Have you ever had to un - cast a cast horse by yourself...?

Question

If yes, how did you do it...?

FYI - No, I do NOT have a cast horse at the moment...its a hypothetical question.

Thanks for helpful advice.

Answer 1

Yes, all alone not my place was bedding down some stalls as an emergency favour to a friend and  I saw a filley lay down to roll before I had time to say "don't do that" all four legs on the other side of the metal rail fence.  Knowing that the filley is a little hellion at times I was not going to risk getting beat to a pulp.  I went to the other side of the fence...and pushed each foot individually back into her side of the fence...the last leg I let her use my leg as leverage and coaxed her into pushing against me...she did catch on and as I urged her up with voice commands only   she did struggle and calmly righted herself...surprise surprise, it all was like slow motion...she did not have a scratch on her...

Answer 2

Only once, and not in a stall.  I had just finished riding and hosing off a large pony, then turned him out.  He rolled, flipped over and rolled himself right into a cinderblock wall.  I think by grabbing and pulling his front legs, I was able to swivel his body around far enough so he could get up.

Answer 3

Yes, I have had a horse cast in the stall before at a horse show. And I was lucky enough that it was my own horse (well her 8 month old baby) so she knew me. I calmly walked into the stall talking to both my horses at the same time. Grabbed her front legs with one hand and her hind legs with the other and just rolled her over. I have also had to do that with a 3 year old horse at the same show. But he also knew me.

For your safety if the horse does not know your or you don't know the horse DO NOT go into the stall/pen with him/her. Get get help from an adult. At most shows there is normally someone walking around the barns keeping an eye on things. Or there are ER contact information on the stall doors.

Answer 4

Yes I have, but I don't recommend it unless you have absolutely no one to help you.

Many cast horses will panic and thrash around and you don't want to get hit by flying hooves.

What I have done is take a feed bag and cover the horses head to get  him to relax a bit. (yes it works)

Take a long, soft rope and tie it loosely around both front pasterns and pull or roll the horse over so that its feet are facing the center of the stall. Then it can get up on its own.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND that this is dangerous. A panicked horse will thrash and lurch around and its easy to get hurt. This is why I do not recommend it unless you have NO OTHER choice. A horse on its back can suffocate due to its body weight crushing its lungs, so it will be fighting for its life.

BE CAREFUL...!

Answer 5

After this many years with horses I have had to undo quite a few cast horses by myself. I have had great luck with draping a lungeline around the horse's nearest front leg down to the hind and back to me. I never tie anything on as that is a sure way to get you or the horse hurt. Then you just pull and over the horse rolls. It may take a couple of tries but for the most part I have been able to get them on the first try.

Answer 6

yes. I got lead ropes and pulled her over. My horse really trusts me though. If it wasn't my horse i would have just went and got help or called the owners.

Answer 7

What do you mean by cast?

Not trying to be a troll, I just dont know what that means. i would like to know.

Answer 8

Our racers get cast all the time... they are just too confident and roll right over and get cast. There are two main ways to get them off... the first is if the horse is small enough grab some mane and pull the horse way from the wall so they can get their legs under and get up... or you can get a rope or lead rope and make a loop around the leg which is closest to ground and pull gently until the horse flips over... just becarful the horse doesnt freak out and get up to quickly and trample you... well thats what we do and it works... good luck and remember DONT PANIC the horse will only feed of your energy and panic more..

Answer 9

You can't always roll them depending on how they are wedged, and it can be difficult if the only legs you can get to are the back ones.  I will use a rope around the legs to drag them into a position that they can maneuver in, or I'll grab by the top of the halter and mane and drag them that way if the front end is pinned in the corner.

I really try to avoid rolling them - they can roll back toward you, or you can get caught by a hoof while they flail around.  I prefer to drag them back the 6-12 inches they usually need.

Answer 10

Yes, my family used to raise fancy driving ponies when I was a kid.

One of our stallions had a double stall, but despite that, he managed to get himself cast fairly often.  Probably stallion frustration was part of the reason, but normally it was me and my father would go in and flip him back over.

He would lurch upright, all covered in shaving in a indignant  13 hand huff! Pony with an attitude ....  ya know?

I only had to do it once or twice by myself, but we knew each other, so it was not a big deal.

Never had to uncast a strange horse though...

Good Question!

Answer 11

Yes, have actually had to do it alone several times. At least 2 people are best but if no one is available well...needs must.

Their are a couple different methods that work pretty good, depending on the temperament of the horse, how severe the cast, the angle it's stuck at and how it's reacting.

Some horses stay calm and others panic and react strongly by kicking or thrashing ect...on these horses if you have a rope tied to their leg even if you do manage to get it attached without getting kicked and  roll them over with it they might still be panicy and react strongly or adversely to a rope still being tied to their leg, some of them just kick/strike blindly in panic if you try to even get it on.

Either way (calm or panicy) a good method is to take a long soft rope and run it horizonaly between front and back legs, close to body, bring both ends away from the horse and pull as it tries to roll. It should flip right over and when it rises simply drop one end of the rope and it will fall to the ground and the horse is free.

Also this method puts much less stress on the legs and/or joints than tieing around a fetlock(s) and if it tries to run or move as soon as it comes up (which is the first reaction of most horses) it is free to do so.

Another method that works very well on smaller horses, ones cast at a lower angle to the wall side (or if a suitable rope isn't quickly available) is to grasp the tail and each time it stuggles use their momentum to gradually shift or slide it's rear out from the wall. Usually if they can get their rear feet free they can shift on around on their own to get up. This also works good for older or infirm horses at pasture that accidentally lay down or roll to where their feet are uphill and are unable to rise, which is actually pretty common. Horses aren't always real smart about where they roll and it doesn't seem to occur to them to roll back over.

Answer 12

yes i have and first I untangled any legs that were caught in the fence and then I put a halter on their head and encouraged them to roll over so that they could get up. Then I helped them rock to get going and let them do the rest.