CAST IN STABLE..

chantellemorris

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Had a traumatic experience 2 nights ago when my new mare cast in her stable over night. I came in the next morning to see her full forehead skinned and grazed hocks and knees! I was in such a panic! Although i was glag she only had a few grazes, however, thats until i noticed a large sweling next to her vulva, and multiple muscle lines on her behind which were not there before!

The vet came out this morning, and it turns out she has a hematoma :( although this one was very UNserious so im very lucky! She looked worse than she was thankfully! SHe will be back in work in a week, however it will be light work.

you can never be too careful, blooming horses!
 
Watch her like a hawk as getting cast can sometimes indicate that the horse has had a colic episode. Hopefully it will just be related to the newness of everything for her, but do watch her carefully x
 
Make up the banks solid and one foot out from the wall so she can't get so close to it, also have a lunge rein outside the box so you can flip her over [wear a hard hat]
Mix old bedding with new, as the new encourages rolling.
 
She did colic! I knew that just forgot to write it! And actually bankings are the worst thing to do when i horse gets cast! If you have bankings higher than your bed this usually encourages a horse to lie on or next to the bankings as they look comfier. Ive known a horse 2 years ago that had bankings, he lay on them and got electricuted from the water drinker wires! So no, i wont do bankings. But thanks!
 
I am worried about my mare getting cast this winter as we have mobile stables that are imo on the small size for her. I have bought an anti-cast roller as a prevention.
What a horrible experience for you both; I hope your horse recovers quickly
 
My horse got cast at beginning of year and just seemed a bit stiff with scuffs to legs and a cut eye.

Would advise getting your horse seen by a physio before working her. Mine was found to be very sore even a couple of week later.
 
Chantelle, you can buy special rubber "grippy" strips that you fix round the walls of the stable so that if the horse gets cast he can get a grip on the walls to help him stand again. But the biggest issue you have is why your horse colicked! Owners can miss the fact that a messy bed may be more than just a messy bed, it may be that the horse is having continual bouts of mild or transient colic. If that's so, you need to get on top of it right away in case the next bout of mild colic turns out to be not so mild after all.
 
You definately need to bank your mares box - the idea of them is that they prevent the horse from being able to roll right over and get its legs wedged against the wall. The banks need to be high, thick and well packed down.

When they can't roll right over they have a far better chance of rolling back into the open space and being able to get up.

We used to have a really good racehorse where I worked that would get cast everytime if the grooms didn't bank the bed up thick and high - usually on the days I was off work. When the bed was banked he never got cast.
 
I think this is s freak accident and if mixing water an electricity be sure to have an electrician out,
I disagree with you, but it is your decision, in racing we have a hundred or so horses in big stables all with banks and a lot of them roll every day, so if they were going to get cast with banks this would be a regular occurance.
 
Banking is actually grossly ineffective, unless they are HUGE. Several feet high and several feet wide. Which is basically the whole stable.

That said I do have banks in one of my stables - so I have clean to pull down during the week when I skip out!
 
My thoughts are that new horses often roll in their stables to get their smell in there.

As above the important thing is the colic:

Stress from change of lifestyle?
Sudden Change of diet?
Needs worming?

Rolling in stable:
Too hot--trying to roll rug off.
New bedding made horse itchy
Anticast strips on walls a good idea
 
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