Same old story.. OTTB with DDFT Tear. What's your experience? Best practices?

[clarity]

Searching and searching and I can’t find any personal experience type answers to the questions I have.

TL;DR –
We are 90 days into rehabbing 4mm tear. Very conservative with stall rest + hand walking, gradually increasing walking time every week. She is turned out in a small paddock now. I have some questions at the bottom of the post…

I bought a 3 year old off the track with a DDFT strain. She was two months into recovery and needed some more rest, but was at the limited turnout stage of recovery. Her prognosis was excellent and I have some experience with tendon injuries, so I gave it a shot. She’s lovely and well built, with a sweet, sane disposition. I played it safe and just hand walked her for two weeks and did an hour of supervised turnout sporadically (very cautiously - with a wee bit of ace at first!). When she had shown me that she could handle turnout, I let her have a day out in the small paddock attached to the barn, which was on an incline (stupid me). Lo and behold, she comes back in hobbling lame, inflamed, and hot. This time a 4mm tear (ultrasound). Ice every few hours. Bute. Stall rest for a week, then hand walking with weekly increases of duration by 5 minutes.

The vet’s prognosis is good, and I bug him with questions constantly. We got up to 45 minutes of walking every day and then started having problems with her stocking up behind probably due to compensation, so I started putting her in a round pen for an hour at a time to see how she’d do. After a couple weeks of that, today was the first time she had unsupervised turnout.

I’m looking for any stories about horses in any kind of similar situation. Second injury to the tendon OR 4mm tear in the DDFT.

Do you boot your horse for turnout during recovery? (I was thinking maybe a brushing boot.)

Did your horse experience some heat/inflammation during introducing turnout and how did you handle it?

Did you do special shoeing? (I read that lifting the heel can be helpful.)

[IPEsq]

SOP is no longer to change shoeing. The wedge has an effect of shortening the tendon, which winds up being counterproductive in the long run for healing in a nice elastic state.

[scrbear11]

My mare is 120 days post DDFT tear and DDFT sheath rupture.

Prognosis for her was questionable due to the involvement of the tendon sheath. Ortho vet said in most cases the horse develops an adhesion and surgery is required. Even with surgery, it’s possible tendon will be compromised.

30 days of strict stall rest
30 days of small paddock turnout (weather and behavior permitting) with 20 minutes of walking per day.
30 days of small paddock turnout with trotting introduced (starting at 3 minutes, increased by 3 minutes, weekly)
And now she is back to normal turnout, with still increasing trot work. We had a minor set back, and some weather issues, so we are only at 15 minutes of trotting under saddle.

She has been ultrasounded and soundness check by vet every 30 days. First 30 days were hell. She got lymphangitis from bandage sores.

So far, so good. Her swelling is down. She’s been sound. I do not turn out with boots. IMO, if the boot turns or slips while out, you could more easily reinjure the leg. She is shod the same. I pulled hind shoes while on stall rest, but that resulted in some very sore hind feet.

It sounds like your horse needs strict stall rest to heal tear for now. There are two different schools of thought on tendon injuries- one is to keep the horse moving, the other is strict rest and gradual increase in activity. My vet offered either, ortho recommended the later. I know my horse, and I know she can be a nut. I chose to go with strict rest, with a gradual increase in activity.

Do not be afraid to use drugs. Especially for a young filly, right off the track. And watch for ulcers!

[clarity]

SOP is no longer to change shoeing. The wedge has an effect of shortening the tendon, which winds up being counterproductive in the long run for healing in a nice elastic state.

Good to know! Glad my farrier wanted to keep my girl barefoot this time since we just moved into the new barn yesterday!

It sounds like your horse needs strict stall rest to heal tear for now. There are two different schools of thought on tendon injuries- one is to keep the horse moving, the other is strict rest and gradual increase in activity. My vet offered either, ortho recommended the later. I know my horse, and I know she can be a nut. I chose to go with strict rest, with a gradual increase in activity.

That’s what we did. We are 90 days in at this point and I’m just introducing turnout now, after upping her walking from 5 minutes for the first two weeks to 45 minutes the past couple weeks. As long as turnout in her teeny tiny paddock goes well for the next couple weeks, my vet said I can walk under saddle for ten minutes for a couple weeks, and up walking under saddle from there in 5 minute increments until we’re walking for an hour!

Smart move on the boots. I didn’t consider the possibility of them moving around. Duh!

[AKB]

My daughter just finished rehabbing her horse from a DDFT injury. I didn’t see the ultrasound, but she said it wasn’t bad. He had a month of paddock turnout. Then, he had full turnout (he is usually quiet in the field) with lots of walking under saddle, progressing to increasing amounts of trotting. He is now back in full work, including jumping. He is about 7 months post injury.

[clarity]

[QUOTE=AKB;8957512]
My daughter just finished rehabbing her horse from a DDFT injury. I didn’t see the ultrasound, but she said it wasn’t bad. He had a month of paddock turnout. Then, he had full turnout (he is usually quiet in the field) with lots of walking under saddle, progressing to increasing amounts of trotting. He is now back in full work, including jumping. He is about 7 months post injury.[/QUOTE]

Do you know what type of injury? I’m assuming “not bad” means something less than a tear? That rehab process sounds like strain/sprain to me I think?

[cruisecontrol]

I bought a horse in 2013 it was a free/ family friend situation. he was 13 gelding qh I had ridden the horse previously since 2009 and horse was 1.20m jumper completely sound in just steel shoes ate a handful of grain was on almost 24/7 turnout. in 2010 he was sold to a younger girl who lost interest in 2011 and he sat in a field until I found him. 3-4 months after i brought him home, teeth, vaccs, feet, we were up to cantering small courses he went pretty three legged after coming up from night turnout. after radiographs Vet said it was navicular so special shoes ISOX and previcox whole year of nothing but a 6 hours of turnout. (No money for MRI) Switched Farriers, moved barns, same vet. Anyways all through 2013 made sure to get the heels where they should be horse was sound at the walk in 2014, bursa injections, sound for 5 months lame again. send horse out to pasture for 6 months with another corrective farrier. tendon sheath injections, bursa injections January 2015 sound for 6 months then I was called to Texas. Found a lameness vet and one of the best farriers in the country to partner with low and behold old DDFT tear shows up in the Ultra Sound. So in November of 2016 I had the money to do the regenerative laser therapy on his DDFT front left leg. 3x a week for 4 weeks. After the treatment we did a shot of OSPHOS for the navicular and are now 1 week post treatment walking 15 minutes 3 times a day. He is kept in aluminum shoes with a pour in pad and a handmade wedge. Ultra Sound shows new tissue has filled in all the holes from laser therapy. Horse has stayed out about 6-8 hours for turnout, this entire time. He is quiet and goes out by himself. Since DDFT is only one of his problems I’m not sure this post helps but I think the Laser Therapy was a great option for my guy.

[clarity]

[QUOTE=cruisecontrol;8957750]
I bought a horse in 2013 it was a free/ family friend situation. he was 13 gelding qh I had ridden the horse previously since 2009 and horse was 1.20m jumper completely sound in just steel shoes ate a handful of grain was on almost 24/7 turnout. in 2010 he was sold to a younger girl who lost interest in 2011 and he sat in a field until I found him. 3-4 months after i brought him home, teeth, vaccs, feet, we were up to cantering small courses he went pretty three legged after coming up from night turnout. after radiographs Vet said it was navicular so special shoes ISOX and previcox whole year of nothing but a 6 hours of turnout. (No money for MRI) Switched Farriers, moved barns, same vet. Anyways all through 2013 made sure to get the heels where they should be horse was sound at the walk in 2014, bursa injections, sound for 5 months lame again. send horse out to pasture for 6 months with another corrective farrier. tendon sheath injections, bursa injections January 2015 sound for 6 months then I was called to Texas. Found a lameness vet and one of the best farriers in the country to partner with low and behold old DDFT tear shows up in the Ultra Sound. So in November of 2016 I had the money to do the regenerative laser therapy on his DDFT front left leg. 3x a week for 4 weeks. After the treatment we did a shot of OSPHOS for the navicular and are now 1 week post treatment walking 15 minutes 3 times a day. He is kept in aluminum shoes with a pour in pad and a handmade wedge. Ultra Sound shows new tissue has filled in all the holes from laser therapy. Horse has stayed out about 6-8 hours for turnout, this entire time. He is quiet and goes out by himself. Since DDFT is only one of his problems I’m not sure this post helps but I think the Laser Therapy was a great option for my guy.[/QUOTE]

Wow… Sounds like he has a lot going on. Any idea what the laser therapy set you back cost-wise? Do you know how it works? I did some reading about it but didn’t commit anything to memory because I most likely can’t afford it right now… Though it sounds like you found the tear later on and then did laser therapy?

[ThreeFigs]

My gelding tore his DDFT in October of 2010. My vet told me he’d be out of commission for about a year. Stall rest for approx. 60 days, then I moved him to a place with a stall and small run, maybe 35 feet long. Months of hand-walking on straight lines. Then months of walking under saddle, eventually adding 5 minutes of trot every two weeks. When we got to 30 minutes of trot, Vet gave me permission to begin adding some canter. I missed the entire 2011 competition year, but this horse is my best pal. Time was no problem.

Listen to your vet and don’t be in a hurry. Sounds like things are going fine. Recovery takes time and patience. Best of luck!

[clarity]

[QUOTE=ThreeFigs;8958009]
My gelding tore his DDFT in October of 2010. My vet told me he’d be out of commission for about a year. Stall rest for approx. 60 days, then I moved him to a place with a stall and small run, maybe 35 feet long. Months of hand-walking on straight lines. Then months of walking under saddle, eventually adding 5 minutes of trot every two weeks. When we got to 30 minutes of trot, Vet gave me permission to begin adding some canter. I missed the entire 2011 competition year, but this horse is my best pal. Time was no problem.

Listen to your vet and don’t be in a hurry. Sounds like things are going fine. Recovery takes time and patience. Best of luck![/QUOTE]

All the time in the world. How did he come out of it? Full recovery?

[digihorse]

I love the Back on Track quick wrap boots. I’d put them all the way around. Once they get used to them, they can stay on all day without and issue for most horses. Helps to keep the blood flow up whether the horse is moving or not. Blood flow necessary to heal.

[IPEsq]

I agree to take your time. My horse ultrasounded clean after about 3 1/2 months of stall rest. Hand walking was allowed but became pretty much not doable early on. He was also not quiet enough for any kind of turnout. Plus, it was winter.

After 4 1/2 months (with a couple week setback due to an injection flare), he started treadmill walking. Once he got sane enough from that, he was put in a stall sized turnout. Eventually, he got up to a turnout the size of a double stall or so by the time he was trotting under saddle. I didn’t swing a leg over till the 6 month mark.

He had absolutely no heat, swelling, or lameness come up during any of the rehab (walking, turnout, and under saddle work). If he had, then that would have meant we were going too fast. Each time exercise was increased, he was monitored for any such changes.

For reference, he had a grade 1 lesion…very minor. I started jumping little crossrails around month 9-10.