Understanding tendon injuries in sport horses, their prevention through conditioning, and welfare during rehabilitation.
Tendon injury rehabilitation is a prolonged welfare challenge for affected horses and their handlers. The lengthy box rest and controlled exercise protocols required for proper healing create psychological welfare challenges for horses confined beyond their normal activity levels. Structured rehabilitation programs that progress through hand walking, trotting, and then canter work maintain some exercise while allowing healing tissue to develop appropriate strength. Welfare monitoring during rehabilitation includes behavioral indicators of frustration from confinement and pain indicators from loading the healing tendon. Return to full work before tendon healing is complete causes re-injury with significantly worse prognosis, making patient, evidence-based rehabilitation the most welfare-positive approach despite the extended timeline.