Equus – August 2019

Autumn 2019 EQUUS 498 17

STATISTICS: About 60 to 70 percent of racehorses with tendon injuries who

undergo routine rehabilitation reinjure themselves within two to three years

of resuming work.

moderate to severe tendon injuries.

As for protecting the tendon

at this point, a gradual and consis-

tent level of work is key. You’ve

shown great patience taking a full year

to rehabilitate your horse, and

I would urge you to continue with that

mindset and restraint. Your horse

needs regular exercise---fit horses

are less prone to injury and

reinjury than are those ridden

only sporadically---but be careful to

increase the speed, intensity and

duration of work incrementally to

allow the healed tendon to adapt to

the new demands.

David Frisbie, DVM, PhD, Dipl.

ACVS, ACVS-MR

Colorado State University

Fort Collins, Colorado

DISEASE

Onion dangers

Q:

Are wild green onions

dangerous to horses? My horse

seems to like the taste of them and will

eat any he finds. It makes his breath

smell weird, but I’m more worried about

potential toxicity. Should I try to remove

them from my pastures?

Sarah Little

Rochester, Minnesota

A:

Your anxiety over reinjury is
understandable, particularly
after you’ve spent so much time
helping your horse recover.
Although you don’t mention your
horse’s sport or activity, the statistics
in racehorses are fairly representative:
Around 60 to 70 percent of those with
tendon injuries who undergo routine
rehabilitation reinjure the leg in the
first two to three years after resuming
work. Those statistics may not seem
very encouraging, but keep in mind
that variables related to your horse’s
specific situation will influence his
likelihood of reinjury.
I’m not sure what sort of therapy
your horse received, but research has
shown that treatment with culture-
expanded stem cells has substantially
lower reinjury rates. In this protocol,
stem cells are taken from bone
marrow and grown in a laboratory.
The resulting cells are then injected
back into the injury site. In a study
of racehorses with tendon injuries,
the reinjury rates dropped to around
20 percent---so were three times
better---in horses who underwent this
procedure than in those who were
simply rested and given conventional
treatments. Thus, I often recommend
this treatment option for horses with

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