Another good horse ruined!!

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Flicker

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A nice little horse I know has been given a terrible prognosis of recovery from a serious injury sustained over a month ago. The owners called the vet out this week! (After they'd had every other b*gger look at it first). They thought the horse was 'not right' but continued to ride it anyway. From what I understand, my cat could have told them it was lame...

Please, I know we joke about it in our Papa Frita posts etc, but it is actually quite upsetting when this happens. If your horse is not right, don't faff around with alternative practitioners, horse whisperers, your auntie's teacher's mum's best mate etc, CALL THE BLUDDY VET!

...and breathe... sorry, my rant for the day.
 
Aw, poor thing. Unfortunately far too many people spend a fortune on other practitioners when they really should be calling the vet. Seen it time and time again. Obviously there are times when what you do need is a physio, and a vet would be next to useless, but the key is knowing when it's serious.
 
An alternative practitioner cannot make up for the 7 years vetinary training and then more years of experience ontop of that since qualifiying that most vets have.
It may be a more expensive option but it is certainly a better one.
I will not let one of these unqualified "alternative practitioners" fiddle with my horse. One lady I know was clamining to be able to manipulate a crooked pelivis. In order to do this you need to be a qualified chiropractor as you are manipulating the skeleton!!! Not a bloody airy fairy Bowen practitioner. (sorry if people like them, I personally don't!)
It is upsetting when people won't just get the ruddy vet out! The horse can't talk so its up to you as an owner to get your finger out of your backside and ring them!!!!!!!

Rant over. Sorry. It angers me aswell when a horse is ruined, through no fault of their own :(
 
Damnation said:
An alternative practitioner cannot make up for the 7 years vetinary training and then more years of experience ontop of that since qualifiying that most vets have.
It may be a more expensive option but it is certainly a better one.
I will not let one of these unqualified "alternative practitioners" fiddle with my horse. One lady I know was clamining to be able to manipulate a crooked pelivis. In order to do this you need to be a qualified chiropractor as you are manipulating the skeleton!!! Not a bloody airy fairy Bowen practitioner. (sorry if people like them, I personally don't!)
It is upsetting when people won't just get the ruddy vet out! The horse can't talk so its up to you as an owner to get your finger out of your backside and ring them!!!!!!!

Rant over. Sorry. It angers me aswell when a horse is ruined, through no fault of their own :(
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hear hear to this. poor horse.
 
Isn't it downright strange how people will bury their heads in the sand about things like this, I took on a stunning WB about ten years ago, who'd won the Winter Dressage Championships at Medium, but had kept going lame when trying to cope with AM. The owners had been offered £30K plus, but despite being a very horsey couple and being far from novice owners, played about turning him out, resting him before getting the vet in, who diagnosed DJD.

I'm not complaining because I was virtually given a stunning horse, although limited in what he could do!
 
Damnation said:
One lady I know was clamining to be able to manipulate a crooked pelivis. In order to do this you need to be a qualified chiropractor as you are manipulating the skeleton!!!
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and, I venture to suggest, a winch.

A very famous vet once told me that if a horse 'had a vertebrae out' it would be very obvious as the horse would fold in two :)
 
skewbald_again said:
and, I venture to suggest, a winch.

A very famous vet once told me that if a horse 'had a vertebrae out' it would be very obvious as the horse would fold in two :)
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He, he, he!! Not quite sure a winch would do it, you might need a crane to pop that pesky pelvis back in!

But seriously, I echo your frustration OP!
 
Damnation said:
An alternative practitioner cannot make up for the 7 years vetinary training and then more years of experience ontop of that since qualifiying that most vets have.
It may be a more expensive option but it is certainly a better one.
I will not let one of these unqualified "alternative practitioners" fiddle with my horse. One lady I know was clamining to be able to manipulate a crooked pelivis. In order to do this you need to be a qualified chiropractor as you are manipulating the skeleton!!! Not a bloody airy fairy Bowen practitioner. (sorry if people like them, I personally don't!)
It is upsetting when people won't just get the ruddy vet out! The horse can't talk so its up to you as an owner to get your finger out of your backside and ring them!!!!!!!

Rant over. Sorry. It angers me aswell when a horse is ruined, through no fault of their own :(
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THIS^^^^^^^^my thoughts exactly.
 
To be fair, I gather one practitioner took half a look at the horse and said 'get the vet!'

The owner waited another couple of weeks though. As the saying goes - you can take a horse to water...
 
A subject that annoys me also! :mad:

Have to add that any alternative therapist should actually ask if the vet has ok'd their visit. My physio won't treat a horse unless they have been ok'd by the vet.
 
Aw, poor thing. Unfortunately far too many people spend a fortune on other practitioners when they really should be calling the vet.
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I completely agree. Not only that, with so many 'hobby' owners, many people simply don't have the experience of knowing when to call the vet and when to wait and 'see'. It's a shame, and a growing problem, imo.

We quite regularly see posts in Veterinary saying the horse is lame - and they don't know why. Simply calling the vet usually gives us the answers we are looking for (despite some posters advocating wait and see policy). All well and good for those not needing to post 'why is my horse lame' posts. But for those less experienced - dangerous advice.
 
I thought I would be shot down in flames for my little rant, glad people agree'd with me!!
To me these "light tough" alternative practitioners cannot be doing anything for the horse. The are such a big mass of muscle, with a very strong long back. How can the odd poke and prod do anything?!!!!! Light touch my backside. More like "lots of money to gullible people and little effort!!"
I hope the horse the OP mentioned recovers. I just get so het up when problems can be lessened or avoided with the quick action of someone with an ounce of common sense!
 
I can see where people are coming from with not wanting the vet out all the time as the cost adds up at an alarming rate, but when it could lead to something serious some people just try and ignore it and think the horse will get better on its own.

Every horse has an "off day" every now and again but if it lasts over a few days the vet should be out straight away.
 
I think that there are some who can be helpful but it is on conjuction with the vet not instead of. I have my horses back looked at as a matter of course every 6 months with my vets agreement but this is preventative not instead of. I am very surprised that they didn't check that the vet had looked first? I did venture down the path of something that seemed pretty unbelievable but it was with the vet saying it wouldn't hurt.

I am lucky at our yard in that the old YO is a bit of a witch with vet stuff and knows when to call and when to leave and the yard has a good enough relationship that they can pick up the phone to check with the vets quickly as well. Still see the vets a lot though but there are fair few horses at our yard!
 
amymay said:
Hear, hear!!
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Haha why thank you :D Its refreshing not to be pounced on for my views. At my last yard people swore by this woman who was juse useless with a bit of a poke here and there. At £45 a time with 5 - 6 horses a day she wasn't making a bad living out of these people. And on top of that she would always reccomend a further 2 sessions...
When she told me she was going to look at my last mare.. well.. the words used are not suitable for forum use :D
 
Okay to be fair - I had a vet out for a sprained fetlock, which healed up fine after box rest... but had the vet back out cause there was a low grade heat in the hinds that wasnt around a joint - Vet said to work away cause there was no problems, horse sound & passing flexion test ect.

I just wasnt 100% happy - so got a Osteopath out, she was amazing & said he had stiffness around his scariliac joint, she did some work on him - and bingo, low grade heat gone & horse feeling better than ever!

But in fairness, I went to the vet first but after that I was willing to try anything!
 
I am all for alternative therapists and have seen the difference our very good practicioner has made to my horse. However, IF my horse had an ongoing lameness issue then I would always get a vet out first as, before you can consider treatment you really need a diagnosis! It may well be a treatment by a physio etc would then work but it would be very stupid to pay a load of money out for a practicioner of this kind to treat a horse without knowing what the issue was.

After all a physio/chiro isn't going to be able to 'fix' a fracture or ligament issue or 'cure' arthritis and by waiting too long for a vet you could face the problem becoming untreatable!
 
It just totally baffles me how people can be so ready to risk the health of their horses like this :confused:. If you're not sure, get the vet. It's not rocket science. Physios and chiros have their place, of course, but they need vetinary permission to practice for a damn good reason!
 
Vet first time every time if the problem cannot be resolved at home or if you are unsure.
I use alternate medicines as a preventative measure not as a fix, my boy gets the occasional sports massage more for enjoyment than relief :D
 
I think that's the thing: it should always be vet first and then other therapies after.

Like if I've got a permanently sore leg - my first port of call would be my GP, not a chiropractor.
 
I do have to say though that far too many people are far too quick to call out the vet for something that an experienced horseman could treat themselves with a bit of common sense.

I personally would always call a farrier instead of a vet for punctures and abcesses in the foot - unless it was a very obviously extremely deep wound or a nail was sticking out of the middle of it!

If I cannot SEE the reason a horse is lame other than feet as previously stated - I would always call the vet or if the wound is in obvious need of stitches.

Also, sickness - horse obviously off colour or in discomfort in the body.
 
some people are saying that if you are not sure then call a vet. unfortunately alot of these people think they know everything and there's nothing a vet can say or do that they can't themselves.
that is another reason why horses are left to suffer because the owner thinks they know best.

i also know of a couple of people who have been advised rest etc yet get bored of doing that and don't see a problem with riding their horse as it's had a week off already. they don't admit to the vet that they did that so the vet thinks it's something worse, the owner then gets all assy and accussing the vet of wrong diagnosis so gets in another proffessional. it's a joke with them sort of people.
 
mcnaughty said:
I do have to say though that far too many people are far too quick to call out the vet for something that an experienced horseman could treat themselves with a bit of common sense.
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That's fine for properly experienced owners, you are quite right - but I know some people who've had 2 lame horses now - both times they've had various people out and continued to work the horses, eventually calling the vet.

They are new owners, but think themselves very experienced as they've had horses for - ooh may be 5 years now. Calling a vet sooner would be better, even if it turned out to be straight forward and a vet's visit was not strictly necessary.
 
I consider myself an experienced but not expert owner. I called the vet out when my horse sustained an injury when kicked in the field; several other owners on the yard thought I was being 'precious' and that 'a bit of bute, then turn her out, she'll be fine' was the way to go.

She had a fractured splint bone and was on box rest for 4 months. If I had buted her and turned her out God knows what might have happened. Yes the bill was large, but that is part and parcel of owning a horse.
 
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