Horse Racing injury?

Question

Can anyone ask me why a horse needs to be put to sleep after breaking its leg? why can't it be fixed like any other broken bone in a limb? Thanks

Answer 1

Horse weigh around 1000 pounds or more so if the horse can't stand on the leg it will lay down. That seems ok, but they weigh to much to lay down, laying down will cause crushing of their insides and other kinds of sickness and if they get up they injure the leg again.

Answer 2

Broken legs CAN be mended (not usually without major surgery..just like in people) but the costs are immense and the recovery is lengthy.  Not many (though some do) owners of racehorses have the time to invest in a horse that may not recover (if at all) to race able condition.  Time is money to them, and their horses are seen as cash-flow, not as living breathing beautiful animals.  Unless the horse is a top winner, or has phenomenal bloodlines (more often a factor with colts than with fillies) they're not "worth" saving unless they can be "w*hored out" in the breeding shed.  Its sad, but it happens all too often.

Answer 3

what?  you want us to ASK you??  that doesn't make sense.

if you're asking us to tell you why a horse can't be fixed... it's because a horse needs all of its legs all the time.  A person can avoid putting weight on a leg... horses can't do that.  if they shift their weight to their 3 good legs, the bones in those legs undergo too much stress which results in serious problems in those legs to.  A horse needs its legs for everything.  A horse can't lie down for an extended period of time... they have to stand.  they need their legs in the wild to run or fight.

Not all fractures are serious enough to result in the horse being put to sleep.  If it's a small fracture, it will heal...  when there's multiple fractures, things get more serious... horse surgeries are really serious... and surgery requires a long recovery time when you have to get the horse to stand still in his stall and put weight evenly on all of his legs or else you get the problems in their other legs.  And then there's the times when the horse not only breaks its leg, but also breaks the skin... that's the worst time of all...  when the dirt from the track gets in the wound, there's almost certainly infection.  When you have to deal with a fracture and infection, the possibility of the horse surviving is really very minimal.  rather than put the horse through the pain and torture of working through the injury when it's likely to end in the horse's death anyway, it's better for the horse to just end it immediately.

Answer 4

Why do so many people ask this question? I have seen it here about five times since George Washington broke his leg in the Breeder's Cup Classic. Yes, it was sad that George Washington broke his leg after his comeback to racing. But I wouldn't want to see him in so much pain if they would have let him live.

Answer 5

simply put some breaks are so bad that no amount of medical treatment will actually make it stable enough to keep the horse sound and alive withoput pain. Some breaks are severe and can be mended but  the horses often have setbacks like Barbaro did earlier this year and late last year. Then there are some breaks that are so very minor it's unbelievable but the horse could be too high strung to tolerate the treaments , cast surgery ..etc etc. Not all horses are put down diue to breaks. the folks that can afford to do try and save the horses, but a normal horse owner like myself who does not have acess to the fund may have no choiice but to have him put down. A horse carries ALL it's 1000 or more pounds of body weight on thsoe legs, you throw a gracture in the mix and it's just not a good thing. It's hard to explain in all honestly, unless you have or have been around horses most your life. They are put down for the horse's best interest. Why do people ask this about horses , but these same people will not hesitate to put their dog to sleep b/c it's broken up after being hit by a car. The kindest thing to do for the dog is put it to sleep. Same goes for horses with severe injuries

Answer 6

Why would you guys rag on this person for wanting to be informed?  There is no pointing of fingers in the question it's a good thing to ask if you don't know.

The third answer was a good one, sometimes the bones can't he put back and the fine capillaries can be ruptured down there a lifetime of pain. Anatomy wise stading on three legs causes uneven pressure and can kill a horse by messing with their internal systems. Infection can kill a horse to.  Some breaks above knee are easies to fix and horses have even come back to the track from them but an informed trainer will know as will the track vet.

Answer 7

most veterinarians will offer euthanasia if there is no chance that the horse will survive or no other way of relieving its suffering. Sometimes, they will also discuss euthanasia if the horse has become a danger to itself, its owners, or the horses around it. Even in these circumstances, the final decision rests with the owner.

The decision is left in the owner’s hands. Few veterinarians will recommend that a horse should be put down. Their job is not to do that. If your horse becomes very ill, badly hurt, or is facing emergency surgery, the veterinarian’s role is to clearly communicate the facts about your horse’s condition and its odds of survival and recovery.

According to Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, the on-call veterinarian for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, George Washington, a 4-year-old colt, fractured a cannon bone and both sesamoids in the leg.

“It was a hopeless injury so far as repairing it goes,” McIlwraith said.

Answer 8

A horse's front legs are his weakest point, but they bear the brunt of the impact when the horse gallops and jumps. As a result most front leg injuries in racehorses result in a shattering of the bone, and this is irepairable.

Small and clean fractures can somethimes be pinned and the horse can at least live out the rest of his life, but large fractures are so complex that tthe kindest thing to do is to put them down.

A horse is a flight animal, meaning he stays alive by running from danger, so he is dependent on his legs for survival.  A horse does not understand that he cannot put weight on the injured leg and quite often they will make the original injury much worse by trying to walk on it.

The fracture is not the only problem: in the case of open fractures (as was the case with George Washington) - where the bone protrudes through the skin - an infection can get in and cause all kinds of problems.  The horse can also die of shock and, as in the case of Barbaro, develop laminitis in the non-fractured legs.

Barbaro was proof that no matter how much time and money you spend, the outcome is the same in 99% of serious fracture cases - the horse will have to be put down eventually.

Money is not a factor for the vast majority of owners/trainers - yes there are a few that do not have any connection to their horses and couldn't care less what happens, but these are in the minority.  Coolmore - the owners of George Washington - are one of the richest racing groups in the world, if anyone has the money to spend on fixing a broken limb it is them.