Tendon mineralisation

[Irishcob6]

Horse came in with a fat fetlock two weeks ago and what we originally thought was a manica tear has turned out to be tendon calcification and mineralisation.

Final prognosis is to come on Tuesday when the vet is out to try and treat the calcification but I’ve been told the mineralisation is the big issue as it’s untreatable and therefore will affect any future work.

Just wondering if anyone has any personal experience with this issue or more info as Google isn’t giving much! TIA

 

[ycbm]

Have you looked up DSLD? I'm afraid it's a bit depressing ?
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[Irishcob6]

Have you looked up DSLD? I'm afraid it's a bit depressing ?
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Thanks, I’ve just had a quick Google, it looks like it can also happen to the DDFT which is where our problems our but otherwise he doesn’t seem to have any of the other classic signs. There’s no fetlock dropping and the vet doesn’t think it’s a new issue just that it’s now been aggravated by an increase in work level.

 

[nutjob]

I had one with DSLD / ESPA. The calicification / mineralisation is a classic symptom, especially in a relatively young horse. It has an insidious slow onset difficult to recognise. The fetlocks don't drop straight away as the horse can tolerate some hardening and loss of elasticity. Mine had no clinic symptoms for months he just got more spooky and over reactive to stuff and it seemed at first like a behavioural issue. By the time you can see the fetlocks have dropped you have reached a point of no return. If the vet is coming out think about having them palpate all the suspensories at least. I would be having them scanned but that's because I'm paranoid now. Good luck I really hope this doesn't happen to you and it's an isolated injury.

 

[Irishcob6]

I had one with DSLD / ESPA. The calicification / mineralisation is a classic symptom, especially in a relatively young horse. It has an insidious slow onset difficult to recognise. The fetlocks don't drop straight away as the horse can tolerate some hardening and loss of elasticity. Mine had no clinic symptoms for months he just got more spooky and over reactive to stuff and it seemed at first like a behavioural issue. By the time you can see the fetlocks have dropped you have reached a point of no return. If the vet is coming out think about having them palpate all the suspensories at least. I would be having them scanned but that's because I'm paranoid now. Good luck I really hope this doesn't happen to you and it's an isolated injury.

thank you I will mention this to the vets when they are out this week. Would this occur in both legs or just one as his front left scanned perfectly clear with all the issues isolated to the front right?

 

[ycbm]

It's not abnormal for it to start in one leg, that might have had a very minor strain at some time. DSLD causes those normal, everyday, slight strains to "repair" wrongly, leading to the mineralisation.

In my friend's horse, it started by him looking as if his hocks were going straight, and progressed from there.
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[ycbm]

Ref the ddft, yes, the modern name is ESPA, because they've now realised that it happens all over the body in all the soft tissues.
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[nutjob]

the vet doesn’t think it’s a new issue just that it’s now been aggravated by an increase in work level.

OP, this is one of the things you have mentioned which needs to be discussed in more detail with the vet. From the info you have given the horse already had a previous injury or just simply an accumulation of minor wear and tear which has healed using this mineralisation process which is a classic of ESPA and which takes time to appear. It may be that this happens for other reasons that your vet can explain. It can start in any single leg but it's a positive that you have had the other fore leg scanned and it appears normal. Mine scanned normal in both front legs but both the hind suspensories were completely disrupted by the mineralisation.