I know this issue has probably been discussed before, but I am new to this site! Exactly one year and 4 days ago, my horse Caddy got caught in a barbed wire fence. Turns out she severed her extensor tendon in her right hind leg. Our vet actually said that he had no idea where the ends were, and there was no way to reattach them. She ended up having to have two surgeries to remove the proud flesh. We doctored her for almost 5 months, applying a salve from the vet, then wrapping a diaper around her leg, covered by cotton and then vet wrap. She was kept in a small pen, and turned back out to pasture after about 5 months. Her leg healed nicely and there is minimal scaring. However, we were warned that she would never be fully sound. She does flip her hoof out a bit so that it looks awkward when she walks. However, she runs and bucks in the field. I haven’t even tried to work her again since this happened. I am too worried I’ll hurt her. She was just turning 3 years old when this injury happened. Any chance she will be sound enough to ride and possibly compete on?
Yep, lots of threads actually 
Every one of the horses I know, or know of, returned to full soundness, including my own.
Get her started and see what you have
Lots of threads, lucky for you, horses never tire of finding ways to destroy themselves!
I’m with JB - nearly every horse I’ve known to have this injury have come back to full work.
Since yours is young and (I assume) was not in hard work, I would make sure you take your sweet time loading her limbs - it takes about 6 months + of consistent loading/work to see ligament and bone changes… If I were you I’d sit down with your vet and bounce a conditioning schedule/plan between the two of you.
The extensor tendon doesn’t do particularly much in moving the hind leg. It’s function is redundant and works in sync with the tendons on the back of the hind leg. The tendons on the back are much more important. :yes: Obviously, no guarantees because horses are horses, of courses, but there is a good chance of returning to soundness.
No, the ET doesn’t do much in terms of moving the hind leg, but it certainly has a function, which isn’t redundant - it’s to “extend” the hoof on the forward swing. A horse can still move his leg without the ET, other structures do that, but he’s got to think and work hard(er) to get the foot flipped up to land, which often leads to flinging the leg forward.
That’s why some horses without full ET use will have that “flip”, they’ve learned to do the bit of fling to get the foot facing the right way.
Raising hand to join the “severed extensor tendon” group. My gelding was 4 when he did his, like the others he’s been back in full work for about 1.5 yrs and the only tell tale sign is the large scar and permanent thicker back leg! They can learn to mov without the tell tale flip, especially the young ones and we are now showing and jumping and winning our fair share of undersaddle classes:). (Although I do notice he trips occasionally on that damn CGT footing on that leg, but never on sand or grass… Hmmmmmmm )
now the surgeon did say that he will never jump the really big fences but that’s no big deal and we are building him up to 1.10m which he’s handling with ease. I think the biggest hurdle to successful recovery is a good vet team and diligent aftercare. If he’s been pass to ride, start slowly and “go for it”!
My horse severed hers when she was about 15. She returned to soundness and riding, but always had a little bit of a funky stride when cantering in the direction where that hind leg was working by itself (instead of in a pair with the opposite front leg).
My mare severed hers about three years ago and made a ridiculously awesome recovery. She is sound and I can hardly even find the scar, and I know where to look 
This is all wonderful news! Thanks so much! I just wasn’t sure since she flips that foot out like that. She was started very lightly at the time. She was the easiest horse we have ever worked with though. So eager and willing to learn. Nothing seemed to bother her, and many things that scared our older horses, like the roping dummy behind the side by side, she seemed curious about. We had so many expectations for her, and now I’m realizing maybe they can all still happen. ??. It’s always the good ones that get hurt it seems. I’ll keep you guys posted on her progress. Thanks again!
For sure keep us updated… If you’re interested in seeing how well mine healed he’s my profile pic!
Do you have video? I’m trying to imagine if “flip the foot out” means the whole leg sort of deviates laterally, or if she’s doing a funky move to flip the foot up at the end of the stride.
Either way I do think some, or maybe all of that, could be due to scar tissue or muscle memory that hasn’t been dealt with since she hasn’t been worked in the interim. If that’s the case, you may find that (all but) disappears as she learns to move correctly and gains fitness.
Oh my goodness! He is absolutely beautiful! This whole thread just makes my heart happy!
JB, I do have a video. Several actually. One from the day we brought her home from her first surgery to have the proud flesh removed, and another from a few months ago. I’m just not sure how to upload them. I would love for someone to take a look at them though and tell me if their horse did the same thing. It almost reminds me of when your foot falls asleep and you don’t have a whole lot of control over it. I thought this was going to a permanent handicap, but from what y’all are saying, it could be corrected with muscle memory.
[QUOTE=JB;8209681]
No, the ET doesn’t do much in terms of moving the hind leg, but it certainly has a function, which isn’t redundant - it’s to “extend” the hoof on the forward swing. A horse can still move his leg without the ET, other structures do that, but he’s got to think and work hard(er) to get the foot flipped up to land, which often leads to flinging the leg forward.
That’s why some horses without full ET use will have that “flip”, they’ve learned to do the bit of fling to get the foot facing the right way.[/QUOTE]
Thanks! I was looking for the exact function in my notes, but I haven’t quite reached that point in school where you see things in action. Just book learnin’.
sanders, if you can load them onto Photobucket or another hosting site, you can post the link here. Or, I can PM you my email address and you can send them to me.
Th
About 9 i
The videos have been “renamed or deleted by the owner” 
<embed width=“600” height=“361” type=“application/x-shockwave-flash” allowFullscreen=“true” allowNetworking=“all” wmode=“transparent” src=“http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf” flashvars=“file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid1140.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn572%2Ftrickm00%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2Ftrim.C75F0FAF-F621-4659-B49F-C7445D478BD7.mp4&title=Caddy”>
“Waving hand in the air” me too me too!!! I can join the “severed extensor tendon” club!! If any of you are on Facebook you can follow my horse’s story as she is now heading to Kentucky in October for the Retired Racehorse Project - just one less tendon than everyone else She is entered in the dressage portion. She severed hers a year and two months ago - and she is sound now For now we are just going to stick to flat work, but maybe in a couple years I might try her over a few fences, but we will see. I am just happy she is sound - the leg still has quite the scar, but all in all even my vets are thrilled with how it looks! We had a few set backs along the way, and just 6 months ago there was talk of maybe having to do a skin graft to get it to close up completely. But thankfully I just kept at it, and here we are today!!
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