Hi Everyone! I don’t get to post much but would love some outside advice on horses who have recovered from a deep digital flexor tendon on the front.
There is an opportunity to purchase a nice past high level jumper at a very cheap price. The horse had the injury a year and a half ago. He has been doing light riding so far and is pretty out of shape. Horse is in the teens. I realize the horse will never be able to return to his previous level of jumping. I am looking at long term for flatting and small jumps.
Would like to hear others who have dealt with a recovered horse with a similar injury. Thanks!
This is so dependent on the placement and severity of the original injury. I would very strongly recommend having the best vet you can find review the ultrasounds and maybe re ultrasound.
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I would not based on past experience. My horse remains NQR after 4 years+
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Agree that it can vary a lot depending on where on the tendon the original injury was. If higher up, I’d be less worried about it for the level of work you are looking to do than if it was in the foot.
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I had a horse with a ~ 8% (? it’s a been a long time, so maybe it wasn’t 8%) tear on a front DDFT and he healed perfectly. But we did conservative care and the horse was not a jumper (flat only), so take it for what its worth. Agree with the others that severity matters a lot. Also note that my horse was never actually lame on the leg, his only symptom was a bit of swelling around the tear after work, so we ultrasounded and voila. A horse who presented clinical from the injury would certainly be less likely to make a full recovery.
Agree with the others - severity is a big thing, and placement of the injury.
Little mare tore her DDFT on right front with ruptured tendon sheath. She was given a doubtful prognosis, but did come back and make a full recovery with proper, strict, rehab. I was always very cautious about leg protection and footing.
A lot depends upon the severity of the injury, the rehab done, and the results of the last imaging after rehab. Hopefully, it is something that can be assessed by ultrasound.
My horse had a mild disruption of the DDFT down in the hoof that was only found with an MRI. He was rested and rehabbed carefully along with therapeutic shoeing. Another MRI after six months showed that he has healed. We do dressage and he has had no issues in the two years since.
