Anyone had a horse with a broken leg return to full work/jumping?

[Hippona]

As it says really....my lad had a fractured cannon bone the year before last, it healed on box-rest and he's been fine since....

I hack and school and pop the odd lowish jump....sometimes I think I am being too careful ...its been over a year since he got the all clear and he's never had a problem/been lame....he loves jumping and sometimes I think I unecessarily avoid it..

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Did your horse return to jumping and hacking out.....do you ever really relax doing the same stuff you used to?

 

[Eira]

Not mine personally , but a pony at the yard fractured his back leg 3 years ago and is in full work and does sj/xc etc

 

[Silverspring]

If he seems fine and the vet has given the all clear I'd go for it and do what you want to do.

His leg will have a slight weakness there but the more you exercise it the stronger the bone will get. I think so long as you're not jumping him on overly hard ground or over fences where he is really having to stretch himself to make the height you'll be fine.

 

[wizzi901]

Not mine but good friend i used to livery with her and her horse. Golf ball hit the horse from a course being played. Horse panicked (obviously) and slipped over fell on ride, broke her pelvis, horse broke nearside hind leg (which was originally missed by first vet).

Never thought he would be ridden again but with box rest and slowly brought about a year later from memory....he is now XC, jumping, the lot!! Vet reckoned that leg would be stronger than the rest.

We thought he would be a field ornament and I for one was amazed at what he is able to do now. Its been a few years and i no ill effects whatsoever.

I am not sure at what level of his hind leg the break was at but i know it was a nasty one which we did not think would end up with him ever being ridden again.

 

[myhorsefred]

Hi, yes a friend of mine - her horse had a broken leg and it was on box rest (can't remember how long) in stalls, and she competes him in dressage and sj. Only riding club, but that's her choice,horse could do higher level.

So, yes, her horse made a full recovery.

 

[nomini]

My horse fractured her pedal bone so not exactly the same but 3.5months after it healed I was given the all clear to jump her again. She is now jumping 1m/1.10m and has not had a lame day since it healed

 

[Hippona]

Thanks people....that's really good to know...

I think I am being a bit precious with him really, because I thought I was going to lose him....spose I should chill out a bit...

 

[Queenbee]

sounds like you should go for it!!

 

[oofadoofa]

Mary King's horse Star Appeal had a fracture when I went down there on a Pony Club visit years ago. It went on to win Badders after that!!

 

[Scarlett]

My TB fractured a cannon bone while in training, he was box rested and rehabbed for about 6 months, went on to race again, and has done XC, SJ, etc etc with me.

 

[Silgram]

Mine fractured it's right radius and then returned to eventing. When I first started jumping again it was always in the back of my mind. Now I struggle to remember which leg he broke.

 

[Hippona]

Hurrah!! ...this is all good stuff......

(although I doubt I'd win anything other than novice at our local show!!)

 

[Worried1]

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3707127/an/0/page/0#3707127

I just replied to this post which is my experiences of having a horse with a broken leg

 

[emmiec12]

Most vets will tell you the broken leg will be stronger than before after it has healed.
My old mare fractured her ulnar bone, she was hunting and competing fine about a year after.

 

[ladyt25]

Bones heal better that tendons and generally as new bone generates to fix the broken bit then the bone would then generally be stronger. My friend took on an ex racehorse (from another friend of ours) who has a plate in his leg after he broke it hurdling/NH (can't remember). They briefly put him back into training over hurdles without and problems. I think they have since sold him as he wasn't really fast enoygh to race.

I think, if your vet has given the all clear then I would treat your horse as normal. many horses go on (as others have said) back to high level competing without any further problems. Plus, i think there's been several racehorses that have gone back to racing with pins/plates in their legs and have been successful.

 

[Gingerbird]

Yes! Over the years my horse has suffered 2 fractures as a result of being kicked in the field. Once to his shoulder and the 2nd time to his hock. After both he carried on doing PC and eventing and all these years later he has only just been retired at the age of 25 and there are no signs of arthiritis which I'm amazed at.

A friend of mine had a TB on loan who had fully broken her leg and it did PC at a high level for many years.

It's only natural to be careeful but I agree with what others have said bones heal so well and can become much stonger.

Good luck with your horse x

 

[hedgehog1]

yes, mine fractured his radius and he's fine now. Does lots of teaching kids to showjump and hunt!

 

[Hippona]

Many thanks to everyone who has taken time to reply.....

I guess I need to stop being such a wuss .....here goes!!

 

[sarah23]

[ QUOTE ]
I think I am being a bit precious with him really, because I thought I was going to lose him....spose I should chill out a bit...

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think you are being precious with him, my horse broke his hind leg quite badly that he had to have an operation on it to screw it back together. When he was given the all clear i too was petrified to do things with him in case something happened again. One day i took him to the beach and with the other horses running around things were taken out of my hands and he took off, well it was just what i needed, he had gone for a gallop and he was still in one piece, now i find i just treat him as a did before the accident, as a normal horse and not one with something wrong. He is now fully recovered and i am starting to try and train him to do some dressage, as he's no good at xc, he's too much of a wimp and wonders why other silly horses would want to jump those nasty big fences, plus they have big holes in front of them.

As others have said the leg will be even stronger than it was before hand, that's what my vet told me.

 

[christine48]

A friend's horse, a TB broke it's forearm as a result of a kick when he was 8 yr old. He came back to affiliated SJ and was still going strong in his early 20s.

 

[buzzles]

I've just posted in the Veterinary about my mare who shattered her hock and is now back jumping, 18 months later.

 

[devonruby]

my mare had a factured cannon bone,she came back to do BE only intro but she used to fly round the xc never gave her a days trouble

 

[PeterNatt]

My mare fractured a bone in her hock. Now many years later at age 27 she can still be happily hacked out for 3-4 hours.

 

[Murphy88]

My mare fractured her tibia 5 years ago, and hasn't been lame since *touch wood*. She's xc and sj plenty since, although never to the high level that she got to before the injury -this was a combo of me being a bit cautious with her, and the fact that we struggled to find suitable riders for her. In the end, it never mattered as she was loaned by a couple of little girls who were quite happy just doing smaller classes at RC and PC, and bombing round the odd XC. She is 20 now, and still careering round the field like a loon and running away in veteran classes!

 

[Louby]

My horse fractured his radius over 2 yrs ago and he can now do anything. I too felt like if I jumped something it would snap at first! and even cringed when I lunged him but its all a distant memory now and you would never know anything had happened to him to look at him.

 

[Mithras]

Yes! My mare had a cracked bone in her leg (probably from a kick) when I got her vetted originally. She was then x-rayed, box rested for a month and ended up having 9 months in the field as the seller was pregnant. I then went to see her again, still liked her, passed vetting and I've had her for 2 1/2 years now. She has never been lame and we are hoping to jump BSJA foxhunter soon. She was only doing BN when I got her. She is in very hard work, she hunts as well. Has never given her the slightest bit of trouble.

Mind you, when the sellers didnt realise she had a cracked bone, I jumped her at a show like that, and she went double clear, though felt a bit "sticky". Thats one of the reasons I bought her, figured she must be a genuine horse.

 

[Happy Horse]

Fractured bones that heal tend to be stronger than before if anything. My horse broke his leg twice and would have returned to full work if he hadn't had other problems!

 

[EmmaC78]

My horse broke his leg about 4 years ago. The vet originally thought he would never be rideable again but he has made a great recovery and can now do everything he did before.