 Most injuries, chronic or acute, begin with strain; as structures in the horse's body absorb the shock of take-off and landing, they acquire small amounts of damage.Over time, this damage leads to inflammation of the tendons (tendinitis) and ligaments (desmitis).The most common injuries in the forelimb occur to the interosseous ligaments and the superficial digital flexor tendons and less commonly, the accessory ligament of the deep digital flexor tendon.