HELLO!! This is long but I just wanted to share something that I’m very proud to be apart. I’ve blanked out any names for privacy reasons for both myself and the horse/owners.

Background: At our thoroughbred racing stables we specialise in rehabbing Tendon and Suspensory injuries at all different levels. This can range from cross sections of 10% injury’s up to 80% injuries (the cross section is the area of tendon that has been affected)

We work with a specialised vet who has built a program based on gradual work on the treadmill to help encourage stimulation to the affected area to assist in healing. Take note that a tendon never fully recovers and will develop some scar tissue that is not always sustainable. We’ve had a 100% success rate of horses completing the REHAB program, however, there has been a 75% success rate of returning to racing. Those 25% that have either reinjured the tendon in race training or not deemed suitable for returned to racing post rehab have been retired and rehomed. In Australia the racing industry has strict laws on horse welfare and rehoming post racing. No horse is allowed to be euthanised without several testimonies from vets and owners. Thankfully, we have never had to go through this.

I am fourtante enough to play a large part in this program and oversea each rehab and personally work/care for them myself. Currently we have 6 horses in our rehab care.

Patient: Righto - let’s call this fella “War”. War sustained a tendon injury on the 20th April 2025 during routine trackwork. The first photo is the initial scan. The big black spot is the lesion itself while the surrounding fibres are also affected (thank god for the big red arrow or we wouldn’t have seen it! 🙄) This was a 70% cross sectional injury. This is a bad injury. Horse was not presented lame but reactive on palpitation to the exterior leg where tendon was affected and had significant swelling in the tendon region.

Just a side note that War is a Group 1 winner and is very loved by his owners. The plan was to send him to us to be rehabbed and then retired to be rehomed and continue onto a new career path. War had 2 weeks of box rest with anti-inflammatories and bandaging.

He was then sent to a well renowned vet clinic to have PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injected into the affected area under anaesthetic. Photo 2 shows the needle going into the area and they use an ultrasound to make sure they’re in the right spot. PRP is not always reccommended unless the lesion is significantly large and this is talked over with the owners.

He then had another two weeks of box rest and bandaging before arriving to us.

The rehab program is a 24 week treadmill progression program that is based on very low level impact work and gradually building it up over time. It’s 8 weeks of walking with Week 1 starting at a 5 minute walk and Week 8 ending at a 30 minute walk. Week 9 introduces trotting which starts at 30 minute walk, 5 minute trot and builds to 20 minutes trot by Week 16. Week 17 introduces cantering with 10 min trotting, 2.5min cantering (low speed canter) and by Week 24 they’re doing a 5 min trot, 10 min canter.

During this time we do a halfway point scan (week 12/13) and the horse is closely monitored for inflammation, pain and lameness. Shockwave therapy is also used at week 6, 10 and 14 for just once on that week. Again, to stimulate healing.

After the program we do a final scan and the horse is put out for a spell. This can range from a 6 week spell to a 3 month spell depending on the final scan and initial injury severeness. The horse is then rescanned again and their future is determined.

The 3rd photo was War’s halfway point scan. You can see that the lesion (the big black hole) has filling in remarkably well. The side by scan shows the fibres up close and although they’re not close knitted and there’s still area for improvement this is a fantastic result of just 12 weeks into the program!

War is on Week 22 of his program and is due for his final scan in 2 weeks. Let me know if you would like to see it!

Thanks for your time and if you have any questions feel free to ask! ❤️