Fractured withers - experiences please

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charliejet

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So my poor little horse has not felt quite right ridden in recent months. She has been getting tense and stressy and just not felt quite right behind, not actually lame though. She has also had some canter problems.

Very long story short, got physio out who found problems TMJ, withers, back, SI and right stifle.

Then Vet. checked out stifle and trotted up / flexions etc all OK but moving slightly onto 3 tracks behind - SI pain found. Pelvis was slightly tipped, she had manipulation and then follow up physio.

Fast forward SI / pelvis has all settled but was still getting pain and muscle spasm around withers. She was also getting stiff in her neck. Wither area lit up on Thermal Imaging. Referred back to Vet. Had problems with Vet practice so got a new Vet.

Vet number 2 found pain in withers and back so x-rayed.

She has fractured withers :(, there is nothing that can be done about these and because of the way the bone is displaced they will not fuse. The main problem with this is it is not thought to be a recent injury but there is still active inflammation. So that makes the prognosis more gaurded. I have always had regular physio and she has always had tightness through her withers shoulders etc but this was put down to her lami / feet issues. We think she may have slipped in the field more recently that caused the pelvis prob and re damaged the withers.

She also has 3 spinous processes touching and reactive in her back :(

She has EMS / PPID so cant have steroid injections but is getting her back injected with a non steroidal drug and further physio for the muscle inflammation around withers. We are going to try Pulsed Electromagnetic Therapy. Rest and then in hand work / rehab. before I try riding her again.

Any experiences of fractured withers that havent healed well? Did they return to work? I have been told best case is hacking only which is fine. I cant manage her with bute as it would mask the start of lami issues. Its not looking great but I will try my best for her.
 
I'm afraid I have no experience of fractured withers, only of kissing spine. But just wanted to say how sorry I feel that your mare has all these problems. You obviously love her very much. Keeping my fingers crossed for her.
 
Thank you. I have struggled with various health issues with her for several years now and just feel this is the final straw. If she wasnt a lami horse I would happily retire her and keep her as a pet but she needs such intensive management and exercise its not possible to just turn her out. She is only 8 years old :(
 
charliejet said:
Thank you. I have struggled with various health issues with her for several years now and just feel this is the final straw. If she wasnt a lami horse I would happily retire her and keep her as a pet but she needs such intensive management and exercise its not possible to just turn her out. She is only 8 years old :(
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That is so sad. She has had a lot of pain in her short life. I know just how hard it is to manage laminitis. I struggled for over two years with my own mare. The final straw came when she redid an old tendon injury that she had recovered from 3 years before, but which had ended her ridden career. I just couldn't put her through weeks or months of box rest on the tiny rations she was on to control the laminitis, knowing that her joint would always be too unstable to ever risk turn out in a large area again, so as much as it broke my heart I had her PTS. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. But she was retired and I managed to keep her happy before the injury. But I am lucky to have a sand turnout next to the paddocks where she and another laminitic horse spent most of their time. The rest of the time they went out with the others in their grazing muzzles. It wasn't a bad life and she was very happy. Such a shame she had her injury.
 
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What bad luck, your poor mare. I don't know much (anything) about fractured withers, I've only encountered one, who's injury was historical and had never been treated.
She was perfectly happy to be retired but trying to restart her did not work out. However, it isn't a comparison to your girl as it could be an entirely different set of circumstances.

Wishing you, and her, all the best for treatment and recovery.
 
sadly sounds like poor prognosis to me esp with the other issues, cant you retire her but lunge her instead of riding her.
 
Thanks all.

I am going to start her back lunging and long reining after her treatment and see how she does, and see if she can stay comfortable without a saddle / rider to start.
 
We have had a couple of horses at work with broken withers. One came back into full ridden work with a made to measure saddle to accomodate her changed shape. The other is just starting his walking work. He will come back into work in due time and race again.
 
EKW said:
We have had a couple of horses at work with broken withers. One came back into full ridden work with a made to measure saddle to accomodate her changed shape. The other is just starting his walking work. He will come back into work in due time and race again.
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Can I ask did you know they had broken withers so that they had treatment straight away? Also what was the treatment? Thank you.
 
Yup, the mare flipped over backwards, the gelding got splattered in a race and galloped over. Bother diagnosed immediately, cross tied for 6 weeks, loose box for a further 4 weeks with no bedding to discourage laying down then start walking out 5mins at a time gradually building up. About 4 months we put a saddle and rider on the mare. The gelding is now up to 30mins walking on the horse walker daily.
 
Thanks for that info, I think that is where the problems come in because we didnt know so she hasnt had appropriate treatment....
 
Horse and hound did an article on Abbie Sheress who's mare fractured her withers after falling from a bridge or something. It was probably 5 yrs ago.
 
I've only known one horse with fractured withers. They recovered well - but were never able to be ridden again unfortunately.
 
My friend's little section b managed to fracture his withers, probably messing about in the field. It wasn't diagnosed straight away, I think it was about a week.

The x-ray is amazing - picture five vertebrae in a row, the outside two being normal, and the middle three broken off, with small chips floating about. I will dig it out if I can find it (or get her to join HHO!).

Because it was already too late to do much, the vets said they wouldn't (or couldn't) operate.

He leads a fantastic life now, doing everything that he did before - xc, games, show jumping. Only issue is he used to be 12.2 and now he is only 12h!
 
I had an ex racer with fractured withers. Didn't know when I got her. Turns out she fell in the stalls one time and got stuck. The fracture was displaced and did not heal. It lead to sacroiliac dysfunction, kissing spines and eventually facet joint arthritis. She was put to sleep. She had the whole lot thrown at her - steroids, Tildren, shock wave, physio, chiro... But just got worse. She was in a lot of pain in the end
 
Yes my ex-racehorse, we think rolled on a rock or something in the field, and came in with swollen, hot withers. 4 vertebrae were cleanly broken and healed really well with box rest and laser therapy. He did not however have other issues at that time but has previously cracked a fetlock and had bone chips removed plus a plethora of other issues - however all other issues were external wounds so nothing like your boy.

He's in full work and just has flat withers which look a bit weird.
 
Thanks for your experiences Nicnac, your horse sounds rather accident prone, I used to have an ex racer like that always getting into trouble! Great that he is back to full work.
 
Yes, I know of one, fractured his withers as a 3yo, retired from racing I think he had a quiet few years but has now matured into a fantastic horse and is doing some low level eventing and I think he even tried team chasing last season.
 
Yes my friend has a horse with a fractured wither, it was like it when she bought him, the previous owner thought he had fallen over in the field never had any treatment that I know, he is fine a very useful horse but does look a little peculiar as the wither are completely flat and all the more obvious as he is hogged
 
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