Possible broken bone?

Question

one of our horses was leaving for a show sunday. (last sunday). He went into the trailer fine, and so my friend was trying to get her horse to load. She convinced us her horse would load right away. She started working her horse behind the trailer and so my horse looked out, got his head stuck, freaked out and his legs fell under him. (it was a straight load). He broke the butt bar, came out with his right back leg up to his belly.

We immediately thought he had broken it. So we had the vet come out, vet said he should be fine and just give him a few weeks. We checked on him last night and he still has swelling there. he is very uneasy to put any weight on it, there is odd swelling. (some of the skin sticks out like a bug bite). if you can picture what i mean. We had him trot and he limped, it was bad. So we called the vet, and she is having us put put poultice on it and wrap it like a abcess. with ducktape. (she thinks there could be a possible abcess, if we are lucky). There was heat in the heel bulbs and we will be checking on him tonight again.

The vet says there is a possibility that he has broken his navicular, or fractured it. If he isnt doing better in the next day or two, he will be getting x rays.

Any ideas? (please no kid answers)

Answer 1

If your vet came out and said that he would be fine - then he probably will be!

Just imagine how badly YOU would bruise if you accidentally broke a butt bar? I'm sure it hurts and its sore! Here are a few things you need to do:

WAIT - give your horse time. Once the bruising and swelling go away your horse will probably feel a lot better.

Don't force a lot of walking - if your horse doesn't want to walk because it hurts don't fore it to keep trotting around. If your horse did fracture something you're only making it worse by forcing him to keep trotting.

Give your horse plenty of time out in the pasture not cooped up in a stall. If your horse is in the stall and can't move when he wants to he'll get stiff. Out on pasture / a big pen where food and water aren't too terribly far apart will help him out.

Now - if he's still limping and the vet DOES x-rays then you'll know if the navicular bone is broken or not. Now, as I'm sure you know the navicular bone is a tarsal bone in the foot - kind of like your wrist except that it takes the weight of the horse. If it is broken there is a chance that the horse may not be able to compete again. You see, when a horse breaks their leg you can't put it in a cast or a sling like a person - they have to keep using it. This means that the initial fracture can be re-injured over and over again.

Thats the worst case senario - in all likelihood he's just sore. Give it some time and call the vet again if he doesn't get better in a few days.

Answer 2

Cool down the injured area, Medicate to remove inflamation and REST. REST is always best. Rest takes time. Injuries don't heal overnight. A broken bone in the foot is not a death sentance. Unless it is a open or compound fracture it is not a death sentance in most cases. People hear fracture and think DEAD. The truth is most fractures can heal. You may not be able to use him a a performance horse again but most horses CAN be Saved.

http://www.saferhorseracing.com/gpage1.h...

Everything you hear is not always truth.

Answer 3

my horse has a place on his right front leg where he had a serious injury barrel racing and he has a large bump right there that is caused by a calcium deposit in the bone since he had fractured it  

Answer 4

your vet said to give it a few weeks because if it is a chip or fracture it will take a few weeks to show up on a radiograph so wait a few weeks and put him on stall rest and hose it with cold water a few times a day for a few weeks thn call her back out

Answer 5

just wait and see in a few weeks, my horse broke his leg and the vet said that he would be fine and he wasnt... he did have a brooken leg... just wait and see what happens. and yes a can ride my horse and im pretty sure if it is not really bad he wont be put down.....  hope ur horse feels better.  

Answer 6

"Navicular isn't the end of the world!"

Typically navicular is something that happens to the front end, although a back hoof  isn't something that is NOT unheard of.

I have an 18 yr old Poco Bueno bred gelding, who's a former reining horse.  Old "Buddy" was navicular in both front feet when I bought him for my late hubby back in '02 (I wanted something that would babysit him, because he wasn't a horseperson.).  I've had other navicular horses throughout the years, but they have come up with some GREAT shoeing options in the past decade or so.  

Before, the easiest way to help your horse move servicably sound had been to do two things, change his center of balance so that he used his haunches more and to shoe him with half round shoes and wedged pads (Kinda like doing a gaited horse.).  You'd have to keep him moving on the front end, so changing his way of going if he's a WP horse wouldn't be what you'd want to do.

Now, with the new shoes that are a semi soft plastic and the calking they put inside to protect the sole (Navicular bone) from concussion, they move more like they had before they went navicular.

http://www.eponashoe.com

I've been using eponas since '03 and I just can't believe the diffrence in the old horse.  I shipped him and my other 4 horses out on Wednesday to one of my kids's places.  I got a phone call yesterday that old "Buddy" didn't like her new place and was running up and down the paddock with a real attitude and there wasn't a limp to him.  I told her with the eponas there NEVER is!

So, if the xrays show damage to the navicular bone, it's NOT the end of the world.