JANUARY 2012 THE RIDER /17


WHAT’S UP DOC From the desks of Dr’s Armstrong, Frost & Rojman


HALTON EQUINE VETERINARY SERVICES Bowed Tendons


A ‘bowed tendon’ involves injury to the flexor tendons of the front legs and on rare occasions the rear legs. To under- stand this better we should review a little anatomy of the area. Essentially, the horse is able to bend it’s legs and propel itself by contract- ing or shortening the muscles that connect to tendons that connect to the pastern bone and cof- fin bone. These tendons are called the ‘flexor ten- dons’ of which there are two; the ‘superficial flex- or tendon’ (closest to the skin) and the ‘deep flexor tendon’ (closest to the cannon bone).


These tendons are made much like a bungie chord with very little stretch capacity in that they are large bundles of long fibers held together by material between them. It is these long fibers that support the weight of the horse and withstand the tremendous forces required to propel the horse. Unfortunately, under very extreme loads some of these fibers can break or pull apart. When this happens the result is inflammation and swelling in the area and often the horse is lame. This is why we see a thickening of the area around the tendon were the injury occurs which can be anywhere from the knee to the heel depend- ing on the tendon involved.


The injury can be very mild where in there are only a few fibers torn apart to severe where in many fibers are torn apart. The severity of the injury will dictate the treatment process and the amount of rest time required for recovery. It is most important to understand that this is one of the reasons why we condition and train horses for the athletic event they will be com- peting in. This condition- ing and training serves to strengthen these tendon fibers so they are able to


withstand the excessive loads experienced during athletic competition. A horse that is properly con- ditioned for a competitive event will be able to with- stand the stresses and strains of the competition and injuries only occur as the result of extreme unusual movement but a horse that is not properly conditioned will not be able to withstand the nor- mal stresses and strains of competition. It is this unconditioned horse that usually suffers the bowed tendon.


Treating bowed ten- dons is a multifaceted procedure. First of all rest is required and treat- ment to reduce the pain and swelling. Then we ultrasound the tendon to see how much damage has been done, how many fibers are torn apart and how large the lesion is. Once these parameters have been determined a treatment process is designed for the horse and the rest period is esti- mated. The treatment process always involves rest and eventual hand walking but can include injecting into the lesion, Shock Wave therapy, Stem cell injections and topical liniments. All of these serve to heal the torn tendon fibers and return the tendon to as normal a pre-injury state as possible. It is impor- tant to understand though that after a tendon injury and when the tendon is completely healed the tendon is never as strong as it was in the pre-injury state. Therefore, proper post-injury training and conditioning is necessary to return the tendon to as close to a normal strength as possible.


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