Prevention of tendon injuries in performance horses involves training management, footing quality, equipment choices, and early detection of tendon stress before injury occurs.
Tendon injury prevention is fundamentally a welfare issue: avoiding severe acute pain and prolonged rehabilitation by managing training and environment carefully. The economic pressures of competition sport can push horses to train on inappropriate surfaces, for excessive duration, or when fatigued — all increasing injury risk. An evidence-based approach to training loads, surface quality, and pre-season screening reduces the incidence of a painful and career-ending injury. Horses cannot communicate fatigue or discomfort effectively, placing the welfare responsibility firmly on trainers and owners.