elderly horse getting cast in field - any suggestions please?

Bosworth

Bosworth

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 February 2006
Messages
5,268
Location
devon
www.ballhillequestrian.co.uk
my old boy is 23 years old ID xConnemara. He is healthy and happy, retired but totally happy as a field companion to several others.

A month ago I found him lying down in the field. unable to get up. He was on the flat on his right side. I roped his left hind and pulled him over onto his left and he got up. A little shaken but ok. His left hind looked extremely stiff but he walked off the stiffness. two weeks ago - same thing happened and again tonight. He has never (in the 18 years I have had him) got cast in the stable and never before has it happened in the field. Can anyone suggest anything to stop it happening. An anti cast roller won;t help as he doesn't try to roll over as the left leg doesn;t appear able to push off to get him over. He is fantastic to handle and just seems to lie there not panicking until someone turns him over. But I am really worried in case it happens while I am not there and he spends all day lying down.
 
To be brutally honest I'd be thinking about calling it a day for him. I've tried three times now to type out why I am saying this and I can't get it right, so apologies for lack of explanation but if he was mine I'd be thinking it was time to say good bye :-(
 
there was a horse at my yard that used to do this and it was due to him being a big horse with arthiritis and a tendon injury it didnt do him any harm as he soon learnt how to push himself back up after a while unfortunately things took a turn to the worse and he had to get put to sleep was a shame cause he was lovely
 
Absolutely not - he is fit, healthy and sound. Looks far better than most of the younger horses. I am not sentimental about putting a horse to sleep as I feel that is the kindest solution when a horse is suffering but he isn't suffering any discomfort at all. If he was showing any level of discomfort I would PTS. I was wondering if putting him in a field with a serious slope, that way he just can't get stuck, gravity would always sort out the problem.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Absolutely not - he is fit, healthy and sound. Looks far better than most of the younger horses. I am not sentimental about putting a horse to sleep as I feel that is the kindest solution when a horse is suffering but he isn't suffering any discomfort at all. If he was showing any level of discomfort I would PTS. I was wondering if putting him in a field with a serious slope, that way he just can't get stuck, gravity would always sort out the problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is what happened to a horse at my friends yard and the slope did help - when he had the curtosy to actually lay on the slope and not pick the flat bit at the bottom!
smirk.gif
tongue.gif
 
my old boy did this a couple of times. on one of the times he was down we just couldn't get him up. so i called the vet out and was going to have him PTS. as soon as the vet arrived he got to his feet. the vet felt it was to do with muscle wastage gave him a few injections and he never did it again in the next 6 years.
 
Hello, I had the same problem with my old girl a couple of times during the winter, when she couldnt get any grip to push herself up. Managed to get her up both times by rattling a scary bin bag at her (tip I picked up off here) - it seemed to give her the motivation to make a special effort. She is kept in a field with a serious slope, so that didnt seem to make any difference with her.

She is also fit and healthy, but if it does continue to happen or occur when the ground is dry, obviously I will weigh up her quality of life too, as I wouldnt want her to be down for hours when no one is around. Best of luck with your boy.
 
thanks 28jen28, I spoke to the vet the first time and he came out and checked him thoroughly - absolutely nothing wrong, but I would not be at all surprised of there was some muscle wastage so may be worth giving the vet another call, you don't know by any chance what injections your vet did. He is certainly not distressed by the whole incident - no increased heartrate - no heavy breathing, panting. Just a calm acceptance. And a wave of the hind leg as soon as someone appears.
 
Turn him out on a steepish slope - it will help for two reasons; firstly, it will help him lie down and get up easily, secondly, walking up and down the hill will help to build a bit of muscle to strengthen his back end.
S
grin.gif
 
Hmm. Wonder if it's possible to rig a button with a transmitter stuck to his right side, so when he lies down on it it calls you? No idea how this could be executed, practically speaking...

I hope you find a good solution!
 
one of my old boys got cast in his stable back easter time? With the help of the vet we gave him one chance of getting up, and he did it
smile.gif

the decision was made that from that day, he would live out and never even spend one night in. (he normally is out 24/7 but had a abcess so had to be in, didnt help with back legs - bone spavin) anyway, with talking to the vet, and another 2 vets when i had to have other call outs (different things) we discussed the fact that IF he does it in the field, and cant get up, then after a while, is he isnt found, his body will start to shut down and that will be the end.
Its my nightmare finding him like this, but for the moment, he is happy.

what i do at the moment is the following:
get all of the liveries to check on him from the fence when they arrive/leave, if he is down, they check he can get up.
If i am down and he is down, i make him get up, sometimes just calling him helps, and i have another trick, get a small bottle of water, and just pour a tiny amount on their lips, makes my boy get up pretty quickly!
the night he was down in his box, i rubbed his spavin leg quite a lot - it had siezed up being led down. IF i hadnt have rubbed it and warmed it up, he wouldnt have got up.
i did try my boy in a sloped field but it seemed to make him worse, and it seems that he ended up hurting his spine getting up and that wont ever be right, as a result, his is sadly being PTS in the next 2 months (how do you decide a date
frown.gif
)

I hope your boy is ok and hes very lucky having an owner who cares so much.
 
[ QUOTE ]
To be brutally honest I'd be thinking about calling it a day for him. I've tried three times now to type out why I am saying this and I can't get it right, so apologies for lack of explanation but if he was mine I'd be thinking it was time to say good bye :-(

[/ QUOTE ]


I agree. My elderly mare went down in the field. I couldn't get her up on my own so I believe I had no choice but PTS. At least I know that in the first and last instance she was only down for a maximum of 20 minutes before I found her. What if she had gone down just after I left for the evening? She could have been laid there for 10 hours. Apparently older horses start to tie up very quickly as well when they are down like that, and don't recover well.
 
My boy has started finding it hard to get up, I have noticed he has a sore on his hock where he is struggling to get up. Funny I have always thought it would be other physical problems which would make me think about having him pts but this has caught me by surprise. Dont know what the answer is, but once they are down for a while they stiffen up and it can be pretty hard to get them up. You may have to make a painful decision
 
I dont want to sound doom and gloom as each horse is different but our old boy has been on dandelion for years with arthritus but the last month the maximum dose hasn't been touching him and he has started to get cast in the field. As others have said if they are down for too long it puts pressure on the organs and can cause failure and Pressure sores which are just like the bed sores that hospital paitents get.

Just like luckilotti we made the heart breaking decision to let him go before the winter but have had to bring this forward to next week as we feel its not a good quality of life and its very distressing for us and him being flipped over to his good side to get up.

It sounds like your boy is still very fit and healthy and as the vet has no concerns, Could it just be as simple as a dead leg if hes been lying in an awkward position? Maybe try rubbing his legs as Luckilotti has suggested.

If you think it could be arthritus related id recommend the supplement Extra Flex by Feedmark. It can be abit pricey but they often have offers and we noticed a difference within a few days.

Hope you and your Boy are ok x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top