fractured pelvis!

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samnpaddy

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bad news - my hunter has fractured his pelvis! not sure how he's done it but he's managed to crack his hip - anyway he's on approx six weeks box rest to see if the bone will mend. He's taken to it reasonably well but gets very stressed when i take the other horses out, he's lost quite alot of weight initially and looks like a rescue case at the moment - i don't want him to pile the pounds on but i'd like him to keep a bit of condition - i'm feeding him alfa a oil, speedibeet and ad lib hay at the moment with topspec balancer and he has one sachet of bute twice a day - i've been giving him the ration for a horse in light work (according to the charts on the feed bags!) but he looks terrible - any advice re; feeding and keeping a neurotic thoroughbred on box rest would be greatly appreciated - has anyone else experienced a fracture of this kind and what were the results/prognosis? many thanks in anticipation of your help xx
 
I'm sorry I have no advice to offer. I am so sorry for you and your horse, best wishes for a full recovery

jane
 
A friend had a horse with a fractured pelvis (old racing injury i think). She didn't own it when it occured but i believe she had difficulty cantering on one rein and could only do small jumps.

Sorry can't help with the feeding/short term prognosis (my horses are all fattie's!)

xxx
 
i'm told it's the joint where the pelvis and the femur meet. my vet has done an internal ultra sound scan which showed a crack at this joint and some small bone fragments! i am quite worried about the recovery of my beautiful boy! he can weight bear slightly but when he tries to walk forwards he can't go in straight line and ends up panicking and bunny hopping on 3 legs in a circle - it's quite distressing to watch - consequently i've only led him out once in the past 2 weeks although the vet said i could graze him in hand and it wouldn't hurt him to move around, he just isn't allowed to lay down - he's tied up to a wire strung up across the top if his stable, he can have his head down to eat his feed and let any mucus/fluid drain so he doesn't end up with respiratory problems or pneumonia!
 
Ok, the only horse I have known with an injury like this didnt make a full recovery Im afraid but thats not to say he would be the norm. That horse chipped the socket where the femur slots in and although he came field sound he couldnt ever accept being ridden.

Fingers crossed for your boy, hopefully he will mend enough to still be a good hack for you.
 
So sorry to hear your bad news.I feed my tb on build up d and h if he looses weight and it doesnt send him potty.Ive used it on box rest and restricted turnout the only thing I cant feed him on is haylage when he is resting which has been a regular occurrance over the last year .Hope this helps.Can you rotate your horses so he has a companion in the next stable they are much happier with company.If this is not possible you could try a mirror because he is probably really lonely and if he is happier he will mend much quicker.My vet always recommends glucosomine to help heal bones and cartilage it aids healing process its not expensive only £14 for a tub.Well worth the money if it helps your boy.good luck
 
thanks spaniel - at this point any information is helpful as i'm finding it quite difficult to deal with - my vet has said worst case he'll be field sound - best case he'll be hacking sound - so i'm keeping my fingers crossed!

just want to say thanks to everybody who's read my post and replied xx
 
Oh dear sorry to hear your news but DONT PANIC !!!!
My horse broke his pelivs about 4 years ago and made a FULL recovery.. in fact he came back jumping BSJA and even did a few Young Rider Classes - thats him on my profile picture taken last year at Bicton at the grand age of 21... in fact im now contemplating retiring him this year!!

Where abouts are you in the Country? When my horse did his (no idea how he did it to this day) a vet came out and told me to put him down, I was working in Wiltshire at the time and I had Tex Gamble come take a look at him, and I swear he saved his life.. he had to have 6 months box rest, where we had to deep litter him and build up his banks so he wouldnt get cast, he wasnt allowed to lift his legs any higher then if you we to pick his feet out. After the box rest we then had to put him out in the field, my heart was in my mouth as when we let him out he went bucking around the field.. he then had to spend 6 months out in the field to keep the movement, then one final check and it was a case of get on and see what happens!!
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Its not an easy thing to deal with but I think the more recovery time you can give the better it is for them. He hasnt (touch wood) looked back, he does occasionly come out of his stable a bit stiff but think thats more age then anything else. He does now walk a bit weird behind but nothing that is a problem.

Feel free to ask any questions about the recovery and I will try and answer, failing that I recommend you get in contact with Tex and get him to have a look for you, he will tell you either way.. I wont let anyone else come near either of my boys now after what he did for my horse!!!!
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Hope that puts your mind at ease.. there is one success story out there!!!!
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Jx
 
Just read what you said about having to tie him up at night, obviously im not vet but we didnt have to do that with Flea,
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however we also didnt allow him out of his stable for 6 months not to graze or anything, which was a bit a nightmare as he is a grumpy bugger at the best of times... I can give you Tex's number if you want it!!! x
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Sorry about your hunter, poor boy.
I had to deal with a filly last summer that cracked her hip after attempting to jump a gate, the front half landed but the back end didn't go high enough and she turned a over t with a crump. She was put on box rest, no walking out at all and was semi deep littered to make sure she always had a bed underneath her. Although she wasn't tied up she didn't lay down for a good three weeks after the injury and then would be down for quite a while (we thought at first she couldn't get up but when we went into her she leapt up with no problems although we were glad she was deep littered as she did dig in a bit). If she moved a certain direction, you could hear the click! All of the time she held herself up by the opposite leg. The owner insisted on keeping her feed the same as before when she was being prepared for a summer showing which horrified me (stud and yearling prep mix, alfa a, sugar beet, barley rings and Blue Chip! A fair concoction for any horse let alone a yearling on box rest!) she also had as much haylage and hay as she wanted. Even on this amount she still lost a lot of weight, went as thin as a lamp post but kept on growing; in the eight weeks of box rest she grew nearly a full hand upwards but didn't body up at all. Before the end of box rest she had grown so much on the good side but the bad side had virtually withered away; forgive the analogy and no offence intended to anyone, but a little bit like someone with polio. At the end of box rest she was allowed out with a quiet mare; she was still lame but the clicking had completely stopped so she was turned out 24/7 to enable Dr Green and regular gentle exercise to help her recover. It was a highlight when a fortnight later she was seen having a wonky trot and short canter across the field. The 'bad' hip was still much shorter but it was improving very slowly and she does have age on her side to make a full recovery.
Like someone has already suggested you do, we always left a horse next to her, rotating them if necessary but at least she didn't have to get het up by being alone which must have helped a lot.
Feedwise, would stud nuts suit him, they are easily digestible, meant to be helpful for growth (so why not with bone recovery?) and are helpful with weight gain; other than that, perhaps Alfa A with something like LoCal Balancer to make sure he gets what he needs. There is also the old remedy of Comfrey, known as knit bone which can be fed or can be applied as a poultice though a bit hard to do a hip! Another thing you could try would be a magnetic rug for a short spell a couple of times a day, but always keep him warm anyway as he can't move a lot.
Don't know if any of that has helped, I hope so.
 
Ive got an exracer who has had a broken front leg (non displaced fracture) and a sacroliac subluxation where his pelvis is 'out'. Hes fine to do bits and bobs and even jumping as he is fully sound - however if he were to fall / have an accident the vet said it would never heal again due to the weakness.

Dont write him off though - its alot about how you bring them back into work etc. as long as u follow vets instructions he will be fine. I think my TB did quite a bit trotting on roads for strengthening once brought into work - although this was approx 2003 so vets theories and treatments could vary alot!!
 
I have no experience at all with this kind of injury, but wanted to wish you and your horse well and hope that he goes on to make a full recovery.

Feeding wise, there's lots of good advice already. The other thing I would add is to make sure that he has absolute ad lib hay or haylage to keep his hindgut moving.

Some of the homeopathic remedies can be good for helping bones repair/strengthen. I wouldn't know which ones, and obviously they are for use in conjunction with the vet, not in place of. But could be worth giving one of the companies a call?
 
I'm sorry to hear about your horse. My mare fracturered her pelvis, but sadly the outcome was not good. In her case the whole situation was made much worse as she was heavily in foal at the time. Regarding the feeding, if I were you, I would have a word with one of the feed companies' nutritionists - whether it is Dengie, Spillers, Dodson & Horrell etc. AlphaA +oil is a feed for horses in work, not box rest. My own two big horses cannot have Speedibeet as it sends them slightly loopy. Your horse will lose weight, so don't worry - in fact he wouldn't want to have excess weight on the damaged joint anyway. I really hope the outcome is good for you. Good luck.
 
My boy fractured his pelvis a couple of years ago falling over on a concrete yard - poor lad wasn't even messing about juist walking along minding his own business. His fracture was on the point of the hip where it hit the concrete so external to the joint - the vet said as fractures go it could have been worse. It was awful to see him at first, he wouldn't move in his stable unless he had to and although I didn't have to tie him he chose not to lie down for about 3 months. Treatment was minimal, just a case of time healing and 6 months box rest. At first i didn't see how he could possibly recover, he still couldn't trot even after 3-4 months and he has a massive hard lump on his joint where there wasn't anything before. The vet stayed optimistic though and eventually after 5 months his movement was much improved, luckily the yard I was on at the time had a walker so he started off on there building up slowly to 2 45 minute sessions a day at quite a fast walk. If you can get access to a walker I would recommend it, I really think that it was a massive boost to his recovery, he came out of it all looking quite fit in the end. After 6 months the vet gave him the all clear and he went back into work, building up to what he was doing previously which is riding club level dressage, jumping and xc. Although he is sound I do feel he has lost some of his range of movement behind, and his canter definitely isn't as good as it used to be but to be honest, he is 12 so I think it could be his age affecting him, he clicks a bit now and feels pretty stiff. In terms of feeding my vet advised nothing but adlib hay, he is a good doer and not stressy so he actually stayed looking pretty good on this. I was also advised to feed weekly bran mashes to help keep his system moving. Once he started on the walker I started to give him hi-fibre nuts too but nothin else. He also had stable toys to play with, and pretty much constant companionship with a horse in the stable next door who was also on box rest. I'm sure your horse will recover, it is really hard to believe that though at the start...
 
I am very sorry about your horse. You could try D&H Convalescent mix? I used this on my stessy TB that was stabled 24/7 through bullying.

Have you asked your vet the prognosis? Once recovered you could sned to a rehabilitation yard?
 
Good luck with your boy's recovery.
Regarding the weight issue...it may be that he is losing muscle rather than condition...but I'd try rugging him more warmly..so he doesn't burn energy keeping warm.
I'd also try upping the speedibeet he's on...adding in high fibre haylage...and maybe looking at either feeding barley (boiled, barley rings or whatever) if he doesn't fizz on barley...or perhaps one of the conditioning feeds.
Perhaps a stable mirror might help...or a radio playing...
S
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As Cellie said D&H Build up was fab for my TB who was a nightmare to keep weight on and didnt fizz him up at all.

Different injury but I am having a similar problem with one of mine all I can say is dont give up, I am a year down the line and despite some very low moments now feel I might be getting somewhere.
n.b I am giving her the Selenivite E supplement which has improved her condition no end.
 
very sorry to hear that. if he's getting upset when you turn out all the others, can't you have one horse per day stay in next to him? as long as they all take turns, it won't do them any harm, and it might make the world of difference to him.
i'd have classical radio playing in his stable too, it's nice and calming, fwiw.
very best of luck, hope he makes a full recovery.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse's injury. On a postive note, I have an ex-racer who last time he ran slipped over in the winners enclosure at Goodwood and fractured his pelvis. D'Accord was box rested for 6 months and turned away for a further 6 months before he was given to me. I brought him back into work, he now goes hacking, I've taught him to jump (he was a flat horse) and his pelvis doesn't seem to give him any problems at all. Unfortunately he now has navicular developing in his front feet but this is completely unrelated to the pelvis fracture.
 
Iv seen a fair ew horses with fractured pelvis and looked after 3 on night duty at an equine hospital. These were all racehorses - out of training due to the injury. All 3 are still around now 3 years later. One is a broodmare and gave birth to her first foal this summer successfully - shes worth a fortune being a full sister to one of this year's top flat sires in Europe and the prognosis had been poor at the outset as she was a bit of a houndini and kept getting her headcollar off in the stable and attempting to lie down. hence she had to have 24hour supervision! The 2nd mare wa caught early and had the beginnings of a crack. She made a full recovery and went back inot training at the end of the season. Think she got injured in late July and was back in the yard by Christmas. The last was a Saddler's colt who also was given a poor prognosis. his recovery took longer but hes now hunting having been rebroken 12mths ago after almost 12weeks box rest and a year's turnout.
All of these were tied to a running wire across the width of the stable ( above the stable) for at least 6weeks 24hours a day.
 
Our stallion fractured his quite badly as a five year old, and spent over a year on box rest.
He was always quite careful when pressured until we stuck him on a joint supplement called Multiplex HA. within a week he had lengthened his stride and has gone from strength to strength on it.
He started competing aged 16 last year and had a fantastic time! (look up Harper's Bornival on BE records to see how un-affected he was by the injury)
As regards box rest I think lots of things like turnips on a rope, as much hay as he will eat and try giving Saracen a ring for advice, they are fabulous at sorting diets out for sick horses.
I would perhaps try the joint supplement as well, check with your vet first though.
They do get used to it eventually, having a companion within touching works best, can you borrow a donkey or mini shetland?
 
it's really good to hear from everybody - thanks for all your advice and helpful comments - its great to hear about the success stories of horses that have had similar injuries - i'm feeling a bit more optimistic now - i'm glad i put the post on

thanks again everybody

xxx
 
My friends horse went down in a lorry and fractured its hip i beleive that was near the joint. It was horrific as i was with it in the box when it went dow.

Murphy was cross tied for 6 weeks to stop him laying down as its liely we wouldnt have gotten back up and was out for work for about a year.

He is now back out showjumping and winning and doing xc etc!

I hope your horse recovers in time.

With reguards to box rest from one tb owner to another ( my horse has also been out for 8 months with an injury ) be careful not to feed anything to work him up as that will make him lose weight too.

Maybe just a conditioing feed- spillers have just lauched a new condidtiong fibre chop so maybe try that with some conditioning cube?

My mare loved her snack a ball when on 5 months box rest even if it drove me mad hehe.
 
My old TB ex-steeplechaser was a nightmare to keep weight on but I found Spiller's Build-up supplement very useful and it was also palatable so encouraged him to eat lots of other stuff.
 
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