Page 307 - The Veterinary Care of the Horse

Causes

Predisposing factors that put extra strain on tendons include:
VetBooks.ir • poor conformation

• foot imbalance

• fatigue

• working at speed on hard, uneven ground

• inappropriate training programmes and general lack of fitness
• poor training surfaces

• weight of the rider

• age: the incidence of tendon injury increases with age due to cumulative and undetected

damage as a result of training
• other illness or disease – for example, horses that continue in training with an ongoing

viral infection may be more susceptible to tendon injury.

Clinical signs

These vary according to the severity of the strain. Generally the horse will show the
following.
• Heat.

• Swelling.

• Lameness. The lameness may be slight to severe. In some instances the horse will bear

very little weight on the affected limb, standing with the knee flexed and the heel slightly
raised from the ground. Where major disruption of the tendon occurs, the fetlock sinks

closer to the ground than normal. It is possible, however, for a horse to have a moderate
degree of tendon damage and not show any lameness. For this reason it is absolutely
essential that the warning signs of heat and swelling are recognized and the injury is

investigated before further damage occurs. The signs may include increased warmth and
very slight swelling of the tendon.

• Pain on palpation. When the affected limb is flexed, even gentle pressure applied to the

tendon with the thumb and forefinger will cause the horse to withdraw the limb.
• Convex or ‘bowed’ profile (Figure 7.2).