Bow Tendon

[kudosirony]

You may remember my post about Cracker coming up lame last year after a farrier appointment, didn't ride her, vet looked at her, was fine, blah blah blah.

The vet did mention there was an old tendon injury when she looked at her last year but that's not what was bothering her.

Comments

[p_melanchthon]

I had a 3 yr old TB gelding bow a tendon and then a year later damage it again. The first time he spent 4 months in the stall with some handwalking towards the end. The second time it wasn't so bad, so he only spent two months in his stall. If you are going to bandage 1 leg, I would do both. The main concern you have is laminitis on the leg which is taking more weight.
I think the stall rest is very tough on them, but today my guy is 17 years old and has been a pleasure/dressage horse for a wonderful owner. So they do get better with good care.
You are obviously doing your best for your horse, I am certain you will have a good outcome!

[kudosirony]

Prior to the ultrasound, I did only wrap one because I didn't know better. Now both front are being wrapped.

I would really like to just be able to do light trail riding after this.

[songofsixxpence]

you are wrapping both legs right? :)

[lurath]

Sorry, meant to reply elsewhere!

[kudosirony]

Prior to ultrasound when the goal was gettin swelling down I didn't know - both are now being wrapped.

[lurath]

It might sound like voodoo, but I'm a HUGE believer in the cold laser for healing tendon injuries after the past year of my crazy life. I have one friend who was able to cut the time for a suspensory injury to heal by 2/3. I haven't used one for my own horse (but I'm saving up money to get one - they are expensive so try and find a vet with one) but I was in a very bad accident myself and had the cold laser used on my damaged tendons with GREAT results. I'm talking torn and sprained tendons healed after one session or in a couple weeks.

I'm also not a proponent of strict stall rest, but I don't know much about your barn situation so I'll leave that debate for another day.

[bixa]

I was thinking the same thing re: strict stall rest until The Tonk was put on it for almost a year. It worked like a charm. Of course my barn doesn't have your typical barn stalls. They're runs with 1/4 of it covered by shelter. She had horses on either side of her that she could see and interact with 24/7 so she never got bored or developed any neurotic habits. If this ever happened again I'd insist on a similar situation.
I'm curious about this cold laser stuff. I'm a bit skeptical about a lot of those kinds of treatments though, so I'm curious what else you did or didn't do while you were having the treatments?

[quietann]

Clicker training could be a great idea! I have not used it much with Feronia because of how crazy she gets about anything involving food :0

Ask your vet if it would be OK to set up a very small turnout pen for her, to use when the footing is safe enough. Being able to put Feronia outside, 2 months post-surgery, saved her sanity. Her pen is made of 6 stock panels so it's roughly the size of two stalls. She gets 1 or 2 Ace tabs in her morning grain and then is turned out for 3 to 5 hours. The pen is right by the barn, and the barn workers do keep an eye on her and bring her in if she gets silly. (So yes, some supervision is required.)

[bixa]

Ugh, my mare is just coming back from almost a year off for a ligament sprain and avulsion fracture, and the previous year she had an unplanned foal at her side. I lost her 7 and 8 year old years. I feel your pain! :(
We didn't do much else but stall rest and it worked a treat. The best thing you can do is not fuss with her or get impatient, make sure she has stall mates she can see all the time and maybe mix up the stall toys every week or so so that she doesn't get bored. I never had to get stall toys because she always had horses on either side of her that she could interact with and I think that really helped. I did a bit of intensive grooming which she LOVED and it gives you a reason to get out and see your girl regularly even if you aren't working her.
Good luck, I know how frustrating it is!