Severe lesion - SDFT

[aimee_smith]

I’m looking for some advice and really hoping for some positive stories regarding injuries to the SDFT I may be living in a dream world but a girl can hope!

My mare turned 21 in March, she came in from the field lame and after having an MRI it was determined that she has a severe lesion on her SDFT with at least some partial rupture being present. The prognosis isn’t great and they have advised that we box rest her for 4 weeks, rescan and if no improvement or sign of fibrosis being present we have to seriously consider having her PTS. Unfortunately the lesion is that bad that PRP, stem cell or shockwave therapy can’t be offered.

She is very bright in herself, showing no signs of pain and happily having pj days every day at the moment. Apart from the obvious swelling and heat in said area she is presenting as a 2/10 in walk and a 7/10 in trot. My vets hadn’t advised the obvious such as cold hosing or ice booting which was strange to me…

I am not interested in ever riding her again If this means I can keep her going and not in pain. I have had 14 great years of memories with her and I owe her the bare minimum of getting her to the point of retirement and paddock soundness if this is ever possible. The vets have made it seem that this is highly unlikely but I really wanted to see if anyone has been in this situation before, any tips of how you assisted in the healing process and how long it took for fibrosis to take place? I know this is very case by case but she is a calm girl and we are on a strict livery where throughout winter they are stabled 20 hours out of the day due to the ground, so she is very content being in her stable she isn’t fizzy when walked on a lead rope even after being stabled for long periods of time and I think she will cope very well with box rest. Apart from her tendon injury she is perfectly fit and healthy she doesn’t suffer with arthritis or other problems which may worsen when being on box rest. She has a horse next to her who is prone to colic so will remaining on restricted turn out throughout summer and race horses across from her who have been brought in for summer after being turned away so I think she will cope and her quality of life won’t be affected in the short term whilst resting and given the tendon chance to develop scar tissue.

Thoughts, advice, and stories if you have been in a similar position would be appreciated… If she begins to show pain, no longer copes with box rest or it looks like the injury is too far gone then I will obviously do the right thing by her but I at least want to give her the chance to heal but I really don’t want to have to say goodbye.

 

[Goldie's mum]

Hi Aime, welcome to the forum.
Sorry you are having problems with your mare. Can't help but bumping this up the list so someone else will see it.
Good luck, Gx

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I’m very sorry to hear about your mare.

If my horse was happy in itself then I’d box rest, then pen rest, then turn out 24/7 on retirement livery or similar.

We’ve just done that with a ddft horse where one vet advised pts but my second opinion said give lots of time, as long as she is helping herself and being calm. We are now nearly 2 years on and she’s looking like she will come back into work. She’s much younger - only 8 - and she will only hack but she’s world’s away from where she was. It took a long, long time though! Not weeks, not months, but years.

 

[Goldenstar]

I think you have about a 50/50 chance you will be left with a field sound horse .
For me this choice is all about the individual horse and how she copes with box rest . I would add in how well you are set up to enrich her life during box rest .
I had an 18 year old horse who sprained his SL at this was a another injury to a ligament that had been damaged before I was given a fifty percent chance of field soundness after six months box rest .
For that horse the decision was clear his temperament was against him and he lived to work I PTS .
With your girlie I think I would give it a go .
Ask the vet if you can do passive flexions and stretch’s with her to keep her hocks and all moving .

 

[ycbm]

Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry you've got this problem. My understanding is that if you get damage to any of the tendons that run down the back of the leg, that the sdft is the least problematic. I'm slightly confused about why the prognosis is so bad for a return to field sound, and I wonder if, in addition to the site of the injury, the rest of the tendon is showing some problems with basic integrity that are raising doubts about whether the injury will fill in? If so, then I'm very sorry but I would call it quits now, and very much so if there are similar issues in any other legs. I think before making a decision about long term box rest I would want to see a good clean ultrasound of the tendons in the other leg.

I hope things work out for you both.
.

 

[aimee_smith]

Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry you've got this problem. My understanding is that if you get damage to any of the tendons that run down the back of the leg, that the sdft is the least problematic. I'm slightly confused about why the prognosis is so bad for a return to field sound, and I wonder if, in addition to the site of the injury, the rest of the tendon is showing some problems with basic integrity that are raising doubts about whether the injury will fill in? If so, then I'm very sorry but I would call it quits now, and very much so if there are similar issues in any other legs. I think before making a decision about long term box rest I would want to see a good clean ultrasound of the tendons in the other leg.

I hope things work out for you both.
.

Thank you for your advice. The prognosis is due to the fact the injury was nearly a full rupture and her age and weight (she’s shire x tb and a nice chunky girl) is unfortunately working against her… I’m hoping that as she is in good health otherwise with time being our best friend she may be able to get to the point of being paddock sound. We had her other legs scanned for comparison and all look great at this present time but I know that they will end up taking some of the strain and compensating for her injured leg. It’s just a very hard call to have to make and my heart goes out to anyone who’s been in a similar situation thanks again for your advice/thoughts

 

[aimee_smith]

I think you have about a 50/50 chance you will be left with a field sound horse .
For me this choice is all about the individual horse and how she copes with box rest . I would add in how well you are set up to enrich her life during box rest .
I had an 18 year old horse who sprained his SL at this was a another injury to a ligament that had been damaged before I was given a fifty percent chance of field soundness after six months box rest .
For that horse the decision was clear his temperament was against him and he lived to work I PTS .
With your girlie I think I would give it a go .
Ask the vet if you can do passive flexions and stretch’s with her to keep her hocks and all moving .

Thank you for you reply, I’m sorry to hear you have been in this position before too. It’s a horrible place to be not knowing if you’re doing the right thing! I’m trying to not be selfish but hoping with time and a bloody miracle we can make it work. I will discuss stretch’s with my vet also thank you! Would you advise stable bandages to help with fluid build up? Thanks again

 

[aimee_smith]

I’m very sorry to hear about your mare.

If my horse was happy in itself then I’d box rest, then pen rest, then turn out 24/7 on retirement livery or similar.

We’ve just done that with a ddft horse where one vet advised pts but my second opinion said give lots of time, as long as she is helping herself and being calm. We are now nearly 2 years on and she’s looking like she will come back into work. She’s much younger - only 8 - and she will only hack but she’s world’s away from where she was. It took a long, long time though! Not weeks, not months, but years.

Thank you! I’m hoping with time we might end up with some scar tissue so she can live out her golden years, happy to hear your mare is now back in work

 

[ycbm]

Thank you for your advice. The prognosis is due to the fact the injury was nearly a full rupture and her age and weight (she’s shire x tb and a nice chunky girl) is unfortunately working against her… I’m hoping that as she is in good health otherwise with time being our best friend she may be able to get to the point of being paddock sound. We had her other legs scanned for comparison and all look great at this present time but I know that they will end up taking some of the strain and compensating for her injured leg. It’s just a very hard call to have to make and my heart goes out to anyone who’s been in a similar situation thanks again for your advice/thoughts

I think of give it a go then Aimee, since she's settled on box rest and you want to give her a retirement. Best of luck.
.

 

[Birker2020]

It's a year last Thursday when my boy did his ddft and sdft aged 14 out at retirement. It came up on my FB memories today. He'd only been retired about 13 days when it happened. We will never know what happened but we found him stood on his own in deep mud with a leg in the air. We thought he'd broken his leg initially but as soon as I felt it I knew he'd done a tendon. Such a relief when he put it on the floor.

It took us 30 mins to get him up the path to the stable and he was shaking he was in so much pain. We called the emergency vet and soaked his leg in a cold bucket of water. Vet came out and said he wasn't sure what he'd done ( he had bruising over heel area so think he over reached striking into tendon the heel). He mentioned sepsis, I was totally floored. Luckily nothing came of that thank goodness.

He was on four bute a day for five days. Vet came out on the Monday to scan, we were certain he'd be pts but he said the scan showed although he'd sustained a significant injury on the ddft and sdft he would be OK retired. I took him back to the livery yard he was at before he went to the retirement home and had two months off work rehabbing him twice, sometimes three times daily visits. He was cold hosed, ice vibe and cold tubbed. He was box rested for a further four weeks from recollection with controlled in hand walking, stable bandaged initially 24/7 then just at night. Crucial to bandage over gamgee or pads for support to opposite leg. I used a long wave ultrasound therapy machine for ten minutes a day, this and the constant cold therapy was a game changer. Eventually he went into a very small paddock which he couldn't build up speed to canter in. Every day I made it slightly bigger, until it was 40m x 20m. He finally went back on 1st July to retirement livery 90% better.

Touch wood it's never caused any issues since, I've seen him bucking, rearing and even cantering on it. It's not even warm and hasn't fluctuated in size since Aug last year.

Obviously he's not a ridden horse and wouldn't cope if he was. But if you can put the work in there's a good chance it is fixable enough to retire. But I'm not a vet and don't know how much different his injury is to Lari's. Your horse may have more scar tissue for instance. Get a second opinion if you need to before considering pts would be my advice.

I'd find out why you weren't advised to ice too. Cold therapy, bandaging, pain relief, initial box rest and then controlled exercise is always the best recommendation and ice can't harm if done correctly. It is always my go to with tendon/ligament issues to reduce inflammation and control pain.

Here's my story if you want further info and please pm if you want to chat and vent. Best of luck. https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/sad-news-about-lari.828157/

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/did-you-take-a-photo-today-what%E2%80%99s-the-subject.788955/post-15373390

 

[Pinkvboots]

I'm sorry your faced with such a difficult decision it's so hard when horses become older with box rest.

I had my 18 year old Arab with a pedal bone fracture he had to have 12 weeks in a cast box rest, his a horse that tolerates box mentally but his poor body suffers and to get his postural state back was so hard his 20 now and his never really recovered.

I made a conscious decision not to box rest him again because it really did him no favours.

I would consider a short while box rest then a small turnout area and see where you are after that especially as you are not expecting to have the horse return to ridden work.

I could also tape my small yard area off and let him on there with hay so he could at least be outside and move around.

Please let us know how your getting on.

 

[Goldenstar]

Thank you for you reply, I’m sorry to hear you have been in this position before too. It’s a horrible place to be not knowing if you’re doing the right thing! I’m trying to not be selfish but hoping with time and a bloody miracle we can make it work. I will discuss stretch’s with my vet also thank you! Would you advise stable bandages to help with fluid build up? Thanks again

Stretches and FLEXIONS you might need to get a physio in to show the proper way.

 

[little_critter]

Thank you for you reply, I’m sorry to hear you have been in this position before too. It’s a horrible place to be not knowing if you’re doing the right thing! I’m trying to not be selfish but hoping with time and a bloody miracle we can make it work. I will discuss stretch’s with my vet also thank you! Would you advise stable bandages to help with fluid build up? Thanks again

I’d suck it and see ref filled legs. My boy did initially fill on box rest and I bandaged for approx 2 weeks, then his body seemed to adapt and I didn’t need to bandage any more.

 

[Goldenstar]

It's a year last Thursday when my boy did his ddft and sdft aged 14 out at retirement. It came up on my FB memories today. He'd only been retired about 13 days when it happened. We will never know what happened but we found him stood on his own in deep mud with a leg in the air. We thought he'd broken his leg initially but as soon as I felt it I knew he'd done a tendon. Such a relief when he put it on the floor.

It took us 30 mins to get him up the path to the stable and he was shaking he was in so much pain. We called the emergency vet and soaked his leg in a cold bucket of water. Vet came out and said he wasn't sure what he'd done ( he had bruising over heel area so think he over reached striking into tendon the heel). He mentioned sepsis, I was totally floored. Luckily nothing came of that thank goodness.

He was on four bute a day for five days. Vet came out on the Monday to scan, we were certain he'd be pts but he said the scan showed although he'd sustained a significant injury on the ddft and sdft he would be OK retired. I took him back to the livery yard he was at before he went to the retirement home and had two months off work rehabbing him twice, sometimes three times daily visits. He was cold hosed, ice vibe and cold tubbed. He was box rested for a further four weeks from recollection with controlled in hand walking, stable bandaged initially 24/7 then just at night. Crucial to bandage over gamgee or pads for support to opposite leg. I used a long wave ultrasound therapy machine for ten minutes a day, this and the constant cold therapy was a game changer. Eventually he went into a very small paddock which he couldn't build up speed to canter in. Every day I made it slightly bigger, until it was 40m x 20m. He finally went back on 1st July to retirement livery 90% better.

Touch wood it's never caused any issues since, I've seen him bucking, rearing and even cantering on it. It's not even warm and hasn't fluctuated in size since Aug last year.

Obviously he's not a ridden horse and wouldn't cope if he was. But if you can put the work in there's a good chance it is fixable enough to retire. But I'm not a vet and don't know how much different his injury is to Lari's. Your horse may have more scar tissue for instance. Get a second opinion if you need to before considering pts would be my advice.

I'd find out why you weren't advised to ice too. Cold therapy, bandaging, pain relief, initial box rest and then controlled exercise is always the best recommendation and ice can't harm if done correctly. It is always my go to with tendon/ligament issues to reduce inflammation and control pain.

Here's my story if you want further info and please pm if you want to chat and vent. Best of luck. https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/sad-news-about-lari.828157/

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/did-you-take-a-photo-today-what%E2%80%99s-the-subject.788955/post-15373390

I don’t know what you have been told to do but this a good post to show where likely to go, If you are not you must do cold therapy I prefer to use bonner bandages and keep ice and water in a rigid cool box outside the stable. Initially I aim to ice twenty minutes in every hour during the day it’s extremely time consuming .
You must also support the other limb as well that’s vital in a horse of this age .
Laser therapy from a physio is worth adding in as well .

 

[spotty_pony2]

I’m suprised they haven’t told you to cold hose etc unless it’s different when it’s a lesion, if it’s hot and swollen though I would have thought it couldn’t hurt.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Ice packs used for humans are pretty good I've used them loads of times they fit around a horse leg very well I even use the velcro belt and wind it around the leg then just put a bandage over it.

 

[aimee_smith]

Update:

I have spoken with my vets and requested to speak to a different vet at our practice this time as I found the first vet I spoke to left me in the dark a little. I mentioned the cold hosing and putting on ice boots and she said that this would help with the inflammation so to continue doing it (good job I have been) so we have been doing this every 2 hours. She’s happy for us to take it week by week from here. So that makes me feel more comfortable.

I have attached a picture of her scan, top picture being her good leg and bottom picture being her bad for those interested in what it is currently looking like!

I have left them a message to see if laser or cryotherapy would be an option as there is someone local to me who offers these treatments. Just waiting to hear what they say.

I really appreciate everyone’s advice and thoughts on this it really goes a long way

 

[aimee_smith]

It's a year last Thursday when my boy did his ddft and sdft aged 14 out at retirement. It came up on my FB memories today. He'd only been retired about 13 days when it happened. We will never know what happened but we found him stood on his own in deep mud with a leg in the air. We thought he'd broken his leg initially but as soon as I felt it I knew he'd done a tendon. Such a relief when he put it on the floor.

It took us 30 mins to get him up the path to the stable and he was shaking he was in so much pain. We called the emergency vet and soaked his leg in a cold bucket of water. Vet came out and said he wasn't sure what he'd done ( he had bruising over heel area so think he over reached striking into tendon the heel). He mentioned sepsis, I was totally floored. Luckily nothing came of that thank goodness.

He was on four bute a day for five days. Vet came out on the Monday to scan, we were certain he'd be pts but he said the scan showed although he'd sustained a significant injury on the ddft and sdft he would be OK retired. I took him back to the livery yard he was at before he went to the retirement home and had two months off work rehabbing him twice, sometimes three times daily visits. He was cold hosed, ice vibe and cold tubbed. He was box rested for a further four weeks from recollection with controlled in hand walking, stable bandaged initially 24/7 then just at night. Crucial to bandage over gamgee or pads for support to opposite leg. I used a long wave ultrasound therapy machine for ten minutes a day, this and the constant cold therapy was a game changer. Eventually he went into a very small paddock which he couldn't build up speed to canter in. Every day I made it slightly bigger, until it was 40m x 20m. He finally went back on 1st July to retirement livery 90% better.

Touch wood it's never caused any issues since, I've seen him bucking, rearing and even cantering on it. It's not even warm and hasn't fluctuated in size since Aug last year.

Obviously he's not a ridden horse and wouldn't cope if he was. But if you can put the work in there's a good chance it is fixable enough to retire. But I'm not a vet and don't know how much different his injury is to Lari's. Your horse may have more scar tissue for instance. Get a second opinion if you need to before considering pts would be my advice.

I'd find out why you weren't advised to ice too. Cold therapy, bandaging, pain relief, initial box rest and then controlled exercise is always the best recommendation and ice can't harm if done correctly. It is always my go to with tendon/ligament issues to reduce inflammation and control pain.

Here's my story if you want further info and please pm if you want to chat and vent. Best of luck. https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/sad-news-about-lari.828157/

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/did-you-take-a-photo-today-what%E2%80%99s-the-subject.788955/post-15373390

I’m so pleased that he made a recovery This gives me a great insight and some more questions and avenues to explore! There is someone close to me who does laser, would you recommend this over cryotherapy? And did you do put corrective shoes on him, a friend of mine has recommended seeing if my farrier can put a heart bar on her shoes to help take the weight off her tendon and support her foot better …

 

[Birker2020]

I’m so pleased that he made a recovery This gives me a great insight and some more questions and avenues to explore! There is someone close to me who does laser, would you recommend this over cryotherapy? And did you do put corrective shoes on him, a friend of mine has recommended seeing if my farrier can put a heart bar on her shoes to help take the weight off her tendon and support her foot better …

I didn't go down the remedial farriery route because he'd been roughed off his shoes for ages because you can't let them out at retirement with back shoes on. So he'd been shoe free about five months by the time of his injury because he was going to the blood bank originally but then I couldn't face it, so it was retirement instead.

Laser therapy can accelerate tissue repair and it offers pain killing effect but I went with the LW ultrasound because it had worked amazingly on a check ligament injury on a previous horse and it was a ten minute treatment every day. My physio loans out their machines to clients so it's easier. They explain what to do and how it works in detail, it's quite safe.

 

[Goldenstar]

The use of heart bars used to be really common in serious soft tissue injuries as was the use of wedges with you stuck to the foot with tape .
I think it’s gone somewhat out of fashion now .
You need to talk through all of this with a suitable vet that is one who specialises in soft tissue injuries a specialist vet often costs very little extra than a generalist and a plan from a specialist could a good use of funds .
I would also what a ACPAT trained physio who works with these types of injuries giving input .
A regular session from a physio would also help your mare stay as comfortable as possible when she’s standing in .