Please note: This article is for information purposes only.
ALWAYS consult with a licensed Vet for proper diagnoses and correct treatments!
Tendon and ligament injuries.
You just made the run of your life. Your horse rated, turned, and ran harder than ever and you're
feeling great. So, you lead your horse back to his trailer or stall, tie him up and unsaddle. Some
friends walk up to you to congratulate you and talk a while. When you untie your horse to take him
to get a drink you notice something odd about his movements. He's not just stiff -he's downright
lame. Chances are that your horse just injured a tendon or a ligament in his lower leg during his
great performance.
These injuries often show themselves after the performance rather than when the damage actually
happens. Your horse is a clueless as you are that something has gone seriously wrong until after
the dust settles. To understand the severity of what is going on with your horses injury it might be
interesting to learn more about the importance of tendons and ligaments in a normal leg.
First of all : a tendon connects a muscle to the bone and a ligament connects one bone to another.
The tendons and ligaments that run down the backside of the cannon bone through the fetlock and
pastern are the most critical ones when it comes to supporting a horse’s weight. Any injury here
makes carrying weight a major problem. Tendons and ligaments that work in the front of the leg are
responsible for forward movement and placing the leg on the ground. The anatomy of front and
back legs is basically the same - however, foreleg tendons and ligaments are more susceptible to
injury because they support the major part of the horse’s weight. Tendons and ligaments are a
series of longitudinal fibers. They have a set amount of elasticity, allowing them to stretch and give
during movement. Stretching them too far causes serious damage, even to the point of tearing the
structure. Following a trauma, blood vessels in the tendon break, causing a bleeding in the area of
the injury. Once the tissue has been damaged it has to go through the normal healing process of
invasion with healing cells to get rid of the fluid. Also, new fibers must be formed to account for the
necessary repair. The fibers laid down during the healing process sometimes lack the elasticity of
normal fibers but controlled exercise can help out. Controlled stress can help the new fibers to align
in the same vertical manner uninjured cells take on and it will allow the traumatized area to heal
stronger.
How did it happen? Although tendon and ligament injuries can happen by a simple misstep in the
pasture they are mostly associated with performance horses. Serious tears and strains mostly
occur to working horses - that jump, stop and turn hard or go over jumps. Some horses may have
chronic tendon injuries that are not very serious as such. However, they often degrade and oblige
the owner to rest his horse. This often occurs after badly/insufficiently healed tendon problems.
When a tendon is bruised, even slightly, it is more susceptible to tearing, so you still have to be
conservative in the treatment and let it fully heal before putting the horse back at work.
Short term care : The first and best course of action you can take is cold therapy. Use either a
garden hose or ice boots to reduce the bleeding and constrict the blood vessels. Cold therapy can
be used for 48 hours, two or three times daily for about 15 minutes at a time. Hosing can be done up
to 20 minutes. After this primary treatment is initialized, you need to get your horse to the vet for
diagnostic exams that determine future management of the injury.
The hard truth: an ultrasound is an important tool in diagnosing the severity of a tendon or
ligament injury. Once the damage is determined, the vet and owner can sit down for a talk about the
healing process. Generally the treatment will start with complete rest. The horse needs to be
confined to a small pen and completely laid off from work. Sometimes the horse had a hard time
accepting the sedentary lifestyle necessary for the injury to heal. In that case it's up to the owner to
show his inventiveness in preventing boredom. Sometimes it helps if the horse can see other
horses activity and a lot of coming and going at the barn. For the first six weeks of treatment a
support bandage or a gel cast can help draw out the fluid, provide extra protection and protect the
injury.
There are no miracle drugs to heal a tendon but anti-inflammatory drugs can help reduce swelling
and ease the pain. Obviously, the energy intake of the horse must be strictly managed. Grain
becomes a treat and is greatly replaced by good quality hay. After the period of confinement the
owner needs to begin controlled exercise - hand walking or walking under saddle. As mentioned
earlier, controlled exercise will allow the scar in the tendon or ligament to develop stronger. De not
merely turn the horse out. Due to the lack of exercise he might feel high and will probably push
himself way to hard. The pain will go away before the injury is healed so there is a serious risk of
additional damage. In some cases surgery is an option but it will not shorten the healing process.
Prevention and long term prognosis : Conditioning your horse correctly reduces this risk of injury.
As far as boots are concerned : they do protect the legs in case a horse oversteps and provide
some circulatory support but they get looser as the training session progresses so their use is
somewhat limited. Even though an injured tendon or ligament is never as good as new most horses
can return to competition after proper care. It all comes down to taking the time to the injury to heal.
Confinement and controlled exercise are the key elements that allow quality scarring. Following the
strict instructions of your vet makes the difference between a horse that continues having problems
and one that recovers completely and returns to performance.