapist so it was much easier for me to treat my beloved oldie, try looking on www.findalasertherapist.co.uk
let me know how you get on
 
hackedoff said:
I will add fattyboombom that having reread your reply I now can see the positive point you make. yes, I am happy enough if he's okay for light hacking. Mines bored but okay on box rest. I'm sorry to hear that yyou had to make what was no doubt a very hard decision.

SusieT I have owned this horse for 16 yrs I would be ashamed of myself if the thought that I simply couldn't ride him meant I would have him killed. I'm more concerned about HIS quality of life.
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FWIW, I actually agree with SusieT simply because I have been in exactly the same position myself and know how difficult it is to make any sort of decision because of the emotion involved but put that emotion aside for one minute and honestly review your options.

Even after so long on box rest, limited turnout etc, there is no guarantee at all that he will even become sound again - ever, let alone fit to ride again. Are you prepared to make his life miserable for that up to 18 months just so you might be able sit on him again when he will be nearly 23 anyway and knocking on 24 before he could possibly be fit enough to do some work?
You said yourself, you've just about managed the box rest he has had and that was for only a short time - will he cope with even longer? Be totally honest with yourself, it's the only way to be totally fair to him and give him the quality of life he needs and deserves.
On the other hand, at his age you could ignore the box rest, allow him his freedom and see whether he becomes sound while out in the field (which very many do, even with such a bad injury) then give him the necessary 12 months off on top of the recovery period and then bring back into very gentle work again. This way worked for a mare of mine with a very bad tear while point to pointing, so bad, she didn't put her foot to the ground for nearly a month and we had to repair the damage that cooling lotion did to her skin before we could even think about treating the tendon. 2 months box rest in all then out in the field. Yes, she was still lame but it improved very quickly and she was sound within the year although never ridden again, it wouldn't have stood up to that because of her forwardness, she couldn't take life in the slow lane; remember though that she was only ten so had youth on her side which your chap doesn't. On the other hand, the other horse I mentioned before who was my horse of my lifetime, I still miss him so much and it was nearly 10 years ago now; he had raced (very successfully too) from a two yer old, then hurdling, then chasing, then team chasing when he was injured badly, recovered and then took to hunting (in the front rank) like a duck to water when he was 14. I had him at hunter livery here for nearly five years; he came back after that summer's holiday, I took him up the road for a walk, turned him in the paddock (as I did every day he was in work after exercise) he had a buck and a squeal and had crippled himself, simple as that. The damage to his tendon was like the black hole of Calcutta. We were given two options; 18 months off with only a 50% chance he'd be sound,( like you, a lot of that 18 months would be box rest then limited turnout which he would not have coped with at all, he loved to be busy, he could never have 'retired' as such, his summer holiday was about as much as he could take of idleness) or put down. The owner gave me that choice to make because he knew I knew and loved that horse so well, I would do the best thing for him and not myself even though he had given the horse to me and would pay for any treatment for him that was needed but I just couldn't put him through that 18 months of misery after all the pleasure that he had given us. I regret my choice every day but I know I made the right choice for Thatch because he could never have been a field ornament, even the enforced rest would have been purgatory for him, it wasn't fair to do it just for me.
Just please, be totally honest for him; who are you putting him through it for, yourself or him?
 
I'm putting him through box rest etc for him. It would be far easier for me to pts as I want a younger horse to compete and could do without 1 hour before and after work looking after him esp as I do 40 plus hrs per week. However not giving him the chance to come sound and have a happy wind down after 16 yrs service simply to save money and time seems somewhat selfish to me. Once again thank you all for your input.
 
Nb. My vets comments are that it will take time, he 'should' become sound and its worth giving him the chance. I think the real deciding factor will be thew three month scan and if it shows that the tendon is healing or not.
 
I understand your dilema, you have had him some time and he owes you nothing.

I would be inclined to give him a chance of recovery, but would monitor the way he deals with it and if necessary have him pts. If you have access to a school or a small paddock, perhaps he could be turned out there when the period of field rest begins. 21 is actually no longer that old and he does deserve the chance of a slow wind down to retirement as long as his quality of life is good.
 
hackedoff said:
Hi SusieTI wasnt going to respond to your further post, but having checked my earleir posts on this thread I stand by my comments, I am really shocked that people can assume based soley on the age of my horse that he should be PTS and that his only chance of recovery is to the level of light work. My vet hasnt said that but then shes just a qualified vet so probably knows less that you....

My view now I have owned him for 16 years and he deserves a chance to recover. FWIW yard owner has volunteered her only flat piece of land to be used by him for short periods of turnout as he recovers.

Glenruby if he has 2 to 3 years of happy retiment then I will be happy with that.

EKW many thanks for your post it has given me more food for thought and conviction that i should keep going.
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I 100% agree with you

diamond has just done this came back from a weekend away and she sone superfifcial tendon. been on 1 weeks box rest so far she has recovered before she will recover again last time she did a 12 mile sponsored ride 6 months after the injury . This time its due to myt farrier saying he wasnt doing my area anymore and everyone else was full so her feet went 10 weeks were to long thats how i belive she did it and she is 23 had her since 15 months old THERE IS NO WAY I WOULD THINK OF PTS SO DONT EVEN TRY.


persiver with his tendon dont give up radio muscle liniment is brill so is gold label leg ice i use all so treat with many


http://www.tds-saddlers.com/productdetails.asp?PCLinkID=15269

http://www.greyhoundmegastore.com/all-breeds/rubs-and-liniments/m-r-muscle-radiol-500ml.html

my mare biscuit had a ruptured tendon like banana once healed she had a nice peacefull retirement
 
glenruby said:
Most likely he will have less than 2-3yrs of life left. He will have permanently compromised tendons and will not fair well on such a hill I would guess. .
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well you better tell kier that he is 29 navicular arthritis and is happy schooled hacked day trips out :rolleyes:



lisak

I started off with box rest, cold hosing and walks around the yard.
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i have been treating tendon injuries since the 1970,s always box rest cold hose ice pack and tendon clay stuff which i always found cracked off the next day

in the past few years it seems the custom is to walk them round even if hobbling a bit, i only walked up to hose 2 so far tho another livery was told to light exercise on road how did u find the walking round when superficial did he hobble did u find it helped?
 
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Because I am an absolute sucker I now have gained another new horse with a tendon problem from work. He has completely ruptured his SDFT - it's gone, zilch, nada, big black hole. BUT with careful management he CAN come sound to be a show horse. He won't jump again, he won't get to gallop across big open spaces or the beach but he can hack, do a bit of dressage, do some showing and generally bum around.

Vets advice - 1.5months straight box rest, change the stookie every 3 days gently manipulate the leg to try to get the scar tissue to grow back straight and well as there is a danger of it growing in and shrinking thus causing his knees to go forwards and his fetlocks and pasterns to raise.

If he is still slightly sore to palpate at 1.5months then leave him in the box for another 3 weeks before gently walking out in hand for 5mins at a time for 2 weeks then rescan. The rescan will then show you whether we can progress to more walking or drop back into the box for another month. Either which way he is going to be given EVERY chance as he is quite simply stunning! He copes very well with box rest - he's been there before and he is 8years old.

If it was a complete rupture of his DDFT then he would no longer be here but it's not, it's the superficial so that fixable.

My other big lad gets scanned again in half an hour. I got brought forward a month as he got out of his stable - goodness knows how! - and bombed it round and round the fields jumping fences left right and centre ... Fingers crossed!
 
Only just spotted this thread.

My boy very badly trashed his SDFT in the november just before his 22nd birthday. It was a bad injury. The scans looked horrid. We tried for stem cell therapy but the cells wouldn't grow in the lab :(

He handled boxrest remarkably well helped by having access to two stables so he had a nice little routine and wasn't stood in the same place 24/7.

We also tried platelet-rich plasma but that had little effect. 6 months down the line he looked to be improving and we started in-hand walking but then another scan a few weeks later showed it wasn't getting any better but was actually getting worse! Vet pretty much said there was no hope other than more boxrest and even then she (and others) weren't hopeful.

It was August by then and I knew that if I left it for another few months winter would be upon us and he'd be looking at having a total of 16 months solid boxrest. So I made the decision to turn him out into a paddock on his own to see how he got on.

I don't know if it was the right thing to do. it ws hard at first and it was awful seeing him trying to run about and worrying he'd set himself way back. But he's been having turn out for nearly a year now and whilst he's not rideable, he is comfortable and seems to enjoy life. He came in overnight in the winter to rest his leg and I do think it was tough on him but when the ground dried up I left him out and he seemed to improve. He's on half a danilon a day and I've just had front shoes put back on him as he's very footsore on uneven ground and it has helped loads.

I won't ride him again but I can now take him for walks inhand and he leads a near normal life. He's on individual turnout which I hate but has company close by and seems happy enough.

I know a lot of people would PTS. I asked for honest opinions before I made the decision to turn him out and many people did say PTS. I decided to give him the chance to be a horse for a while and have some turnout. If he damages that leg again then I'll have to say goodbye as I won't put him through the boxrest again. But until then, and while he still looks happy, I just enjoy grooming and walking my handsome field ornament.

p.s. I do have two other horses now who are rideable and I'm lucky to have that. If I couldn't have afforded another horse I still would not have PTS as my old boy deserved better than that.
 
Should also add that I do agree that it's down to the individal horse and owner as to whether they persevere if they are given a poor prognosis.

I was lucky in that I had support from friends at the farm and he had company and two stables. I work 45 hours a week and at the time he was 25 minutes away by car. I would have struggled to go up twice a day to muck out as well as giving my job the energy it needs and time for my husband but I came to an arrangement with the YO and she moved him over for me so I did both stables at night.

I had a friend whose mare was on long-term boxrest after laminitis. I don't think she would have come right anyway but what did it for my friend was that the mare would scream and shout everynight as she left even if she had a haynet and some (lami-legal) feed to keep her occupied. It broke my friends heart every single day and one day she just decided they'd both had enough and she let her go.

I was lucky that my boy, who I honestly thought would be a monster to boxrest as he hated even being in overnight and had lived out 24/7 for two years, actually surprised me and just got on with it. He did suffer with thrush and also lice which he reacted quite horribly to but mentally he coped very well.
 
By way of a quick update from me. Pony has been onn box rest since 15 may, he still has a noticible bow to his tendon but is now sound at a walk! He has no bute, what has made a massive difference is arnica and which hazel gel. He has been a star on box rest and currently has two/ three short slow walks consisting of one circle around the stable yard a week. No idea what the future holds for him. Field fit would be great and occassionally rideable would be a bonus. Thanks every one for the positive commentsm apologies to anyone who posted direct to me and got no reply it has taken many weeks to come to terms with this aCcident.
 
Another update from me as this may help other people if they are unlucky enough to have a similiar problem.

Pony had second scan on Thursday. Blooming huge rupture now looks like some one has pencilled it in ! The rupture is healing but with a different type of tendon fibre from the original so will never be quite as strong again. It was noticablly different from the scan of the other 'good leg'.

The bow will remain but vet said that was a good thing as it related to the fibres filling the ruptured section in. He also said that older horses tended to have a better prognosis with this type of injury where as a young race horse with the level of rupture would be PTS. I assume this would be on the basis of reduced ability to race and lenght of life afterwards rather than it just healing better on an older horse.

He is now being walked out morning and night for 5 mins per session with the aim of building up by 5 mins at the end of each week till we reach 30 mins per session per day. His vet will then come out to reassess the progress.

Walking out has been interesting as horse is very on his toes. So far he has been sound upto this morning when there was a bit of warmth in the tendon due to his squabbling and bouncing about as a new horse is in the box oppossite and another who he doesnt like has moved next to him. He was slightly off at a walk at first today but sound as he went back into the yard.

I will put a further update on when he has his next vet check up.
 
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