Soft Tissue Damage - hoof - what chance recovery?

[Gingerwitch]

Background info due to the amount of exclusions on my insurance last year - I cancelled my horse insurance as i was bacially covered for ears and tail.... So my boy went to the vets today x-rays and nerve blocks and he said if he had been insured he would have recommended for an MRI scan.....

SO.....do i stump us straightaway - or go with my vets suggestion of a 6-8 week "wait and see" - my vets are ace by the way and I would not have been covered for the scan due to exclusions of both his front legs..


Also has anyone had a good recovery (i am assuming on a flexor tendon - injury - which i think is the worst case...) he is also booked to see the vets corrective shoeing expert next week so that sounds hopeful !

Or shall i just get a duster for him, and he can join the rest of my "orniments" ?

 

[brucea]

Have a look at Nic Barker's site GW, Rockley Farm. She does a lot of soft tissue injury work. Gets great results too (seen it with my own eyes!)

 

[Izzwizz]

My mare has a tear in her DDFT in her hoof, the worst possible place for anything else but an MRI scan to see. Hers was diagnosed last Sept, she had double wedges and then single wedges in her shoes and then egg bars. Shes been on box rest since then and in January went for her re-scan. Showed some healing but we had to get back into work to help it along. She also had inflammation in her navicular bursa (doesnt have navicular) and had a cortcosteroid injection. Was amazingly sound for approx 2 months then went footy again and couldnt put her weight on the said hoof when doing a left turn. Back for nerve blocks, showed up sound so vet re-did the injection. If shes sound in 10 days she can go in field (we are back riding again) and if she goes lame after turnout, she will have another re-scan and possible neurectomy if nothing elso shows to have developed.

If I were you I would go for the MRI, its the only way to see precisely whats going on in the hoof and you will know what you are dealing with. Its amazing to watch and see the results. Otherwise you may be losing time when you could be getting the healing underway. I dont regret it atall and though expensive, its an accurate diagnosis.

PM me if you want more info etc.

 

[Cliqmo]

My horse was lame with "soft tissue damage" in his foot last year (sound on nerve block and with clean xrays) but I was advised not to have an MRI by my vets when I explained the insurance wouldn't cover it

My vets mentality was that the MRI is essentially only a 'pretty picture' and the costs of doing it don't stack up when you consider (A) the scan might not show anything and (B) the proposed course of action is likely to be the same whatever the particular injury.

My vet recommended rest (stable rest for 4wks then out on Dr Green for 12wks+ as determined by progress) and he also recommended a fabulous supplement that they were trialling called Cosequin.

Interestingly having read different posts on here, my vet was against wedges, eggbars etc because he didn't want to cause additional stresses on a compromised foot?! He thought it was much better to let the healing take its time and to have the frog performing its proper function by being barefoot (my horse was unshod anyway)...

This was in September last year and **touch wood** my boy is going really well now

 

[brucea]

As I understand the problem with weges is that they give some relief by shortening the ddft and by changing the angle that it is working at, reducing tension.

But over a time period the ddft contracts to this new length and then it has to re-adjust to the original angles.

Maybe James or one of the other farrier can confirm that this is how wedges work, and what kind of time period they are happy to leave them on for?

 

[criso]

My horse has that sort of injury, inflammation of dsil, ddft and collateral ligament. I had an MRI done but it only confirmed what my vet suspected. The reason I had it done was that not knowing at the time how problems in the feet arose and progressed, I believed that soft tissue would require a different approach and I wanted to be sure. however 5 days into his lameness, my vet suspected soft tissue damage in the foot and he was spot on.

Both my farrier and the remedial one I saw confirmed was Brucea said and that wedges give temporary relief but long term did not solve anything. They both tried for 18 months to improve foot balance, landing and shape but if anything his feet looked worse. He was however coping with light hacking and schooling tho he was clearly not right when lunged on a circle. Turning point came just after xmas when he took a turn for the worse and was making himself really lame hooning round in the field and I was not prepared to keep him in a stable for 23 hours so I could hack him for 1.

In Feb he went down to Rockley farm to be rehabbed barefoot, at that point it felt like his last chance. As soon as his shoes came off while being footy his lameness stabilised and started to improve. Just staying sound turned out in a herd was a step forward but talk is about him coming back into full work inc jumping.

If you look at the blog and search for Frankie you should be able to find footage of his feet, trotting before and after and being ridden out.


In fact I am sitting on a train on my way to Exmoor to ride him.

Good luck with whatever you decide.