Anyone have experience with bowed tendons? I know there's the degree of injury that dictates how long it may take hte horse to recover. But does a bowed tendon often leave a mark and is there a potentail to rebow? A friend called me and said he had a nice horse for me, only thing was he had an "old bow" but he's sound. I'm not really sure what an old bow means.

If a horse is turned out to masture for about 6 months straight, he should be able to heal completely. The problem with a bowed tendon is that there can be a lot of scarring occurr around the tendon. I think that they can rebow the tendon but it will depend what you use the horse for. He would probably be good for hacking or equitation but nothing real strenuous like jumping or racing.

I have seen and have had horses with bows. One of my OTTBs has an old bow and raced on it for years after he recovered! A bow is a bow, no matter how slight someone might say it is. High bows are easier to recover then low bows, but both are recoverable unless the tendon was severed. I would ask more questions regarding the bow. The scaring would only be in the inside tissue of the leg, if it has healed completely, you will not see any scaring on the outside. The amount of time off you give a horse depends on the severely the horse bowed. I wouldn't rule out jumping a horse with an old bow, many of them recover and do just find in the jumping ring, those are called "proven bows". You can never out rule that the horse will never re-bow again, just like you can never out-rule that a horse will never bow in the first place. You can also have a vet do an Ultrasound on that leg and see how well the tissue has healed itself!

if there was not obvious disruption of the tendon fibers, or if the damage was minimal and healed quickly and completely, the horse has a better prognosis. now when the tendon is healed, it will still have a thickened, bowed appearance that feels firm and woody. However, all heat, lameness, and pain should disappear.
if the horse was rehabilitated correctly, the horse could return to full activity.