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TENDON TREATMENTS
The majority of equine tendon injuries are sustained in the front superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT), which runs along the back of the cannon bone from the knee or hock to the coffin bone. The SDFT covers a very small area behind the midcannon bone, leaving that area susceptible to injury, but a rupture or strain can appear anywhere along the body of a tendon. If the lesion is less than fifteen percent of the tendon it is considered mild. Fifteen to twenty-five percent is moderate and anything over twenty-five percent is severe. A horse could have a slight bow or filling in the ankle and with a bit of rest never have any problems, but anything over a thirty percent tear has a bleak prognosis. Tendon injuries are diagnosed by assessing a horse’s clinical signs and history in conjunction with an ultrasound scan. Unfortunately, tendon scans can often yield normal results when microscopic tears are already present. Scans might have to be conducted periodically in order to determine what truly is happening within the tendon. “Bowed tendons are commonly a maladaptive process that involves the entire tendon, much of the early or micro-injury peripheral to the lesion cannot be seen ultrasonographically,” said Dr. Wesley Sutter, DVM, DACVS, of Ocala Equine Hospital in Ocala, Florida.
“The majority of equine tendon injuries are sustained in the front superficial digital flexor tendon, which runs along the back of the cannon bone from the knee or hock to the coffin bone” Any horse can suffer from a tendon injury but some are in greater jeopardy than others. Risk factors include age, level of fitness, poor conformation, gender, and race distance. A study published by the New Zealand Veterinary Journal in 2005 showed males were more likely than females to sustain tendon injuries and older horses (ages 4 and 5) injured their tendons more frequently than two-year-olds. The study did not conclude the length of races played a role. A study published by the Hong Kong Jockey Club in 2004, however, did find tendon injuries increased as the races became longer. “Tendon injuries can be caused by a single overload or trauma,” Dr. Tate said. “But they are much more commonly
fatigue-related and usually seen in horses running over longer distances, for example, a mile and a half and upwards flat races or any National Hunt race. Also, there is a school of thought that high temperatures within the tendon can play a part in the injury and thus bandaging horses for racing could actually make a horse more likely to suffer a tendon injury.” Evidence that early training increases a horse’s chance of injuring a tendon is conflicting. A study published by the University of Sidney in 2007 concluded that young thoroughbreds sustain musculoskeletal injuries that affect their careers from training too quickly, too soon. On the other hand, a study recently published by the Global Equine Research Alliance concluded that conditioning
Swimming a horse is a good for m of rehab for a tendon injur y ISSUE 11 TRAINERMAGAZINE.com 43