For those of you with experience of pelvic injuries/ fractures (in horse). Opinions!

[merliebug]

Hi All, sorry - it's long...

Last week my horse came in quite lame behind, there was a small amount of swelling above his left hock (on the inside), so I spoke to vet and we decided to box rest and bute for a couple of days, see how the swelling went, etc - he damages himself a lot so 'wait and see' is commonly used with him if it's not a case of being on three legs or an injury pouring with blood!

Anyway, was on bute for a couple of days, stayed in, eased off the bute and he came sound. Fab! He hates being in, so I went down early on the sunday (clocks had gone forward so yard was v quiet) and popped him out in his field for a 5 min leg stretch. Yes, stupid in retrospect, but he was sound and fed up. Anyway, long story short, someone chopped down a tree in neighbouring woods, horse went mad, came in hopping lame. Presumed hock injury still to blame, called vet. Vet came out and disregarded hock swelling as a mild strain (excellent), just needs cold hosing and box rest, BUT she was concerned about his pelvis.

Having been so preoccupied with his hock, I didn't even think about looking further up, plus his original lameness was a definite leg thing in my eyes. Vet thinks there is a possibility it (pelvis) is fractured, but hoping for just bruising; we are waiting a week to see if he becomes more comfortable and are in a better position to diagnose/ scan. Having said that, he appears to be recovering very rapidly! The day after vet visit he scratched his ear with his back right leg, thus putting all weight on damaged leg and dodgy pelvis - didn't flinch, then this morning did the same. He's now only one 1 bute am & pm, so I doubt the pain-relieving effects of that would be enough to cover a fracture. In your opinions does it sound like more of a strain than a potential fracture, and have any of you had experience with either? What was the box-rest/ recovery period?

He also has navicular, so any risk of permanent lameness behind, in addition to intermittent lameness in front - plus lots of box rest - makes me wonder what I should do for the best if his prognosis is bad. Just praying it's a strain :-(

Sorry for the ramble, all experiences, thoughts and opinions welcome!

Thanks.

 

[doris2008]

I have a similar story.
TB with a history of damaging self! Had been on long bout of box rest with fore feet lameness. Finally able to turn out and within a day or 2 he had a nasty collision with a trailer that farmer left in field. Whole force of galloping weight hit one side of pelvis. Horrific to see. He couldn't get up for a few minutes, but we managed to get him into stable and vet out. Vet was unsure whether fractured or just severly bruised. He's a bad traveller so didnt want to risk moving him to xray so was treated as fracture.
He was cross tied for many weeks - mainly due to if he got down there was no way he would get up again. He was massaged daily with tensolvet as there was obvious muscle damage and spasm to the area. He also had regular physio for a good period of time.
He recovered relatively quickly - to my suprise, but has always remained very slightly short or stiff looking in near hind when not being pushed to work. Not obvious in walk and only noticable really in trot if you look for it.
To be honest he's not been in heavy work since - not because of injury, just because I'm a happy hacker at heart.
He's remained generally sound in front and never unsound behind. I give him periods without shoes throughout the year which seems to help his general comfort levels for the rest of the year.

 

[merliebug]

Hi there,

Wow - the accident sounds awful. At least you were able to call the vet quickly.
Having read your story though, it's reiterating my opinion that my boy is just bruised... He lies down every night and there is no sign that he struggles to get up; he is very mobile and is allowed out for grass and daylight twice a day. The ear-scratching thing also suggests to me that perhaps it's just sore rather than broken, as such.
In total how long was your horse in for? Just thinking worst case scenario if I am dealing with a fracture. My chap doesn't 'do' box rest!

Glad to hear the outcome was good - luckily I too am a happy hacker, and to be honest I can't be bothered with riding in the winter as it's always dark when I get there, so he typically has a good three months off!!

Thanks for replying

 

[doris2008]

I think it was around 6 weeks. It was about 5 years ago now.
I wouldn't have thought he would be able to freely get up and down and scratch so easily if it was fractured?
I would definatley recommend tensolvet for the bruising - your vet would probably recommend it for ease the spasm in the muscles and break down the bruising.
Hope he is feeling better soon.