Fracture

[Chewie]

Hi,

My 21 year old Mare, fractured her carpel on the 1st Feb.

The vet advised 6 weeks box rest, however it doesn't have seem to improve.

can people advise if she will make a recovery? and any experiences and what I can do to help her?

Thank you

 

[be positive]

A horse has several carpal bones making up the joints so you really need to speak to your vet to get a better understanding of the injury and the prognosis, at her age it may be more difficult for a fracture to repair but it may fuse in time.

 

[Chewie]

Hi Be positive I am in contact with my vet on a daily basis but I just wanted peoples experiences.

I have attached the bone she has a fracture on, I have circled it in blue (this isn't her xray btw, I just picked it up on google).

 

[Charmer91]

Sorry to hear she's had an injury! I've not had this type of fracture before but my mare did fracture her splint bone into 8 pieces, whilst it wasn't weigh baring she was lame and she had nearly 8 months of box rest and a slow return to the field. It took time but did fuse well in the end!

I think at 21, age may come into play but as long as you've got the facilities to complete her treatment and recovery plan then she should be ok, time may be the only issue!

 

[Chewie]

Hi Charmer

She is weight baring so I am assuming that is a good thing, she is just lame and the swelling is still there. I am wondering how long swelling would take to go down.

shes 21 but there is not sign of arthritis or anything and she is fit and healthy and has very low mileage.

 

[Charmer91]

Hi Charmer

She is weight baring so I am assuming that is a good thing, she is just lame and the swelling is still there. I am wondering how long swelling would take to go down.

shes 21 but there is not sign of arthritis or anything and she is fit and healthy and has very low mileage.

Mine was pressure bandaged for the first few weeks with the vet coming out every other day so I didn't see the swelling sadly! If she's looking very well and healthy then I'm sure she'll be fine. It is worrying and sometimes we can over think, and worry even more that it isn't healing as soon as we hope but it'll get there.

I've known a vet to recommend daily turnout for a horse with a similar fracture to what mine had, all be it 10 years apart, but i was still shocked at the difference in treatment.

 

[Chewie]

Thank you Charmer,

I know what you mean, I fully trust my vet she has been treating my mare since she was 3 years old.
It is just a worry when you think you got over a hill you go back one step, I have had a few tears and nightmares.

 

[be positive]

Mine was pressure bandaged for the first few weeks with the vet coming out every other day so I didn't see the swelling sadly! If she's looking very well and healthy then I'm sure she'll be fine. It is worrying and sometimes we can over think, and worry even more that it isn't healing as soon as we hope but it'll get there.

I've known a vet to recommend daily turnout for a horse with a similar fracture to what mine had, all be it 10 years apart, but i was still shocked at the difference in treatment.

I had one this winter with a fractured splint bone, he was on very restricted turnout for a few weeks and some gel applied daily but no other treatment, he was lame on it but also had an abscess in the foot on the same side so it was hard to tell which was the main issue, the other one that fractured a splint bone had an op to remove the end as it was never going to reattach.

For the OP I think you just need to be patient, horses heal at different rates, the swelling may go down slowly if the injury was caused by a kick the soft tissue damage can take longer to totally settle than a small fracture takes to heal, as long as she is showing no signs of getting worse then you may find in the next week or two she makes rapid progress.

 

[Charmer91]

I had one this winter with a fractured splint bone, he was on very restricted turnout for a few weeks and some gel applied daily but no other treatment, he was lame on it but also had an abscess in the foot on the same side so it was hard to tell which was the main issue, the other one that fractured a splint bone had an op to remove the end as it was never going to reattach.

For the OP I think you just need to be patient, horses heal at different rates, the swelling may go down slowly if the injury was caused by a kick the soft tissue damage can take longer to totally settle than a small fracture takes to heal, as long as she is showing no signs of getting worse then you may find in the next week or two she makes rapid progress.

See it is very different, I find it interesting but its a good reminder to us to remember horses have to be treated as individuals even with an injury which could be indentical.

 

[Chewie]

I had one this winter with a fractured splint bone, he was on very restricted turnout for a few weeks and some gel applied daily but no other treatment, he was lame on it but also had an abscess in the foot on the same side so it was hard to tell which was the main issue, the other one that fractured a splint bone had an op to remove the end as it was never going to reattach.

For the OP I think you just need to be patient, horses heal at different rates, the swelling may go down slowly if the injury was caused by a kick the soft tissue damage can take longer to totally settle than a small fracture takes to heal, as long as she is showing no signs of getting worse then you may find in the next week or two she makes rapid progress.

I had one this winter with a fractured splint bone, he was on very restricted turnout for a few weeks and some gel applied daily but no other treatment, he was lame on it but also had an abscess in the foot on the same side so it was hard to tell which was the main issue, the other one that fractured a splint bone had an op to remove the end as it was never going to reattach.

For the OP I think you just need to be patient, horses heal at different rates, the swelling may go down slowly if the injury was caused by a kick the soft tissue damage can take longer to totally settle than a small fracture takes to heal, as long as she is showing no signs of getting worse then you may find in the next week or two she makes rapid progress.

Hi Both,

She jumped out the field and looks like she landed on her leg

 

[Lurfy]

My horse had a distal tarsal fracture (hock) when he was 8. He had conservative treatment and came good after 3.5 months box rest. It included handwalking after 6 weeks, which increased duration and distance. He fully recovered and is turning 20 this year. Our biggest problem with him was keeping him sane. My daughter and I had a roster of 3 visits per day and lots of interaction with him, it was a really tough time. I really feel for you OP. Our vet couldn't/wouldn't give a definite prognosis because basically nobody knows if or when he would recover. Every case is different so you just have to walk this path and keep monitoring the situation with your vet. I wish you all the best for a recovery, it is really hard not knowing.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

3 months straigjt box rest, 1.5 of those with a big pressure bandage on. Then 3 months gradual walking before turn out.

He did it racing, fell at a hurdle, landed with his knee bent and popped he bone through sheer pressure. He still has a little swelling 2 months in but that should go when he starts walking. He won't race again, he could have if they had pinned it but he is 11yo and was finishing this season anyway.