Equine tendons: reducing the risk of injury
Abstract
Tendon injuries are commonplace in the equine athlete and contribute to days lost from competition and training, and wastage of horses. Equestrian sport, in particular horseracing, is popular with the general public and the advent of television coverage and the internet enables accidents to be more widely broadcast. This can have a significant negative impact on public perception of equine welfare and negatively affect participation and financial input to the industry. Riders and trainers would benefit from an increased understanding of the risk factors and pathology of tendon injuries to enable prophylactic strategies to be employed to reduce tendon injury occurrence, promote equine health and welfare and optimize performance and career longevity in the equine athlete. This review provides an introduction to the role of tendons in the equine distal limb specifically the superficial digital flexor tendon as this has the highest incidence rate of injury recorded. Intrinsic and extrinsic risks are introduced and related to loading and subsequent pathology to enable preventative strategies to be proposed. This should enable the veterinary support team to enhance knowledge of tendon injury and prevention in clients.
Competition, regardless of discipline, exposes the modern equine athlete to injury. Due to the popularity and high profile of equestrian sport, in particular horseracing, accidents are widely broadcast and can have a significant negative impact on public perception and prove detrimental to the equine industry. Reducing the risk of harm is paramount, primarily for the welfare of the horse but also to promote participation and its associated financial benefits. The main aims of training programmes are to condition against, or postpone potential damage for as long as possible, thus increasing the longevity of the horses' career and health. Intrinsic factors such as genetics, apparent externally via conformation and physiological performance, must be considered when evaluating injury potential. Numerous extrinsic factors have been suggested as contributors towards increased injury prevalence in the horse including surface/going (Williams et al, 2001), terrain and its undulations (Singer et al, 2008), number of jumping efforts (Pinchbeck et al, 2004a), jumping downhill obstacles and water jumps (Singer et al, 2008), speed (Pinchbeck et al, 2004a), distance of the competitive test (Parkin et al, 2004a), farriery (Pinchbeck et al, 2004a), and rider and performance demands specifi-cally galloping, jumping and collection (Dyson, 2002). The impact of core parameters such as nutritional status, fitness and the subsequent fatigue that ensues, or the undetected presence of subclinical injury, should also be assessed when examining injury risk.
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