When legs look funny (post-tendon inury)

[Ritazza]

Just wondering if anyone else is going through this. I'm sure it's probably commonplace.
Background is mare injured herself last September, both hinds, small lesion SDFT LH and SDFT tenosynovitis, RH SDFT tenosynovitis too. She's been doing for the most part really well, and is just started to canter. Recent ultrasounds look great. It's just that some days the legs look, well, weird! Some days there is filling in both (especially when she is warm or it's warmer out), some days just the LH. Some days there is nothing. Some days it goes away with work, but it usually comes back fairly quickly. She's very sound, thank god, but they always freak me out. There's never any heat, but when there is filling, the legs are pretty uniformly warm (front legs too, so I think it's just her being warm). She's been wrapped since the injury, and has been wrapped just in the PM since December. We've been trying to wean her off the wraps, but especially after a work where she does a little bit more, she gets wrapped. I had one vet tell me she'll need to be wrapped every day until she dies, and one tell me that we need to get her away from that ASAP. Not sure who to believe but I'm pretty sure wrapping her for the rest of her life sounds pretty crappy.
I'm going to guess that since the tendon sheaths were compromised, the legs will never look normal again. But I'm wondering how much of this is her new normal, or if I should be concerned. Anyone else have an ugly-legged horse post injury that is fine and went on to bigger and better things?

[deltawave]

Sound is as sound does. A little filling in a horse who's been living in wraps is no surprise. How much turnout does she get? Moving, moving, moving is the solution to filling, NOT bandages. Personally I'd ditch the wraps yesterday and let her lymphatic system start to pick up the slack again. :)

[FineAlready]

My gelding is recovering from a suspensory injury and that leg will occasionally fill a little when it is warmer outside. At first, it totally freaked me out, but now I'm used to it. I've noticed that it has evened out more over time and the filling/warmth is less frequent.

I was also wrapping a lot at the beginning, and I thought that actually led to more puffiness in the long run. Now I never wrap, never poultice, and rarely cold hose. I guess my thinking is that babying that leg won't really help it get stronger in the long run. So far, the minimalist approach seems to be working.

Love your blog, by the way!

[murphyluv]

my horse injured his left front check ligament last October, was put on pasture rest, and reinjured it in January, this time involving the superficial tendon. He was put on stall rest and we are now gradually going into turnout. The leg has a lump on the lateral side of the leg, over the check ligament, and the filling comes and goes. The vet told me he probably has some scar tissue, which as we just do lower level dressage and trail riding this hopefully does not affect his soundness. She also said the filling will come and go as well.
I will be keeping him out 24/7 but had been wrapping him off and on while he was on stall rest. A few nights on, a night off. Trying not to wrap him 24/7. I had also been using back on track wraps a few nights a week, as the injury got older. I don't know that I would use it on a hot injury. The BoT wraps do seem to help the healing process. I also plan on wrapping his legs with them for an hour or two before working him, and after.

[SkipHiLad4me]

My horse has injured his SDFT on both hind legs at separate times. He was on turnout for the duration of his rehab (would NOT stay in a stall!) so other than the first few weeks after his injury, I was not wrapping him. I too noticed the puffiness around the tendon that would come and go. With the first leg, I started putting him back into work and just kept an eye on the swelling and kept checking for heat. That swelling really made me nervous! With the second leg, I waited out the swelling stage before I really did much more than walk and it seemed like that stage passed much quicker when I did that. So I don't know if it was just coicidence or if it actually helped to give him the extra time off.