“…A valid animal model needs to consistently replicate the clinical, histopathological and functional characteristics of tendon disorders [19] along with being accessible to assess with imaging techniques commonly used in human and equine medicine for eventual comparison. Considering that the tissue specimens of injured tendons are not available for histopathological examination in clinical practice, the ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging are the gold standard in diagnosing tendon disorders, with ultrasonography being cost-effective, non-invasive and generally accessible [10,11,21]. Several animal models are currently used in tendinopathy research including laboratory animals, like rabbits [5,23,25,26,29,33], rats [9,15,17] and mice [8] as well as companion animals, like horses [2,3,31] and dogs [20].…”