# Ddft injury in foot



## ALO (5 April 2012)

After being diagnosed with hock spavin and becoming sound and then having a stifle injury which he has recovered from the beginning of this year my horse became lame in front.this was 4 weeks ago,vet localised to back of foot and he had a MRI scan today.was praying that it wasn't what we thought but it does turn out that he has a lesion on the medial part of his ddft.the vet said surgery isnt really an option due to location and that this injury carries a guarded prognosis.
Apparently it is 50percent of the width,but only 1 slice in length.
Has anyone had any experiences with this/got any suggestions or advice?they want to block the navicular bursa to confirm and then medicate.then it's box rest.I am just concerned that the box rest is going to cause further problems with his hock/stifle although I understand that rest is important for the tendon to heal.
Thanks very much for reading,sorry for the essay!


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## amandap (5 April 2012)

I would contact Nic Barker at Rockley Farm for advice about alternative rehab/treatment options. http://www.rockleyfarm.co.uk/RockleyFarm/Home.html
Have a read of the blog as well. They specialize in rehab of 'navicular' horses many with DDFT problems.


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## cptrayes (5 April 2012)

Have your vets explained that this type of injury is frequently caused by a toe-first landing? (James R Rooney &#8220;The Lame Horse&#8221; 1998)  Is your horse landing toe-first? If so, this injury will not resolve until you can get it moving heel first, which is why there is such a poor prognosis. The prognosis on a barefoot rehab is much, much higher than for a shod/medicated rehab and I would also point you to the Rockley blog for many examples of horses who have recovered to a full working life after a barefoot rehab.


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## ALO (7 April 2012)

Thanks for everyone's replies,I don't think he is or was landing toe first,we think he did it in the field.I will defiantly check out the rockley site though.


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## amandap (7 April 2012)

ALO said:



			Thanks for everyone's replies,I don't think he is or was landing toe first,we think he did it in the field.I will defiantly check out the rockley site though.
		
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Have a look at some of the Rockley videos. Video your horse walking on a flat level surface and watch in slowmo, it's the only way to know unless you are well practiced in seeing toe first landing.


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## ALO (8 April 2012)

Thanks for that,have been on the rockley site,makes for interesting reading!off to try and video now.


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## sarahhowen (10 April 2012)

How much box rest has the vet recommended and how soon are you able to start handwalking him??

My chap has just damaged his collateral Ligaments also disgnised by an MRI and the MRI vet gave the same guarded 50% chance of recovery


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## ALO (10 April 2012)

4weeks to start with 10-15min walk a day.am really struggling with the controlled walking tho,and I think the only reason he's allowed to do that is because of the hock problem.he used to live out 24 7 because of the hock and I think is struggling to adjust to it   it's really rubbish,thought
    I'd finally be able to get back 
out and do a bit this year,now 
looks like we might not ever be
 able to  sorry to hear uv got a 
similar problem.how far into 
recovery are you?we have a re-assessment after the 4weeks,then possibly increasing the walking but still on box rest.


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## Goldenstar (10 April 2012)

Nothing to add to the earlier posts except to say rotten luck .
Get online and get studying the subject if the horse is landing toe first you need to sort it.
Good luck with him


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## sarahhowen (11 April 2012)

Alo, we will be six weeks into our box rest at the moment - 3 weeks post MRI. Were up to 10 minutes handwalking twice a day at the moment which were building up to 20 minutes twice a day over the next six weeks and then possibly limited turnout!!

I'm trying not to think of it as a injury that is going to end his career, lets think positively.

Where are you doing his hand walking - on roads I find is better as they are less likelly to explode on tarmac - also I always handwalk in a bridle.


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## ALO (11 April 2012)

It was a toss up between road and grass,I feel safer on grass as at least if I lose him he's not on the road!!I'm using a bridle!out of interest is yours shod or barefoot?and did u have the bursa block and medicate?appreciate that your injury is a bit different to mine though so may be a bit different treatment wise!


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## ALO (11 April 2012)

Thank you for your reply golden star,I'm on the Internet doing a lot of research!


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## sarahhowen (11 April 2012)

Believe it or not I have been told that they are less likely to explode on the roads, if I was to try and walk indi on grass he would 100% loose it, so we walk through a quiet estate.

Yes the injuries are different but I do think the treatment is similar, indi is in front shoes which ate wider at the back on the outside to support the ligament.

The only block we didn't do was the coffin joint block, as the MRI had diagnosed it was CL damage we opted not to block the coffin joint as he would of had to be lunged in a arena which would of risked reinforcing!

We are due to have the coffin joint medicated next week, apparently they like to do it mid way through the treatment to maximise the effect.


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## sarahhowen (11 April 2012)

Reinjuring not reinforcing!


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## cptrayes (11 April 2012)

sarahhowen said:



			Believe it or not I have been told that they are less likely to explode on the roads, if I was to try and walk indi on grass he would 100% loose it, so we walk through a quiet estate.

Yes the injuries are different but I do think the treatment is similar, indi is in front shoes which ate wider at the back on the outside to support the ligament.

The only block we didn't do was the coffin joint block, as the MRI had diagnosed it was CL damage we opted not to block the coffin joint as he would of had to be lunged in a arena which would of risked reinforcing!

We are due to have the coffin joint medicated next week, apparently they like to do it mid way through the treatment to maximise the effect.
		
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Sarah did they explain why they want to medicate the coffin joint at all when they know he has a collateral ligament strain?  

Please don't think your horse will be a write off even if his current treatment is a failure. Success rate for barefoot rehabs with collateral ligament strain are very high.


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## Amymay (11 April 2012)

Believe it or not I have been told that they are less likely to explode on the roads
		
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Much less likely.  Give me a road as opposed to a field any day of the week when bringing a horse of box rest.


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## sarahhowen (11 April 2012)

amymay said:



			Much less likely.  Give me a road as opposed to a field any day of the week when bringing a horse of box rest.
		
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Agreed, I know the minute Indi feels grass under his feet that he is going to want to GO,GO,GO! And given he is 16.3hh chunkey warmblood who can lift me off my feet by just turning his head it would be an err..........challange shall we say to contain!!


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## sarahhowen (11 April 2012)

cptrayes said:



			Sarah did they explain why they want to medicate the coffin joint at all when they know he has a collateral ligament strain?  

Please don't think your horse will be a write off even if his current treatment is a failure. Success rate for barefoot rehabs with collateral ligament strain are very high.
		
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To be honest, I didnt ask - I was all a bit baffled when they explained to me what was wrong, and wasnt thinking much other than the fact they gave us 50/50 odds on him coming sound again!! I do know there are no guarantees that the medicating the coffin joint will make any difference hence why they wanted to block the Coffin joint before deciding weather to medicate BUT I have asked them to just go ahead and do it if it could be beneficial as I dont want to have to lunge him in the arena as I know after 6 weeks in he WILL explode and could set us back in his recovery and cause further box rest, the insurance are picking up the tab on it so if theres a chance it will help then they may as well go ahead and do it.

It could also be that the MRI showed that Indi has got severe bruising of the Pedal bone (God only knows what he did to himself to cause all this................) would that be a reason to medicate the joint??


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## sbloom (11 April 2012)

Do look further into this - there are risks with injecting joints, it is not something I'd do without being very sure that it WOULD help, with the risks involved.


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## ALO (11 April 2012)

We are having the navicular bursa blocked on Saturday and if does block it's being medicated.I'm not sure how successful that's going to be tho,as wasn't massively lame to begin with.
We did have the coffin joint blocked when the original work up was done but he didn't block and everything else did look fine on MRI.
I will think about starting doing the walking on the road,may wait for a less windy day tho!


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## cptrayes (11 April 2012)

sarahhowen said:



			It could also be that the MRI showed that Indi has got severe bruising of the Pedal bone (God only knows what he did to himself to cause all this................) would that be a reason to medicate the joint??
		
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Sarah has he got thin soles? If so, you will need to get that sorted if you want to increase his chances of coming sound again. It's usually a diet issue or metabolic disease which can also be treated with diet changes.

I know I'm banging on about this but ddft and ligament damage inside the foot has a far greater than 50% chance of being fixed with a barefoot rehab than remedial shoeing and drugs - and the stats from published  research into the traditional approach are actually far worse than your vets are quoting 

I hope you get him right again.


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## Goldenstar (11 April 2012)

sbloom said:



			Do look further into this - there are risks with injecting joints, it is not something I'd do without being very sure that it WOULD help, with the risks involved.
		
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I aggree with this I will plead guilty to  injecting into joints too much when it first got started and I was swept along I need a lot of convincing to do it now.


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## sarahhowen (12 April 2012)

ALO said:



			We are having the navicular bursa blocked on Saturday and if does block it's being medicated.I'm not sure how successful that's going to be tho,as wasn't massively lame to begin with.
We did have the coffin joint blocked when the original work up was done but he didn't block and everything else did look fine on MRI.
I will think about starting doing the walking on the road,may wait for a less windy day tho!
		
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I do honestly think being on the roads has been much safer with Indi, first few times I made sure I had an extra pair of hands with us, the spare person was hi-vized up to the nines and walking on the outside to control any traffic, MAKING cars wait to pass at a safe point as opposed to just pushing past and causing anxiety in both the horse and the leader - I now dont need the extra person as Indi is pretty chilled and the lanes around us pretty quiet but we still have one where ever possible!!

I'm off to try and order some magnetic bell boots off Ebay as I have been told that they can help promote heeling - Will let you know how I get on with these!!


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## sarahhowen (12 April 2012)

cptrayes said:



			Sarah has he got thin soles? If so, you will need to get that sorted if you want to increase his chances of coming sound again. It's usually a diet issue or metabolic disease which can also be treated with diet changes.

I know I'm banging on about this but ddft and ligament damage inside the foot has a far greater than 50% chance of being fixed with a barefoot rehab than remedial shoeing and drugs - and the stats from published  research into the traditional approach are actually far worse than your vets are quoting 

I hope you get him right again.
		
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Hi Soles arent massively thin, indeed we have never had any issues with hoof related lameness prior to this although I do know with previous owners he was riddled with abscesses through the winter so I believe that us changing his diet and farriery schedule has helped BUT when he was having the initial tests done the sole was quite spongey on the affected foot.

I have spoken with Sarah Braithwaite and she has recommended putting him on a Zinc and a Copper supplement as apparently these will aid hoof condition and heeling of the ligaments which I have on order and are waiting for them to arrive.

I honestly would love to take his shoes off, indeed I have taken his back ones off and he does seem to be coping, due to our farrier suffering a bereavement we were unable to get his shoes back on for a week after the MRI and he managed (Not particularly well) without the front shoes on and indeed whet a little pottery when he had the front shoes back on, I did call the vet at that point and discuss the option of again removing the shoes but he wanted me to perservere for a few days and to be honest after a few days he is happy and seems comfortable - also the heat has gone out of the hoof which we have had for the previous 6 weeks constantly. Im stuck a little bit at the moment as the insurance is footing the costs and to keep that I need to go with what the vet is recommending. He hasnt said no to barefoot but does think the shoes are going to help!!


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## sarahhowen (12 April 2012)

Goldenstar said:



			I aggree with this I will plead guilty to  injecting into joints too much when it first got started and I was swept along I need a lot of convincing to do it now.
		
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Thanks Goldenstar - Going to research this now and possibly start its own thread to save hijacking Alo's thread all the time!!


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## ALO (12 April 2012)

No worries bout the hijacking  been good to compare stories.let me know how yours gets on.


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## JessicaRabbitt (13 April 2012)

My mare had a very similar injury two years ago and has come back totally sound, but I took the rehab very slowly.The main thing was to support the rest of her legs as well, so that she didn't become unbalanced and started using herself incorrectly as a result of favouring the injury site.For her, what seemed to help was regular bodywork( Shiatsu and Chiropractic) , and also I used magnetic boots as well.Good luck with your horse , it's a long journey but so worth it !


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## sarahhowen (13 April 2012)

Yess Jessica Rabbit, I have been speaking with more people recently who have success stories to tell about there horses coming back - it does seem to be that time is the key factor!!

What Magnetic boots did you get - just looking into these now!!


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## sarahhowen (13 April 2012)

Alo, have you looked into feeding supplements to aid the healing??

I'm just looking into this now and there does seem to be a lot of evidence to support that various Vits, mins and herbs can assist and aid healing!!


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## ALO (13 April 2012)

I havnt actually,will have a look.he just has maxavita mussels at the moment for his hock.
Jessica rabbit how long did yours take to recover?and what level of work does she do now?


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## JessicaRabbitt (13 April 2012)

sarahhowen said:



			Yess Jessica Rabbit, I have been speaking with more people recently who have success stories to tell about there horses coming back - it does seem to be that time is the key factor!!

What Magnetic boots did you get - just looking into these now!!
		
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I used the Veredus ones, they have nice (non sweaty) padding that you can wash, they don't get as sweaty as the neoprene ones : )


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## JessicaRabbitt (13 April 2012)

ALO said:



			I havnt actually,will have a look.he just has maxavita mussels at the moment for his hock.
Jessica rabbit how long did yours take to recover?and what level of work does she do now?
		
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Hmm, about 3 months to get back into light work, back jumping after a year ..but don;t do as much x country as  I used to, just to be on the safe side...


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## dressagecrazy (13 April 2012)

Mines a long story so i will condence it a lot, but my WB damaged his Impar lig & DDFT in 2010. His DDFT had also adhered it's self to the Impar lig it was a real mess inside his foot.
Prognosis was very poor from Leahurst & my own vets, i went along with Heartbars for 4 weeks & had a bursa injection done. But the shoes made the situation worse & i knew i should of left him barefoot.

 So i did the barefoot route, unfortunately at the very begining i used my farrier.
He trimmed him as if he was about to put a shoe on & ended up making my boy extremely sore. After this i moved to a BF trimmer, long story but i went through 2 BF trimmer in a short time.
Current trimmer is fab & im extremely happy with her.

My boy was on box rest for 6 months & then went out in a T/O pen for another 6 months during this time he did in hand walking. He finally became totally sound last April & after a slow rehab under saddle he is now back working Adv level dressage.

He is actually working better than ever tbh more forward & has a fantastic movement.  
I will never put shoes on this horse again as not only does he move better without he has the most lovely rock crunching hooves now which are healthy & he's sound.


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## Goldenstar (13 April 2012)

dressagecrazy said:



			Mines a long story so i will condence it a lot, but my WB damaged his Impar lig & DDFT in 2010. His DDFT had also adhered it's self to the Impar lig it was a real mess inside his foot.
Prognosis was very poor from Leahurst & my own vets, i went along with Heartbars for 4 weeks & had a bursa injection done. But the shoes made the situation worse & i knew i should of left him barefoot.

 So i did the barefoot route, unfortunately at the very begining i used my farrier.
He trimmed him as if he was about to put a shoe on & ended up making my boy extremely sore. After this i moved to a BF trimmer, long story but i went through 2 BF trimmer in a short time.
Current trimmer is fab & im extremely happy with her.

My boy was on box rest for 6 months & then went out in a T/O pen for another 6 months during this time he did in hand walking. He finally became totally sound last April & after a slow rehab under saddle he is now back working Adv level dressage.

He is actually working better than ever tbh more forward & has a fantastic movement.  
I will never put shoes on this horse again as not only does he move better without he has the most lovely rock crunching hooves now which are healthy & he's sound.
		
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That's a great story to give hope to people in this situation .


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## DollyDolls (13 April 2012)

My horse did his DDFT 2 yrs ago.
He did have surgery, but by the time he went under he was so lame, he was almost on 3 legs (wrong diagnosis to start with).

Anyway, he was on about 6 months of box rest. 
The first 3 or 4 months was in hand walking twice a day, building up from 5 mins to 20mins.
Then I started riding twice a day for 20mins.  This increased to about 40mins, and then I introduced trot work.  The trot was introduced gradually into the 40mins and we built up to almost 20mins trot.

I then couldn't cope with the box rest and chose to put him out in a field (he did the injury in the field).  He then had a month turned out and I continued to ride once a day to the same level.  I then started canter work on the 7th month.

He had egg bar shoes fitted.
I used Blue chip dynamic.

He is back on normal shoes and still on the dynamic.  However, he is in full work and completely sound.  I choose to not jump him any more, but we still take on ditches and banks out hacking.

He does see an Osteo every few months.

Good luck, mine was worth it, but hard work.


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## sarahhowen (13 April 2012)

Oooooh, this thread is making me feel MUCH more positive about Indi's prognosis, Alo, you have he joint medicated tomorrow don't you? Best of luck and let me know how it goes!


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## sarahhowen (17 April 2012)

Hi Alo,

Any update - how did it go for you medicating the joint, Indi's is being done on Friday - Eeeek!!


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## Charem (17 April 2012)

Thought i'd share a friend's experience.

She has a very sweet, though highly strung arab x nf x quarter horse. He has the body of a forester, brain of an arab and worst of all, the awful feet of a quarter horse! He was broken in at 6 and at 11 yrs of age had done very little...mainly hacking walk and trot, odd canter. Never jumped.

Last year he went very lame, vet thought it was laminitis so box rest ect which did not sit well with him. Came back sound but then went lame on other foot so x rayed and found a small stress fracture in his pedal bone. He had t/o in a v small paddock, bar shoes fitted and after more time off was bought back in to walk work, 6 weeks later he went lame again.

Insurance finally agreed MRI, the report that came back was VERY long. Basically everything that could be broken was, DTFT had holes on both feet, lots of the surrounding ligaments were also damaged and the both pedal bones had 'bullet holes' which I think they said were due to lack of circulation. Vet said 'You need to make a decision' which basically meant she had to consider PTS as he didnt think he would ever be sound.

At the same time my own horse was/is recovering from a tendon injury and I had decided to go down the barefoot route with him. Having read Rockley's blog and been on the barefoor forum I suggested that she try it with her boy.

Long story short, 8 weeks after MRI we took pony back to vets. He was completely sound in a straight line and on a left circle, very slightly lame on right circle. Vet was very surprised and has said to begin walk work again with him, without shoes. He has been doing that for several weeks now and tbh he has never looked better. Landing heel first and completely sound. Even when he has his mad 5 mins in the field. Only time will tell whether he, and my boy stay sound but both had guarded prognosses and well so far, so good.

Good luck with your horse. I thoroughly reccomend trying barefoot.


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## ALO (18 April 2012)

Charem,thank you for your story,it defiantly sounds promising!
My horse now has got heel wedge shoes fitted,after a long debate with farrier and vet this is what they decided to do,again,due to insurance purposes I have to kind if be governed by what they suggest.however,both are open to the barefoot suggestion and are prepared to go down this route if this doesn't work.
SarahHowen,we didn't have the joint injected in end,we just did the block,there was some improvement but not masses,he is being re-assessed in 2weeks,carrying on with the walking and box rest till then.good luck for Friday,let me know how you get on!


Sarah,


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## ALO (18 April 2012)

Apologies for spelling and mistakes,on phone so a bit difficult!!


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## dressagecrazy (18 April 2012)

ALO, i would really keep a close eye on the wedges, ime they cause more problems & solve very few.

My horse was also under the direction of Vets & Insurance but i rung them all up & told them i was taking the horse barefoot. I had no issues & it didnt cause a problem with the insurance. After all there was nothing really for the Insurance to pay for once the MRI was out the way & i had stopped the remidial shoeing.

I wouldnt say my own vet was that chuffed about barefoot but he didnt cause a problem when i explained all my research to him. He does still think that im going to shoe my horses though, & you would think with all the success storys around with BF horses they would be a lot more open minded but some vets arnt. Just remember it is your horse not the Vets.


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## ALO (18 April 2012)

How long did you have the shoes on for dressagecrazy?did yours also injure the tendon in the foot?I must admit I am concerned about the effect it's going to have on the rest of the legs and did voice this.what level if work is yours back doing now?


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## ALO (18 April 2012)

Sorry,have just read your original post and saw you've answered the above questions already!thanks for your advice though,we are having another re-assessment in a couple of weeks so will defiantly have another chat then.


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## ALO (9 May 2012)

So,after a lot of debate,shoes are now off and we are trying the barefoot route.I have been in touch with rockley and Nic has given me some advice,I'm going to attempt to do the rehab at home initially and see how we get on.
Any hints,tips or additional advice would be much appreciated


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## Nocturnal (9 May 2012)

ALO said:



			So,after a lot of debate,shoes are now off and we are trying the barefoot route.I have been in touch with rockley and Nic has given me some advice,I'm going to attempt to do the rehab at home initially and see how we get on.
Any hints,tips or additional advice would be much appreciated 

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Great news, good luck . Imho the most important thing is to listen to the horse and chose your management accordingly. Hope things work out for you!


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## ALO (18 June 2013)

Just an update for anyone interested. Had a jump lesson for the first time since his injury and he felt amazing  we still have naked feet and so far so good. It's beena long road with lots of ups and downs and I never thought we'd get to this point!thanks to all that offered advice and took the time to reply to my posts. Very happy


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## Clodagh (18 June 2013)

That is fantastic! I'm so pleased for you.


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## gingerarab (18 June 2013)

Thats really good news, I am just starting out with a horse with a ddft tear in the foot, she is currently on box rest and have started week one of walking.  She went to newmarket to be scoped and have it all cleaned up.  Your post gives me hope that horses do come sound again after.  How long did it take to get your horse sound ?


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## cptrayes (18 June 2013)

gingerarab said:



			Thats really good news, I am just starting out with a horse with a ddft tear in the foot, she is currently on box rest and have started week one of walking.  She went to newmarket to be scoped and have it all cleaned up.  Your post gives me hope that horses do come sound again after.  How long did it take to get your horse sound ?
		
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Is your horse shod GA?   If so, the prognosis is nowhere near as good as a barefoot rehab.

Great news Alo, a year in and back jumping. I hope you both go from strength to strength.


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## Copperpot (18 June 2013)

My horse has a possible ddft injury. He blocks to the foot and x rays showed nothing. He is going for an MRI scan next week if no improvement. Been on box rest for almost 3 weeks. If it is this I think I will consider having all his shoes off. The whole management of it worries me thou. He lives out and we have a lot of grass. I have no means to keep him in on a permanent basis, he is on box rest in a sheep pen the farmer let me use as a temporary measure.


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## ALO (19 June 2013)

Gingerarab, he was diagnosed Easter last year but had been lame since the end of February. So it's been just over a year. We would have probably been sorted a little earlier but he had an abscess in late December and ended up having 8 weeks off. Mine couldnt have surgery as the area was too inaccessible. He wouldn't do box rest either, the walking out got a little too dangerous so he went out in a small pen next to my friends horse who was also injured!
Mine had additional complications in that he has spavin right hind and also had a previous stifle injury on the same leg which made his prognosis more guarded. I was told by the vet I could go loss of use as there was only 20 percent chance he'd come right again to even hack 
My vet saw him trot up the other day and said its the best he's seen him move behind for a long time 
Echo the above about shoe removal, it's been a steep learning curve and taken time but I think we're finally getting there, mine had wedges in originally, I had them taken off after 2 weeks!!
Good luck to both of you, PM me if you want anymore info.


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## bounce (19 June 2013)

That's great news ALO.  Its great to hear a success story.

Mine has just been let out in his field today (in a very small area) for the first time after a month of box rest for a DDFT tear in his foot.  He has had his navicular bursar injected and he is currently in heel lifts to take the strain off the tendon, although these will be reduced with every shoeing.  On his first visit back to the vet one month since diagnosis he is already 98% sound so we are very pleased with progress.  I'm now on to in hand walking for 5 minutes each day and building up to 20 minutes over the next 4 weeks before going back for him to be checked again.


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## ALO (20 June 2013)

Good luck with yours and good luck with the in hand walking! Had to paddock rest in end as my normally sane horse turned into a monster!


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## NooNoo59 (14 August 2013)

Hi my boy was diagnosed with this last year in a hind, so we treated with cartrophen and tildren, no box rest, walking in hand building up to 20 mins after Christmas, then started ridden work starting with ten mins building up to bout forty only walking, also and this was the clincher I think, I removed his shoes and started trying to improve his diet and hoof quality and he is now been signed off from the vet and he is being ridden in all three paces for about 40 mins 5 times a week and is staying sound.  I have everything crossed, but he seems really good at the moment, good luck.


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