Sprained tendon - lameness (also in lounge)

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saskia295

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My friend's horse has recently gone lame out of the blue. The vet has diagnosed a sprained tendon and stated he'll need 6 months box rest. The vet can't even say if he will get better.

Has anyone else had any experience of strained tendons? Is it all doom and gloom? Also, has anyone got any good ideas as to boredom breakers whilst the horse is on box rest?

I'd really appreciate any help.
 
Which tendon does the vet think is strained? I'm assuming superficial digital flexor?
My horse went lame suddenly in February and was on box rest from the end of Feb to the beginning of July. In May she was diagnosed by MRI with a torn deep digital flexor tendon and also with degeneration of the cartilage on the pedal bone. She had Cartrophen injections for the cartilage, which the vet is much more worried about than the tendon tear, and she went on field rest from July. Vet will be back out in April next year to re-assess and hopefully I can start riding her again, although she'll only ever be hacked again (hopefully also a bit of light schooling, but certainly never any jumping, tight circles eg. lungeing etc.). She's currently field sound though, it took her a few months of field rest to actually become sound. I can't tell whether she's actually sound though because every time she has cause to come in from the field onto hard ground, she's SO foot-sore without shoes that she's lame anyway!
DDFTs are apparently worse than SDFTs with regards to injuries. There have been stories I've read (on here and on the internet, and stories I've heard) of horses damaging tendons and going back after a long, long period of rest to do "normal" things. Rest is the key though, the longer the better! 12 months rest is the guideline for any tendon injury, longer for DDFTs. So not all doom and gloom, but just a LOT of time and patience.
As for boredom breakers, Maiden liked her Snak-a-Ball, swedes tied to the stable rafters, and carrots hidden all around her stable. Also lots of tiny feeds every few hours, and hand-grazing until she was allowed out for a few hours a day in a tiny pen.
 
Ah, thanks Silmarillion, that's really great. I'll ask my friend about which tendon it is etc and get back to you. It seems there may be some light at the end of the tunnel then?!

Thanks for your help
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