# Anyone have experience with Bowed tendons?!?!



## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

I have had horses with minor bows that have returned to soundness and others who have not recovered so well. How bad does it _look_? How lame is he?

The fact that the vet recommended 6 months stall rest suggests it is severe unfortunately but of course hard to tell from a description only! I always used stall rest although usually not for more than a couple of months. I would sweat wrap the tendon initially and as the lameness subsided would gradually introduce *some* hand walking before reintroducing light work. Can take up to a year to recover and the tendon may never return to original shape and position although the horse may be sound, making that leg slightly weaker. Also, horses that have already bowed a tendon are prone to doing it again so you always have to be mindful of that.

Things to absolutely avoid during recovery are:
Circle work - so no lungeing when he recovers from the lameness, straight lines only.
Sandy or soft footing - if you are going to hand walk him, a well kept grassy area is good or any surface that is flat, smooth and firm.

A bowed tendon can be a very serious thing and there is no way any of us will be able to give you much of a prognosis over the internet as there is such a broad spectrum from mild bows to severe bows. I hope for your sake he can make a good recovery.


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## GreyRay (Jun 15, 2010)

We have a mare that got a bowed tendon, it took her 2 years to get the tendon back to normal. Though we got her as a pasture puff because when she was a foal her dam stepped on her hind hoof. So it wasnt a big deal. 
But we vetwrapped and put biggle oil on it when she would get sore. 
Other than that she just stayed out in pasture because she doesnt move much anyway -.-
Good luck with your horse!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Buckcherry (Nov 18, 2010)

I was just wondering what was everyone elses experience with bowed tendons. I realize you can't predict if he will get better. 
He's not dead lame but you can def tell he has a limb and doesn't like it when you try to pick up his other leg to pick his hoof so i imagine it hurts. 
The vet said she thought he had bowed it before because she felt scar tissue?!?! so who knows if anything he will be a trail horse or just a buddy for my TB


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## csuebele (Oct 25, 2009)

We have a pony that had a bowed tendon due to him kicking himself (we think). We had insurance on him, so the insurance paid for stem cell therapy, which is suppose to reduce the scaring - the main reason why most horses with bowed tendons re-injure themselves. As Sarahver said, NO circle work! We cold hosed and wrapped him for at least a month, we ended up buying ice boots and used them on him even after he was healed. My wife bought tendon supplements called "Tendon Repair." His stall is about 20'X40' and fully matted. The vet thought that this was idea size in that it gave him room to move around - walking is good - but not enough for him to go crazy. We were told about 10 months to a year for recovery. He did recover fully, but the following year, we did not jump him at all, just to be on the safe side. Leg wraps are not that hard to put on, but you do need to do it properly. Make sure you do both legs, even though the other is not injured as if you don't, this will cause the horse to walk differently and put more stain on one of the legs. The wraps should also be wrapped the same direction: "Tendon in." This means that when you wrap the cloth comes around the leg and when it crosses the tendon, it pulls it inwards towards the horses body. Some people may wrap tendon out, but I've heard that tendon in is better. The main thing is that you want to do it the same way on both legs.

At first we were just hand walking for a few weeks for about 20 min, then for 30 min for another few weeks, then up to 40 min. Then we were able to tack walk for the same routine - no trotting or cantering! 

We had ultrasounds done to see how the tendon was healing, and this was a big help to make sure it was healed properly before we did too much on him.

The year after the injury, my daughter just showed in flat classes and won a saddle for best overall flat eq. The following year when she started jumping on him again, she won champion in her division for the year. So he did come back with flying colors.


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

I took in a girl with two bowed tendons in the front and bad hooves. The vet said 2 months stall rest and increasing exercise over time -- handwalking, handtrotting, walking under saddle, trotting under saddle... etc. etc. in increments of 10 minutes daily, 10 min x 2, 20 minutes daily....

After two days of stall rest, I said no way. I made a small paddock for her -- about 25 x 25 so she could walk around. After a couple of days I increased the paddock so she could walk freely, but she could not trot or kick up her heels. I walked her daily, but avoided soft ground and tight turns. I don't remember how long it took, but probably after a month I had her in a full size paddock, but alone. I hosed her legs twice daily for 15 or 20 minutes (which takes FOREVER!) and wrapped with ice-tite or something like that. I think I did that for 2 weeks. After that I just hosed her legs once daily, and anytime I took her out for a walk. Probably another 2 weeks. Then I would hose her legs only when I worked with her. If there was ever even the slightest heat, I would hose and wrap for 3 days and back off. I think that happened to me twice after I started riding her.

Lisa's case was pretty bad. The vet thought she would not recover and thought I was absolutely wrong to turn her out. But, I did a LOT of reading about bowed tendons and spent a lot of time watching my horse. I'm convinced stall rest would have crippled her. If the tendons are not allowed to flex during healing, they will scar up and limit future flexibility. The purpose of stall rest is to prevent accidental stress on the tendons as can happen if a horse is playing, running or trips. This can be limited by isolation instead of stall rest.

A year later, the vet was astonished at Lisa's recovery. She will never be a competition horse or a show horse. I never do circles with her, but I ride her regularly and for hours. We trot, canter, gallop and do little jumps on the trail. It probably took 18 months for full recovery and I didn't completely disregard her injury for at least 24 months. I was always watching for heat and sensitivity. Her hooves were always very well maintained as well.

There are pics of her legs somewhere on this forum. Maybe I can find them.

My big point is: I totally, wholeheartedly disagree with stall rest for bowed tendons. Let him move freely, but slowly, on firm ground away from other horses.


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## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

Buckcherry said:


> I was just wondering what was everyone elses experience with bowed tendons.


Oops sorry, think I missed your main point for this thread 

My experiences have been:

TB stallion - minor bow, good recovery. Returned to light work after six months.

TB gelding - severe bow, 18 months to recover and was only used as a pleasure horse thereafter.

Paint stallion - minor bow, good recovery. Can be worked lightly and does some circle work with no problem.

TB gelding - severe bow, 1 year to recover. Appears to be sound on that leg but the tendon retained its bowed appearance. Not a horse that I would be using for a heavy workload.


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

*Pics of Lisa's legs*

The first pic is when she arrived and I had just hosed her legs down.
The second pic is 2 or 3 years later.


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## Ladytrails (Jul 28, 2010)

8 year old QH mare with long pasterns - severe bow, 6 months stall+run rest, returned to soundness but rebowed soon after. Vet said was inevitable due to conformation. Didn't leave a blemish but she had tendency to have swelling/fluid. Now a pasture pet. 

4 year old QH gelding, got a moderate to severe bow while recovering from lacerations from injury, continued in isolation with smaller stall+run (10x40) for 5 months, regular checkups with ultrasound to make sure he was healing. HE returned to full soundness and is now in training under saddle again (12 months after injury). Has a blemish but it is hard and tight.

This injury happened in the late fall (October) and we had a very harsh winter last year. I used hand held ultrasound, magnetic boots and "Sore No More" topical to promote circulation and warmth in the leg, once the initial heat from the injury was gone. I will add that my vet was very interested in the ultrasound treatment but did not believe that the magnetic boots would help (but he said they couldn't hurt anything). So, it may have been just the rehabbing in a small stall and turnout which did the trick; we'll never know for sure.


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## Buckcherry (Nov 18, 2010)

NorthernMama -- I take it that lisa was pin fired, was she a race horse. that had to be rough having two bowed tendons..

Thanks everyone that helps, I have never had to deal with bowed tendons so this gives me a good idea of his prognosis. But every horse is different so only time will tell. We put off the ultra sound for now but we will probably have it done in the near future.

We are not sure about the stall rest he moves more in the stall because he wants to get out so we've been stalling him at night and out during the day and he just grazes so I don't see harm in him just grazing as long as he's not running around.
Has anyone used the suppliment called Recovery EQ it sounds great but its expensive.


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## Ladytrails (Jul 28, 2010)

Buckcherry, if you google "prognosis horse bowed tendon" you'll get lots of good articles about what to do and what to expect. There is another forum moderated by a veterinarian that has great articles (articles are not free but they're cheap) that talk about tendon rehabilitation, step by step. I printed out that article and used it as my "bible". The main takeaway points from those articles are: 1) you can't tell from looking at the tendon whether you'll be able to have a full recovery; 2) Ultrasound is critical to see how big the damage is, and to make sure that it's healing enough before you put the horse out for more activity or training; 3) If you feel heat, you use cold therapy (hosing or ice) and you have to baby the horse with restricted activity; 4) rest and *controlled walking* after the tendon is healing are the most important treatments and just about the only proven treatments. Your guy may be antsy in the stall but it's guaranteed that he's not running around....If he has hay and can see other horses, he will get used to the stall in time. 

The ultrasound will tell you whether you have a new injury or just the blemish that is remaining from an old injury. One of the things I learned from my studying is that - during healing - the tendon fibers have to reorganize and grow in a lengthwise pattern. The horse does this in response to walking. Just walking. Not bucking and running. So, walking at the right stage of healing is top on the list. For those of us who have the facilities to put the horse in a stall and a tiny pen, so that they can walk but not get a snootful of energy and go bucking around the paddock, we have the best chance of a good healing. If your horse has a big enough pasture that he can run the fence line, buck, and act like a horse, he has a big chance of reinjury. The healing tendon fibers are very, very fragile and one injury will make you have to start over at the beginning. 

The idea of wrapping is to keep the swelling out - the swelling causes more damage to the tendons and may make it harder for them to heal. If you can't wrap with standing wraps (never use polo wraps) there are boots that you can buy that are easy to put on and cushy and provide some support to keep the welling down. I used Boomer's bandages - they are washable and I could leave them on 24/7. I also used these magnetic boots after the tendon was "cold" - not early on in the injury process (Flex Rider Magnetic Shin/Tendon Wrap (Equine - Horse Health Care - Therapy). These provided some support, warmth in the winter, kept swelling down and were gentle to the legs. 

Sorry for the long post, but my first horse reinjured herself in a 25-foot round pen when we let her for 10 minutes to graze while we cleaned her stall. It seemed impossible but it happened. We were much more careful with the 2nd horse. 

As far as supplements, there isn't medical research to say which ones really work, unfortunately. (And for horses and tendons, there is not much medical research for magnetic boots, either.  I used CortaFlx pellets because they were cheaper and friends with sport horses have had good luck with that. The Recovery EQ sounded good to me, too, but it is pricey. Cosaquin is also supposed to be a good one but very pricey. If you feed a balanced diet, and add some type of antiinflammatory in the supplement you choose, you are giving him the building blocks to heal himself. There are lots of other treatments for early injuries, like stem cell treatments and shock wave therapy, but they are all very expensive and require access to specialized equine facilities. 

Good luck - tendon injuries are really a lot of work and as my vet said, the best medicine is "tincture of time." If you are on a budget, the best thing you can do is to get a set of boots that will keep the swelling down, or learn how to wrap standing bandages with puffy quilts underneath, and keep that guy in the smallest possible turnout where he can walk but not run or spin.


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## equestrian (Oct 12, 2010)

Bourbon was retired from the track with a bow. The rescue did platelet injections and he is 100% sound and cleared (by ultrasounds) for eventing.


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

Buckcherry said:


> NorthernMama -- I take it that lisa was pin fired, was she a race horse. that had to be rough having two bowed tendons..
> 
> Thanks everyone that helps, I have never had to deal with bowed tendons so this gives me a good idea of his prognosis. But every horse is different so only time will tell. We put off the ultra sound for now but we will probably have it done in the near future.
> 
> ...


Yes, Lisa was off the track and bowed several times. The firing was from injuries long before I got her; she had a new bow when I took her in. She has not bowed since being here (5 years or so now).

I didn't use any supplements so I can't help you there. 

I found an old thread where I posted some info about what I did; seems I was patient enough to keep her in a stall for a week (probably that means 5 days for me). I think that if your guy wants to be out of his stall, you are doing a good balance with in and out for now. If he is antsy in his stall he may be more likely to hurt himself through anxiety. As long as he is calm and alone in a small paddock, I would go for it.

Ultrasound is indeed very interesting. The ultrasound was part of why my vet thought Lisa would not recover. She had substantial scarring from her earlier injuries. Really was no sign of tissue -- just one big blur. 

Good luck with your horse. Keep him at a walk for a loooong time, firm ground, and don't push the corners.


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