OVER 1,100 horse owners responded to a survey on tendon and ligament injuries carried out by Applied Microcurrent Technology, the company behind the ArcEquine.

Injuries affecting tendons and ligaments in the equine lower limb are surprisingly common in equines kept primarily for leisure riding and low level competition, not just those training and competing at the higher levels. The cost of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation can cost from under €1,000, up to €10,000 or more in some cases.

The survey has revealed that over 60% of respondents had experienced a tendon or ligament injury to at least one horse in the previous 12 months, the most common of which was damage to the suspensory ligament and/or its branches (over 50%) with 17% reporting injures to the deep digital flexor tendon and 8% to the superficial digital flexor tendon.

The age profile of injured horses, which are based in every region of the UK and Northern Ireland, showed a peak at the age of 10, but some injuries are reported from as young as a yearling, up to the age of 28.

REST PERIOD

Hacking has long been thought of as beneficial to long term fitness and soundness, but results reveal that almost half of the injured horses are regularly hacking out alongside competition work, or are kept solely for leisure purposes. Amongst the competition disciplines, dressage horses were most likely to be affected by these injuries (47%) followed by show jumpers (28%), eventers 25% and show horses 12%.

Diagnostic ultrasound is most frequently used to confirm the nature of injury, together with expert veterinary lameness examination, with nerve blocks used in 30% of cases. Most horses present with either grade 2 or 3 (on a scale 1 of 5) lameness and in cases where tendons are injured, most are at the less serious end of the spectrum.

Prognoses vary significantly, with rest periods typically up to six months prior to rehabilitation and a return to work, but some horses have not yet returned to work even after a year off.

Most injuries (39%) are reported to have occurred while the horse was turned out, with only 11% sustained whilst competing or racing. 10% of owners consider sub-optimal ground conditions to be a causative factor, with repetitive strain injuries (9%), cumulative microtrauma/tears (9%) and sudden changes of speed, stopping and turning (8%) all implicated.

Rehabilitation

Of the commonly used treatment and rehabilitation therapies, the best results are seen with one or more of physiotherapy and chiropractic adjustment, corrective shoeing/farriery, cryotherapy, microcurrent therapy and a progressive return to exercise.

Commenting on the results of the survey, AMT Director of Research & Development, Jack Thirkell said: “The data will be used to evaluate the efficacy of current treatment options and rehabilitation protocols in detail. This will help inform our work in developing and funding planned veterinary clinical trials, which will include the use of ArcEquine microcurrent technology as a new therapy, both for effective treatment and on-going prevention of injuries.”

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Microcurrent therapy and the ArcEquine technology was featured in Horse Sense on the 30/04/16 for online digital readers. You can read the article on our website by searching: microcurrent therapy