Fractured splint bone

Klix

Klix

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Anybody have any experience of this? Horse came out of her stable this morning hopping lame, vet has seen her and suspects fractured splint bone. Hes coming by tomorrow for scans and x-rays but in the meantime shes got anti-inflammatories and bute to get her by.
Worst case scenario, how much would you say this will cost? She is insured and i intend to claim, however i pay the excess (£135) plus 25% of the overall bill.
Also if she has fractured it she will be on 3 months box rest.. How on earth do you keep a 5yo entertained on box rest?! The hanging swede is starting to get boring after only 24 hours apparently! :( Need some vibes for tomorrow.. Il also post in vet.

A very strong baileys hotchocolate on offer.
 
Our Haffy got a kick n the field resulting in a fractured splint bone (also had small wound so classed as an open fracture). He was box rested for 9 weeks, I was supposed to walk him in hand for a few weeks before turning back out. Being a bolshy 5 year old he spent more time on his back legs. Tried ACP, no difference, so on vets advice turned him out and took our chances. He galloped round once, then settled to graze.
Cost wise, it came to around £3000, he had 5 sets of X-rays, but did need vast amounts of very expensive antibiotics due to wound not healing.
Hope your girl recovers well, I found treat balls and small regular haynets helped. It was winter time when my boy was in so there was normally people around and lots going on to keep him occupied.
 
I had one x rayed this morning he has fractured his but it has moved a fair way and will need the fragment removed, just waiting for them to get back to me with details. I was told probably 6 weeks box rest from op but it will be different for your horse as they will probably expect it to fuse, depending on test results, so will take longer, my poor boy has already done 6 weeks rest and is coping well.
I keep a friend in nearby at all times, ad lib hay and haylage so he has options;), a tub of redigrass mid day and 3 small feeds, if he gets too stressed I can give him a small amount of sedalin which has really helped him relax if there is just too much going on around the yard, although it is generally quiet and he can just chill.
 
hiya, 1st of all sorry to hear this! i know what you're going through am currently going through it and have been 2 years ago.

My mare hates being in and gets terrible separation anxiety. she did three months 2 years ago and is currently on 1 month now. I try all sorts, redi grass, likits, seed ball things, hide treats and carrots but she still box walks and frets. Company isnt an option at my place really. What i will say is she starts to get used to the fact she is staying in. So you may find yours may be the same?
 
Ginger - Hopefully, shes not too bothered about being in on her own whilst others are out, its just stopping her from chewing wood and racing out of her stable at 100 mph when/If i can take her for short walks. Im really hoping she hasnt fractured it.. I feel like im being eaten up by a black hole at the moment!
 
Never had experience of this personally and don't know the ins and outs but a horse at my yard had previously broken one, recovered from that then did it to the other and has recovered fine :)
 
two of mine have had fractured splints. The first one was actually shattered into a million pieces & he had to have surgery at Leahurst to remove the fragments. He also had other complications (colic from the stress of boxrest and pressure sores from the bandaging). This all upped the vet bill. It was several thousand pounds, back in 2000. Oh and 5 months solid boxrest, then 2 months small paddock turnout. Also resulted in arthritis of that leg :( He was fine though :)
The other horse who did it was far more straight-forward. However, the kick was near the hock, with an open wound, so she was also sent to leahurst in case of joint infection. She was fine though. IV ab's, then home after about a week. Then 3 months' boxrest, then in-hand walking and then small paddock turnout. She is a VERY VERY sensible horse though, so was perhaps turned out earlier than some other horses would be as she is not likely to hoon around the field and do more damage.
She had also fractured the canon bone on another leg a year earlier :o Stupid horse!
I hope yours is ok soon x
 
know the feeling all too well, mine fractured his cannon bone in july and is now confidently trotting well but still not turned out as until he is cantering circles or jumping been advised not to yet!

my horse had repeated x rays throughout recovery but luckily no operation needed. its a long haul with the box rest but ad lib hay and toys help. i had mine on potassium bromide in the feed also to knock the edge off him.

message me for further info or read my previous posts!
 
One of mine got kicked in the field and the splint bone was actually broken in half. She had an operation to have the fragment removed and I was given the choice of a local with sedation or full general - I went for the local.

She had nine weeks box rest in total and was then turned out in our tiny 'sick' paddock, she was back in work within 15 weeks.

If you are worried about a 5yo being on box rest, speak with your vet and see if it would be possible to turn her out in a restricted area, like a school or small paddock.

The splint bone is not weight bearing and will have no effect on her in the future, in fact mine is now working ad med - so don't worry too much.
 
My share horse was on box rest for 5 months last year. We never quite got to the bottom of it, vet suspected a fracture of the splint bone as big lump appeared (but he's too old for splints and it was too high) but x-rays were clear. Another lump the appeared on other side of leg and then one lump on another leg, although lameness never changed legs!).

He's 17 and quite a laid back chap but he'd never been in for more than 12 hours before so we were quite worried about him but he adapted. He was lucky in that another horse was also on box rest in the stable next door for the first two weeks which could have helped him adapt in the early days. He went through a phase of kicking the walls now and again for a week or so, but we got some rubber to put on them and as soon as the noise stopped, so did he. He wasn't that bothered with swedes etc and the feed ball I conveniently won after about 4 days of him being in would entertain him for about 5 minutes - he just go too good at getting his feed (a handful of pasture nuts each day!) out of it.

The biggest saving grace for him was having a little electric fenced pen in the corner of his field that he'd go into while we mucked out so he could have some grass and see his fieldmates. It was great for us too as it meant we didn't waste another 20 minutes grazing him in hand. He's quite anti-social so we weren't worried about him trying to get to the other horses, he just wanted the grass. We gradually increased his time in there as he got closer to being turned out and the size of the pen too. It was alongside the outdoor school, and it was about 15' wide (fence was already there to protect school fence from being chewed so we just had a small extra bit of electric fence to section off the length.)It started off the width of a gate and by the time he went out it was the length of the school (so about 40m x 15') and he'd spend about 4 hours a day in there, but only when people were around to keep an eye. Fellow liveries were great about putting him out if they were there when we weren't.

He loved it so much that when we turned him out, he spent the first three days trying to get back in! He'd quite happily spend his days next to, but separated from his fieldmates even now. He likes to see them but not touch them!
 
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We've just recovered from one!

Hind splint fracture, bottom third, several bone fragments needed an op - vet bill was about £4,200 all in including after care.

Now back in work, but not fully fit due to weather but full recovery expected. Ours is a long story, I've several posts on here about it.

Injury was 13 May, surgery late June (not diagnosed as fracture to start with), started small paddock turnout 17 Aug (so was 7 weeks box rest post op - didn't leave stable for 4 weeks then started inhand grazing), started walking under saddle 17 Sept and had 8 week programme to build up. If it wasn't for the weather we'd be 100% back by now.

Mine actually coped ok with the box rest post op - the massive pressure bandage seemed to make her realise things weren't right. I loathe box rest but we had no choice so I just sucked it up and because I was ok and stuck to a routine my mare was ok too. She wasn't happy obv, but actually got used to it better than I thought.

It wasn't pleasant but there are worse things. PM me if helpful :)
 
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