Horse broke her jaw advice please

[c7mlm]

My horse broke her jaw 9 weeks ago clean break but a bad break. This was screwed and wired she has been on box rest since. Eating perfect no problems. They took out all wires and screws a week ago and I was told box rest for 2 weeks then hand grazing starting 5 mins a day then build up up over another 2 weeks, just wondered if any one else had been through this with there horse as my vet is on maternity leave so had to use a different one. I just thought if it was now mended she could go out for a bit longer an hour perhaps. we have been told we can ride her in a weeks time, trying a hackamore first but if she does not like it use her normal bit. Any advice would be great thanks

 

[EventingMum]

One of ours broke his jaw in two places, one an open fracture. His was wired for longer than your mare but once off we were given similar instuctions to you re grazing in hand which we built up over several weeks. When it came to turning him out we used Sedalin for the first few days as we were concerned he would go ballistic without risking injury. Initially his turnout matched the grazing in hand time and was gradually increased. Remember her jaw will need to get used to grazing again hence the slow build up. With regard to riding our boy was surprisingly fine back in his normal bit but does unfortunately now tend to have his tongue out to one side due to the fact that his incisors are out of alignment.

 

[TarrSteps]

I've known three with broken jaws, all healed fine. It's an area with good blood supply and minimal stress other than eating so, if the wiring goes well, there is a good prognosis.

But it's still a fracture and takes time to come back to full strength, hence the gradual return to a normal routine.

Depending on what you're planning to do with the horse immediately, I would suggest a straight pull hackamore rather than a leverage one, at least for general schooling.

 

[Kikke]

Depending on where the break was you may want to leave the hacks more and use a normal bit and if you can leave out the nose band for a while.

 

[Goya]

there is a horse eventing at Intermediate level who had a year off after breaking its jaw. (reported in H&H the other week)It all depends on the break and other factors but good luck with yours.

 

[Birker2020]

My horse broke her jaw 9 weeks ago clean break but a bad break. This was screwed and wired she has been on box rest since. Eating perfect no problems. They took out all wires and screws a week ago and I was told box rest for 2 weeks then hand grazing starting 5 mins a day then build up up over another 2 weeks, just wondered if any one else had been through this with there horse as my vet is on maternity leave so had to use a different one. I just thought if it was now mended she could go out for a bit longer an hour perhaps. we have been told we can ride her in a weeks time, trying a hackamore first but if she does not like it use her normal bit. Any advice would be great thanks

My friends horse broke his jaw, as luck would have it the vet was on site for another emergency at the time so could administer pain relief within minutes of it happening. He broke his bottom jaw clean in half, it was quite a break but he had no problems with it healing. Like your mare, Secret's jaw was wired and then the wires were removed and he is doing fine out at grass.

What his owner and her boyfriend did though, was to cut grass for him using a chain saw which really helped as it was better for him to chew it as he didn't have the pulling action involved in pulling it out of the ground which allowed his jaw to heal whilst at the same time 'retraining it' for the feel of the grass. It also helped his digestion as he was getting the same amount (well considerably more actually) than before, and his weight was steadily maintained.