Superficial digital flexor tendon injuries are a leading cause of career-ending lameness in performance horses — evidence-based load management prevents the majority of cases.
Tendon injury prevention is fundamentally a training management and welfare issue. Horses cannot communicate fatigue or early tendon discomfort that precedes acute injury, placing the responsibility entirely on trainers and riders to manage load correctly. The evidence base for load management is now substantial: training diary analysis, GPS monitoring of high-speed work volume, adequate recovery scheduling, and surface quality management collectively reduce SDFT injury incidence. The welfare argument for injury prevention is straightforward — tendon injuries are painful, career-ending for many horses, and require prolonged rehabilitation. Preventing them through appropriate load management is among the most impactful welfare interventions available to horse trainers and owners.