I’m searching for a new horse and one of my prospects has a thickened front tendon, but no heat or lameness. All flexions are fine. Ultrasound was done and showed no tears or lesions. A previous buyer had the prepurchase done and backed out. Because the prepurchase was not done by me, I currently have limited info. Am in the process of trying to see if further info will be released. So I don’t know which tendon. Does thickening always mean a problem? Can this be a normal finding in some horses? Thanks for any info.
Thickened is not normal - something happened to it in the past.
Why don’t you know which tendon it is? The owner should at least be able (and willing!) to tell you that - how did you find out? You will really need to get your own PPE done so you can have the info to make your decision.
What are you looking to do with this horse? How old is he?
I’d worry much less if it’s an older horse who has been doing what you want to do for years, without issues, and would not touch him if he’s 3 and you want to take him to upper level Jumpers or Eventing, for example.
Thickening with no active damage likely means it was injured in the past. Whether or not I’d have a problem with it depends on which tendon, where on that tendon, and the reason for injury. For example, an old bow on an OTTB’s SDFT doesn’t worry me too much unless you intend to do something with the horse requiring a lot of speed.
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Agree, what is your intention for the horse? What is the horse doing right now? What does the vet give for prognosis? If it’s not in full work, for several months, I would pass. If it is sound, working, and my vet told me not to sweat it I would buy it if the price was right. YMMV.
I have a mare sitting in my backyard who I took last fall from the rescue to get her going (very nice mare being dumped at the sale barn) to see if she could find a good home. When I slowly put her back into work it was GREAT at first and then she gradually became resistant and unhappy. I vetted her, because she IS a really nice horse, and she has thickened suspensories behind (to the point they snapped the splint bone in the past). No new tears or issues–old injury. She is completely sound until she is in consistent work. She’s still a great trail horse, but will never have another competitive career.
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I am looking for a horse to eventually do upper level dressage with. This horse is 7 yrs and has been evented for about 3 yrs and is currently in active training and apparently showing no lameness. I have only spoken with the trainer so far, and if I decide to follow up, will eventually talk with the owner. I did find out from the trainer that it is the superficial digital flexor tendon. Owner is selling because she is pregnant and not able to ride at this point.
With the new information, I would pursue it if you otherwise like the horse enough to vet it. Just be sure your vet takes a good look at the tendon since the history is a little spotty.
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“an old bow on an OTTB’s SDFT doesn’t worry me too much unless you intend to do something with the horse requiring a lot of speed”
Plenty of racehorses and steeplechase horses have come back from a “bow” and race successfully. Some, a lot not at the same level. But stay sound. A sport horse it wouldn’t be much of a concern unless an US showed a lot of scaring and the location.
For the average amateur and what they will be doing it should be of very little concern. A nice horse with an old bow usually comes with a bargain price. .
“Bows” are not the sole “territory” of racehorses. Plenty of improperly trained, prepared sport horses have been “bowed”.
Yes, true. My horse is an example of a big dumb WB getting a bow being a doofus in the pasture. I was just giving one example of a possible thickened tendon that likely wouldn’t concern me much. So, I agree with you. I also stand by the fact that I would be a bit concerned about high speed sports for the same reason only “some” TBs with a bow can race again. While lots of them can do dressage or jump.
If there are findings when you ultrasound the leg at a PPE, definitely get more than 1 opinion. Some vets will wave you off a horse if there are any questions/not perfect results. Some are better at knowing what will stand up to stress and what issues won’t. Unless you have a true lameness expert doing the PPE, vet opinions may vary considerably on whether they’d recommend the horse for your intended use. Just sayin’…
I like that the horse is in training.
IDK if you have seen this article before, but…: http://www.randwickequine.com.au/sites/default/files/publications/injuries_of_the_flexor_tendons_focus_on_the_superficial_digital_flexor_tendon.pdf
Thank you for all responses. And thanks, TrotTrotPumpkin, for the article. Very helpful!
I’m assuming the injury was before those 3 years of Eventing? That matters a great deal.
I’d also ask the owner what the original injury was like - what grade/severity was it.
Front or hind leg? High or low suspensory?
I would be looking to get information from the owner, not the trainer who may have a monetary stake in the horse selling 
JB, she said it’s SDFT, not suspensory (which is a ligament).
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You are correct, my bad! The rest of my questions still stand 
“WB getting a bow being a doofus in the pasture.”
lol, sorry to laugh but I’ve heard this from others. A vet that events and works with a lot of WBs was telling me how fragile they are. He only rides/events TBs now, “most are tough as nails”
Seriously. My own big WB ruptured his peronius tertius tendon in the pasture. Know what he was likely doing? I wasn’t there to see it, but it was a cold, windy night and I “know” what happened - my mare - OTTB - was feeling silly and stupid and was running and all he was doing was trying to keep up :rolleyes:
SHE runs like a crazy lady on a regular basis. Falls down cutting corners even. HE is the one who gets hurt.
possibly, I wonder if the trend to breed for loose movement and laxity throughout the body makes horses more likely to overexert or overextend themselves.
I also think it may have to do with such brute power, being somewhat “muscle-bound” relative to TBs, and the ligaments and tendons just don’t match all of that.
Mine also whacked the leg on something enough to create a big hematoma but not break the skin. Who knows what he did. But it still healed well. For some reason my TBs seemed to survive being young and stupid better. And boy were they stupid and fast when they wanted to be. Maybe because they were smaller and pretty done growing by this age? I dunno. It seemed the biggest trouble I had was them destroying their feet. Big doofus is too big for his own good…and not done growing!
I have a theory that this breeding type is prone to suspensory issues but I have no data to back this up.
