Horse keeps getting cast

MumofWhiz

MumofWhiz

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Hi, can I ask your advice please.

We've now had Breggey (17hh ID mare, 7 year old) for almost 6 months and during that time she has probably been cast about 6 times. She has a fully rubber matted floor with Sorbeo bedding at the back and is in a large rectangular sized box but it's also happened in a smaller square box and a large square box. I've never actually seen her down - each time either me or her owner turn up just as everything is calming down afterwards but yesterday she almost seemed to be in a bit of a trance when down; she wasn't reacting at all to the YO's efforts to help her get up which is very strange. She is in season and the YO thinks it could be related to that.

We have ordered her a substantial looking anti cast roller. She had a smaller one which I don't think was that good and she managed to flatten the hoop - this is much more substantial. We are also considering putting rubber matting around the walls.

Has anyone else ever had this with their horses and what did they do about it? It's horrible for Breggey to get stuck like this .... we thought once she was in the bigger box she'd be fine but obviously not :(

Many thanks.
 
I had one go through a phase of this, we screwed batons to the wall so he could gain purchase to right himself.

I think it helps if the whole box is bedded wit soft bedding so they don't feel the need to lie down in a corner or next to the end of the bed.

Could she be itchy? Mine wold roll more if he was hot or sweaty or had fly bites that were irritating him.

I was always unsure if banks work, but a horse at work did get cast without banks, and did not with so... Harry had a big bed with banks!
 
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Thanks Red, each time she has got cast is before she has been worked so she's not hot and sweaty - normally she comes in from the field, has her feed and a bit of hay and is quite partial to a morning snooze (out at night, in at day at the moment). I did wonder about making the bed larger for her so she doesn't feel she is confined to one area.

We don't have banks in due to where the marks on the walls are where she was scrabbling they would have to be huge and then it would make the stable seem smaller if you see what I mean? Am hoping that the anti cast roller along with some rubber matting on the walls will help and we'll make her bed bigger.

Thanks again.
 
It seems very odd that a horse will come in from the field and roll in the stable, does she roll outside? is she turned out in a rug and then rolling because the rug has come off? it would concern me that she is using the stable to roll in and not the field at this time of year, winter would be different as some hate the mud although others wallow like hippos, I would look for the reason she is taking the opportunity to roll and you may find the cure.

I did have a horse years ago that got cast a fair amount, although more like 6 times in 20 years that 6 in 6 months, an anti cast roller was no real help as unless it was done up extremely tightly it moved about and made matters worse, deep banks helped a bit because he didn't get so close to the walls in the first place so it was easier to get him up, the same with a full bed if they are confined to half the box they will be more limited with their options.
 
If she's in a bigger stable now I would start putting up large banks immediately and see if they make a difference - the banks aren't for her legs, they're to stop her body getting so close to the hard wall that she can't roll back over. They don't always work but worth a try.
 
Is there possibly some reason that she can't get herself back up? The only horse I know that regularly got itself cast ended up having a neurological condition (idiopathic hopping-like forelimb lameness syndrome). It was related to spinal cord damage from a fall a few years before.
 
What is sorbeo bedding?

When you say that the bed is at the back of the stable do you mean like a half bed (seems very popular nowadays)? I think these half stable (often less) encourage the horse to lie close to the wall. I like a full bed - so that the horse can stand lengthwise pointing in any direction and still have four feet on the bed. I think it equally means the horse can lie comfortably in any direction too. I don't do banks anymore, I don't think they stop a big horse getting cast, and they greatly reduce the floor space in a stable. I'd have anti cast strips, or a flat piece of wood along the wall to help the horse right itself if I had one with a tendency to get cast.
 
be positive said:
It seems very odd that a horse will come in from the field and roll in the stable, does she roll outside? is she turned out in a rug and then rolling because the rug has come off? it would concern me that she is using the stable to roll in and not the field at this time of year, winter would be different as some hate the mud although others wallow like hippos, I would look for the reason she is taking the opportunity to roll and you may find the cure.
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My gelding often rolls indoors, much more so than outside. He likes the shavings look! Must admit, having had a few issues recently I am now having him tested for PSSM, may be the ground is too hard for him in the field.
 
Honey08 said:
What is sorbeo bedding?

When you say that the bed is at the back of the stable do you mean like a half bed (seems very popular nowadays)? I think these half stable (often less) encourage the horse to lie close to the wall. I like a full bed - so that the horse can stand lengthwise pointing in any direction and still have four feet on the bed. I think it equally means the horse can lie comfortably in any direction too. I don't do banks anymore, I don't think they stop a big horse getting cast, and they greatly reduce the floor space in a stable. I'd have anti cast strips, or a flat piece of wood along the wall to help the horse right itself if I had one with a tendency to get cast.
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I agree and 'she needs a full bed' was my first thought when reading the OP.
 
Thanks for all your responses. She hasn't been rolling in the stable - she lies down a lot as is very fond of her naps! We are making her bed bigger tomorrow (she's out tonight) and hope that will help too - fingers crossed.

Honey08 Sorbeo is wood pellet bedding.
 
MumofWhiz said:
Thanks for all your responses. She hasn't been rolling in the stable - she lies down a lot as is very fond of her naps! We are making her bed bigger tomorrow (she's out tonight) and hope that will help too - fingers crossed.

Honey08 Sorbeo is wood pellet bedding.
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She must at least attempt to roll or she couldn't get cast!
 
Mine got stuck once and it really panicked me. I looked into it and bought some of those flipping expensive anti cast mats whic are strips to attach to the stable wall. He then hasn’t shown any signs of having issues so I haven’t yet gotten round to putting them up. But that’s an idea for you. They’re supposed to help them get some purchase against the walls.
 
Bernster said:
Mine got stuck once and it really panicked me. I looked into it and bought some of those flipping expensive anti cast mats whic are strips to attach to the stable wall. He then hasn’t shown any signs of having issues so I haven’t yet gotten round to putting them up. But that’s an idea for you. They’re supposed to help them get some purchase against the walls.
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Thanks very much Bernster - we will look into that.
 
Generally a bigger bed helps most horses who get cast (bigger as in area of floor covered), so I would definitely give that a go. I don't like those anti cast rollers as I just think they have a real potential to cause damage to their backs if they do roll over on them.

I did know a one youngster years ago who used to get 'cast' on a weekly basis. We started off by rescuing her every time, but then tried just leaving her to see what she would do and she actually just sorted her self out. It was almost like she liked sleeping sort of upside down with her legs against the wall! Who knows....

I have a mare that likes a roll around in the bed after a sleep and does sometimes end up with her legs towards the wall. She's never actually got cast but she's on a full wall to wall bed with rubber strips on the wall just in case.
 
I do agree with avoiding the anti cast roller. We had one who rolled over despite it, and with the roller it was nigh on impossible to get him back. In fact, the only upside was it was something to attach the tractor to, to pull him away from the wall - it was that desperate!

The horse was unharmed when he was extricated. It was a big and strong roller, with the buckles hidden under the horse.
 
Thanks very much DabDab and Red-1. I'm going up to the stables this morning and will make her bed much bigger. So hard to know what to do for the best isn't it but getting loads of sound advice on here which I'll be following. Poor Breggey - must be horrid to keep getting cast.
 
One of mine got cast 3 times in a short space of time. We put anti cast strips along the wall and he hasn't been cast since. He likes a snooze but whenever he does lie down he always like a bit of a roll before he gets up - he doesn't actually get down to roll (unless wet/sweaty).
 
I also agree about bringing the bed forward so the majority of the stable is covered in bedding it may encourage her to lie and roll away from the wall, I don't have rubber mats just one at the front and my shavings beds are up to the mat which is 2 ft back from the door and my horses tend to lie near the front rather than the back of the stable.
 
One of mine gets cast approx once a month, if not more often. We think he just had no special awareness! I have tried everything, huge solid banks, anti cast strips, bigger stables, smaller stables.... we didn’t try the rollers as I’m not a fan of them. We have eneded up bedding his whole stable, with no banks, apart from an area by the door making sure it is always very deep. This seems to be best solution, he still gets cast but not quite as often. He’s lucky that he does manage to free himself most times mainly by kicking the walls to free himself up 🙄 so they are now rubber matted to reduce the damage both to himself and the walls. Unfortunately he now has his legs bandaged whenever he is in the stable as he cuts himself every time and he was beginning to spend more time out of work with fat legs & cuts than being in work. Not an ideal situation but that’s how we are managing it for now.
 
Thank you so much for all your responses. I've put another 4 bags of bedding down now so in a 16ft x 12ft stable I'd say it's 13ft x 12ft with bedding plus rubber matting underneath. She has her current roller on too. Definitely investigating the anti cast strips that can go on the wall. The only good thing (if there is such a thing with this) is, touch wood, she's never injured herself doing this apart from one small cut but I have a horrid feeling it's just a matter of time.
 
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