Tendon Injuries - Could i ask for others experiences pls...

[scrumpygus]

Hi - i was just wondering if anyone could share their experience with me on tendon injuries - ie what may have caused it/ when was it apparent something was wrong and how long it took to heal and horse to become sound again. Also any advice on helping horse to heal - i currently have mine on box rest with twice daily cold hosing.

 

[toomanyhorses26]

My tb had a bout of tendonitis about 2years ago - can't remember exactly what was involved but the areas of damage were to the inside just below the knee and to the outside just above the fetlocak so we think he ws probably hooning round the field and twisted that leg. He came in from the field sound and was bizarrly sound when that leg ws to the outside when being ridden but when we swapped reins and that leg was to the inside he was about4/10 lame. Obviously got off straight away and the leg was generally puffy not just on the tendons - cold hosed straight away and conatcted the vet . It did take a scan to actually identify the issue as the swelling then situated itself on the fron tof the leg and gradually moved round to the back. He had 14 weeks box rest (could have been les but he pissed off in the middle which put us back

) he started off on bute but (this sounds mean) he felt too well on it and was pawing the ground kicking the door with that particular leg so we made the decision to take him off the bute so that he could feel the leg as such. When we got the ok to turn out he hd a month in the field just mooching about to naturally strengthen the leg and then we had a 6 month rehab as such - we went from a 10 min walk out to gradually increasing the work and going back in the school. He has had one reoccurence since but it was no where near as bad and he was only box rested for 2 weeks (it might not have even been this but the swelling came up in the same patttern so thought better safe than sorry. He is back in full work 5/6 days a week ,jumping ,hacking ,schooling . I am picky about the ground now and my farrier has been in conatct with my vet and he is shod slightly differently now(quarter clips,squared off quite short toes as he has the typical tb flat feet ) so far so good. Thing that really helped was a good set of cold boots and I had a good set of stable boots as well as his legs would fill but he wouldn'yt stay still long enough for bandaging.

 

[scrumpygus]

Thanks so much for your detailed reply - thats a long time - my mare is very happy to stay indoors (i actually think she doesnt like going out much!) Do you think if your horse had been quieter and more happy to rest and stay in it would have healed quicker? Also did you start using the cold boots straight away?

 

[toomanyhorses26]

More than likely

He was strange as he was reasonably happy in his box (the pawing and kicking was a previous habit so didn;t start during the box rest and he did it around dinner time but we felt that the half hour a day he was doing it wasn't good ) but he got quite stressed when I had to move him out of his box to muck out for example and would dance about and generally make a pain in the backside of himself. He had also just come out of racing so we had built him up from minimal turnout to being out 8-6 everyday and then for him to come back in and be totally stabled was a bikt confusing for the single tb braincell

I did cold hose for a bit but it stressed him to be outside and not be allowed to do as he liked so after a couple of weeks I bought the boots and could just chuck them on in his box and leave him to it. On a slightly different note - when you start riding again try and go out on different routes - I chose the only route I could do from my yard with encountering lots of mud andit made a rod for my ownback as we had a huge amount of napping as he had spent weeks going the same direction out of the yard and when I asked him to go the opposite way we had big discussions

 

[scrumpygus]

lol thats good advice esp as mine is your typical chestnut mare i may end up with the same issue! Thanks so much again! x

 

[toomanyhorses26]

No probs good luck and hope you are back on board soon

 

[longtalltilly]

Urgh I just wrote a massive reply and lost it

Mine did his in the field.... went out fine, came in 8 hours later like this....

was sort of obvious so rang vet and got him refered to Newmarket where he underwent StemCell therapy for a 4cm lesion in his SFDT

I was dealing with another problem at the time so whilst he should ideally have been on boxrest, we had him turned out in a 12 X 14 field to help other issues. this was last May and we were supposed to get back on Nov but colic and complications put paid to that idea until now!

It will all depend on the extent of damage and how long it will take, key is dont rush it.

 

[scrumpygus]

Wow thanks for the pics - thats really helpful - i have no plans on rushing dont worry - this horse has navicular and was retired at 7 y/o and only started being ridden again at 13y/o 2 years ago - so believe me i can wait! Its a very frustrating thing to happen but even in a few days she seems alot better -she is a lazy moo and isnt one to tear around the field or mess about but i found out my loaner had taken her for a gallop the day before round the country park in this lovely boggy february ground which could have had something to do with it!

 

[longtalltilly]

hmm that could have, doesnt always take alot does it? Hope its not too bad and your back on soon.
Dont go by lameness as to how bad it could be, mine was about 1/10 lame and even vet was shocked at the extent of damage once scanned!

 

[Tanya1989]

In the height of his showing career, C.J had a terrible freak accident in which he severed his rear offside flexor tendon and partial way through the deep digital flexor tendon. As you can imagine, we were absolutely devastated with what had happened to our baby boy. He spent 2 weeks in Rossdale’s Veterinary Hospital at Newmarket, and things did not look very hopeful that C.J would ever recover enough to be ridden again, or even be turned out. C.J received top notch care from the staff at Newmarket and under his vet Andrew Bathe, and we are eternally grateful.

We were not going to give up on our boy so easily after all the love and loyalty he had shown us, so after his 2 week stay he returned home with us on our 5 hour journey back home. We were instructed to keep him strict box rested for 6 months. After 6 months we had another consultation at Newmarket and this time things were beginning to look dire. We were told that C.J’s tendons had no tension in them and that his foot was basically flopping about on the end of his leg, we were also told that maybe it was time to consider euthanasia. When we said this was not an option for us to choose just yet, we were told to stick him out in a field because it was not possible for things to be made worse, it was as worse as it could possibly be.

We left the hospital distraught but insistent that we were not going to give up on him. We continued with box rest and walked him out in hand on a hard surface for 5 minutes a day, gradually building it up over a period of 3 months to an hour a day. The walking was done in straight lines to try and not put too much pressure on his leg by using the horse walker. 4 months after being told our boy was “knackered” we went down for another scan and the vet was amazed at the results, the tendon had begun to show signs of regeneration, not scar tissue, but actual cell renewal. Everybody was gobsmacked by the turn around. Andrew advised us to keep going as we had done and was pleased that we had not taken his advice beforehand and giving up.

Again, we made our long journey home. He was given a couple of days of box rest when we got back from the vets to rest his leg after the 10hours travelling, but after this time we decided it was time for C.J to see a field again. We acquired 6 panels of fencing, the type you find around building sites and constructed a small “pen” in the field. This was quite upsetting to see as it was such a small place for him to be, but we knew it was the right thing to do if we were to get our boy sound again. At the same time it was nice to be able to see our step forward and that C.J was grazing again. C.J took to his pen like a duck to water, and although he only had enough room to turn round and graze he still managed to put a little buck of joy in. Again, we were concerned he would do himself harm, but it was so good to see him behaving like his old self (up to a point).

C.J continued with his pen for another couple of months when we thought we would trot him up inhand to see how he looked. Our determination had paid off... C.J was SOUND! We couldn’t believe this, we ran him up every day for 2 weeks and he remained just as sound, it wasn’t a fluke! After much consideration we decided it was time i dusted off my tack and sat on him to see how he coped. He coped brilliantly! Within 6 weeks of being back in work we managed to do 2 straight lines in trot, within 3 months we were trotting in 20m circles, within 4 months we were cantering in straight lines and by 5 months we were back in “full” work. Although C.J would never jump again we could live with what we had achieved. Jumping was not something i enjoyed so it wasn’t something i would miss. He returned to being turned out, put on the walker, turned loose in the school. This is when once again our boy surprised us by jumping a small cross pole whilst we were mucking out and he was loose in the school. Although we said we wouldn’t jump him, he appeared to not have listened to us and decided he’d pop over a couple of fences! But i never jumped him again; it would have been too much to lose.

cj returned to full work but sadly died a few months later from a blood clot to the brain

 

[scrumpygus]

Tanya 1989 - that is heartbreaking but that horse sounded like he was truly lucky to have you - so many people are so so quick to pts that really they will never know what could have been. Many thanks for taking the time to write that.

 

[ha903070]

I recomment hydrotherapy for tendon injuries, my mares have both had tendon probs, big mare cut her leg as a foal and made a big hole in her digital flexor tendon hind leg, she was on box rest about 8 months but spent it at the YEC where she had hydrotherapy, they didnt know if she'd even be sound again - she is 6 now and never had **touch wood** any probs with that tendon after the long recovery. We also used magnetic boots once the wound had healed.
The tb got kicked in field and had infection in tendon sheath and also went to YEC and had daily hydrotherapy, its very helpful and great for healing, our vets referred us and insurance paid.

 

[Izzwizz]

My mare last year got a tear in her DDFT in the field, think it had been weakened the year before when she went lame but was then sound not long after. Shes had 10months box rest, graduated wedge shoes and now egg bars, walking in hand which has gradually increased and 2 MRI scans. On 29th Jan we were told after her last scan that although not completely healed, it was a bad tear, we could bring her back into ridden work, building up the walking week by week. No turnout allowed atall in case of re-injury and vets to assess at end of Feb. Shes done remarkably well and riding again is bliss. We aim to be able to turn her out again in May in the summer fields with the grass to distract her from running about too much. Its a long job and Im told that lots of road work is the key to stronger tendons and ligaments. She may be ridden in the arena in summer, we will have to see how it goes, we have until september before the insurance runs out to get it sorted.

 

[AHorseLover]

my gelding done hes tendons in about 2 in a half years ago now , how he done it well, i went on holiday let a mate ride him she couldn't hold him and bombed of on hard ground leaping all over the place and then he tripped thats how he done them.... we got the vet out they said o hes lame put him on a week box rest bute him up so we did, after a week in he was still lame this went on for ages because the vets was messing us around , then finally they sent him for x-rays nothink showed up , then he went for a MRI scan which showed he had torn hes tendons in both front legs , so he went onto 3 months box rest , he had to stay in stable while we mucked out he was not aloud out of stable out all for the whole 3 months , then after that he looked sound (he was on bute the whole time) so he went in a small field for 1 month , then i was aloud to start riding but this had to be done slowly , i had 2 walk 4 about a month to start with just for 10 mins then 20min and so on , then after walking i starting troting but only along the straight sides of the area not on corners , then about 3 months of that we slowly started canter work and it was all good still sound .. Then about a year and a half after being back to work proppa we started jumping but very tiny jumps and went up a little bit at a time .


but now hes sound has not been lame since doing hes tendons in.
the only probs now is , hes only aloud to jump max 3ft no higher incase he tears he tendons again and hes on half a bute every other day .
but for the last year and a bit we have been doing alot of hacking and show jumping and training him now for cross country and hes fine to do all this to be honest we could take him of bute but the vet doesn't want to take the risk

hope this helps you

 

[millitiger]

i had a horse once who did a tendon jumping out of his field over a 5ft hedge with a 4ft ditch on the other side and he landed on a steep slope!

he had 3 months of box rest, was chucked out for a year and then came back into work without a days lameness.

he jumped up to 1.20m, went xc, hunted etc and was in heavy work and it never caused an issue.

he vetted with flying colours and the only sign of it was a slight thickening on that foreleg.

 

[duggan]

A lot of decisions hinge on which tendon and how bad it is, but don't give up hope. The spa's are fantastic and well worth the reasonably small expense.
We've had racers that have done tendons, one almost severed his as a 4 year old, had 18 months off the track and came back to win many races and run until he was 15. Never gave him a problem once it was healed. (Trooper in my sig)
Another did hers, had 18 months off, 3 years after the original injury she won another 2 races and the leg never gave her a problem. (Aunty Norma)
Both were so bad the heel almost touched the floor, but with correct treatment (never had stem cell) and care they all returned sound. But it takes time and a lot of patience!