Should he barrel race??

I have a 5 yr. Old Quarter Horse that definitely had potential as a barrel horse. Last year, when I had him trotting the pattern, he got tangled up in a gate and cut a little bit into his tendon on his left hind ankle. It took him months to heal up, and now he walks just fine on it. He trots around the pasture with no problems, that I can see. I saw him favoring it once, but I think my mustang ran him and made him jump the fence that day. I'm not seriously considering starting him on barrels again, due to his injury, but he had sooo much potential. I just need some opinions!

The person to consult is your veterinarian - they can put hands and eyes on him and evaluate his fitness for specific activities.

Yes I agree ask your vet my horse split his tendon in half but we did a slow recovery and a lot of work now she said single horse sports are fine just no cows or horses goats just in case they were to cause him some trouble but she sees no problem with barrels or fast trail ridding.

Don't know why I didn't think of that...Lol

The best opinion is that of your vet, not people on a forum who have no knowledge other than 'he has potential' and 'he cut his tendon'. Talk to your vet, and let us know how it all turns out so we can cheer you on!

And if the vet okays it I'd buy a good pair of boots if you don't already have a a set they help my gelding when it does bother him( another horse in pasture hits his leg playing ect) kinda like us wraping our arm or knee. And gives extra support in that area while being worked.
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I'm with the others..Have a nice long talk with your vet, have him run a lameness exam, and then explain to your vet what you'd like to do with the horse and see what your vet's advice would be..

Not so sure about leaving boots on while turned out (If that's what you mean greenbryer) The horse's leg could get too warm and put him at risk of further injuring that leg when turned out with other horses. We are people, very different from an animal that can't take the boot off himself, we know when we need to take a bandage or wrap off, he can't.. Using boots while running is fine but even then the boots shouldn't be left on for long periods of time because of over heating..

If he can run, I was definitely going buy boots! I need to anyways lol Classic Equine has pretty good boots, right? I have a set of Professional's Choice SMB 2 or 3's, but they feel really bulky.

Turnout I wrap with vet wrap :) fww hrs in morning and then rest and wrap at night. But that's only whwen his leg hurts
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I have left a boot on in pasture by himself, I live at my farm and my mother was monitoring him with me but I don't go to that extreame anymore he doesn't go lame that often
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