broken/fractured withers--pics

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horsedreams

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posted other day for stories similar to one of horses rearing and falling over backwards on to wither area left side

sorry if there large

madgewithers001.jpg


madgewithers003.jpg


madgewithers008.jpg



awaiting appointment for xrays now
the markings on the photos are the arnica i have been applying for the bruising


will update on outcome
 
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I've only known one horse who had broken withers. Unfortunately he was never able to return to ridden work.

Hope yours is a better outcome.
 
Many years ago (in the dark ages lol) I had a beautiful 3/4 tb mare who reared over backwards when a horrid blacksmith hit her. She cracked her withers badly. She stood like bambi on ice and could hardly walk atall. Although she was not x rayed (cant remember why, as such a long time ago) im sure that she cracked or chipped the wither. It took many months to get her better and was a very slow process, with walking increasing slowly over a period of time. However she did make a full recovery and went on to do many things. So just to let you know that my horse made a full recovery.
 
We have a horse in the yard that has done this, fractured 3 of them, she has raced with no problems since she did it and will race again - if she doesn't do harm to some other part of her again - chestnut mares! We use a soft treeless exercise saddle on her as one side of her withers is thicker than the other. When she leaves us, if she is to go on to be a ridden horse then she will need a made to measure saddle to accomodate this. So while it's a slow process and the final "look" of the wither may be slightly weird there really isn't any reason why your horse can't return to work.

Good Luck withthe x-rays.
 
On the positive side, our arab gelding who was 24 at the time of his accident had his withers completely smashed when a piece of machinery dropped on him whilst he was out on loan. He spent 4 hours under heavy sedation for the vets to pick all the fragments of bone out of his back. He spent 2 weeks at the hospital and about 3 week in the box to prevent infection. He made a full recovery and we were told we could bring him back to work as usual. He has a normal wintec saddle.....it does look a bit strange as it obviously looks like it is sitting very high at the front as there are no withers to fill the pomel area. He is happy as larry now at the age of 30.
 
thankyou all for the replies

booked in for next tuesday for xrays (hopefully will be able to load her)
have got back up in place from a very good friendly horseman for loading just in case!!!

will update the outcome but hopefully reading all the replies there is hope for her
 
This reply is really late, but my horse broke her wither about a year ago, since then i have broken her in, do flat work showjumping and cross country and it has never at all affected her movement or performance.

It took her about 4 months to recover, i sat straight on her after this and she was fine as i started breaking her in while she was recovering E.G biting her getting her used to long reining and having things on her back. she even jumped small crosses on the lunge.

She is now fully recovered and lets me mount from the floor ect. it doesn't affect saddle fitting are rug fittings or anything. If anything they fit better.

Also my horses withers where a lot worse then these in the picture as she had literally fully demolished the top 4/5?

But i hope now that your horse is fine and made the same recovery as mine has :)
 
I had never heard of it until the other day but the people who have bought my mare have a pony with broken withers. He did it before they bought him and he is in full work no probs.
 
gosh 14 months down the line--where does time go?

we are due to go to leahurst next tuesday --

she was going so well with no problems until the 19th of this month she came in lame

was hoping it was the start of an abcess but
after a week of nerve blocks, x rays can't find a problem in lower leg

she is going for deeper investigation wether its to do with the old injury to her withers or something else we just don't know at the moment
so will hopefully have a clearer picture tuesday
 
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