Horse stuck on fence

siennamum

siennamum

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 February 2004
Messages
5,576
Location
Bristol
Visit site
Has anyone had a horse stuck on a door or fence please. Our was stuck on his stable door for half an hour this morning, in some distress. We did unscrew the hinges & he seemed unscathed apart from some bruising round his stifles & being in a complete sweat.
I am concerned about things like colic, and so if anyone has had this happen, what was the outcome, were there after effects?
Mine is trotting round the field now & I'll give him some bute later as I'm sure he'll be sore, apart from that cab't think there's anything else to do but keep an eye on him.
 
Blimey - how on earth did he do that?! They do liek to test us don't they.

I woudl think the best think for him would to be out as you've got him so he doesn't get stiff. I would think if he seems ok now then I wouldn't be concerned too much. Personally I'd be inclined to not give him bute as I'd want to see whether he demonstrated any signs of pain first rather than maybe masking any.

I guess the main things are going to be bruising and the mild possibilty of cracked ribs if he was stuck over the top but again maybe best to let him walk it off, eat some grass and then bring him in later and have a good feel around him see if any parts are sensitive.

They are tougher than we give them credit for - there's no reason he should get colic if he seems to have received from the initial shock but obviously if you're concerned that he's not passed anything or his demeanor changes then call a vet so as to put your mind at rest.
 
I had a pony do this over a 5 bar gate.
He was given Danilon 1 sachet per day for 5 days.
Luckily, had no other problems as regards colic or such like.
Hope your pony is OK too.
 
Thank you both for replying. I am leaving him out, and as you say Lady T, left off the bute for a couple of hours in case anything shows itself today.
Redstar thank you for that- very reassuring.
 
Yes, my mare has done this as has her daughter!

Seren went to jump over the stable door when she was first moved to a new yard, she just panicked. It resulted in a large swelling(hematoma) on her chest which did go down, there is no sign of this incident all these years later, was very scary

Also her daughter Wizard decided she was going to jump over the partition in the lorry and got stuck half way over, very scary again. But she seemed to have no ill effects apart from being just a little sore and a little bruised.

Both of the above are fairly well built tough types

So in answer to your question, I really do not know
 
When I was 7 or 8, I attempted to jump a table at our local xc course and got firmly wedged. I hopped off and horse sorted itself out and was fine afterwards.

If I was you I would give it some arnica.

I wouuld like to add that the table was MASSIVE when I was 7 or 8, but forms part of the (teeny) minimus course now, so no hope of getting stuck.
 
oh dear... that must have been very scary.
I have unfortunately witnessed something similar.

Myself and a friend were preparing to go to a show... she went to get her horse in while i got the trailer sorted...

But unfortunately as she lead her horse out of the gate the horse panicked and in the process the gate closed on him....

At 18hh he was big enough for the gate to drop closed under the him... resulting in 3 legs being on side of the firmly closed gate and 1 hind leg being the other side... when the horse relaxed he was balanced on one front hoof and could not reach the floor with the other 3 legs... the gate was between his stifle and his sheath. i really did think i was going to watch that horse die that day... he was groaning so much..sounded like he was just giving up.... 5 of us stood supporting him for a good 1/2hr... desperately trying to work out how to remove the horse... removing the gate at the hinges was impossible.... with bales under his hooves to help take some weight off… we just waited for the vet to arrive..

The fire brigade was called... they were going to be about 1hr! in desperation i called my mum for moral support.
She and my granddad arrived and it was my granddad... unthinkingly slamming the car door that startled the horse who promptly shot forwards and released himself… and began to our disbelief trotting about the yard… as the 5 of us sat in the muddy gateway crying our eyes out!

He somehow came out of that with only 2 big cuts on his underside…and a few scratches down his leg.

He was monitored over the next week as it was feared he might have trouble urinating as the gate had been pushing on his bladder for the time he was stuck. Luckily nothing long term was wrong.

With the cuts and bruises given time to heal he had since been back to normal with no lasting damage. Jumping and hacking as always.

I would agree with not giving any pain killers until later so that you can assess if your horse is having trouble walking or otherwise but i shouldn’t think you will have any problem with colic… unless stress induced but as you said your horse is merrily trotting about I don’t think you have that to worry about.

Hope your horse is just as happy later and over the next few days!
Sorry for my essay, just wanted to show how bad it seamed at the time compared to how it all ended…

Good luck xxx
 
PLEASE - give your horse some Bute! Bute is an anti-inflammatory - NOT a pain killer!

IF your horse had suffered any serious injury he would be lame now. All he WILL have is bruising and stiffness and Bute TREATS those - why on earth would you withhold treatment that would make a horse more comfortable and give a quicker recovery time??

Talk about Bute 'masking pain' is - frankly - nonsense!! Having had a horse on 5 bute a day for a severe inflammatory condition, I can assure you he stayed JUST as lame for 3 weeks on that dose!! THEN, the anti-inflammatory properties of the Bute - and a new joint supplement - started to kick in, and over the next 6 weeks we were able to reduce the Bute down to one a day - a dose he has been on now for 2 years and stays sound on in full work.

And that is a high articular ringbone that is quite severe - and permanent!

I have had two horses stuck over stable doors - both received Bute - both were still a bit stiff and sore the next day. They would have been far worse without Bute (because Bute reduces inflammation!!) I don't want horses to suffer unnjecessarily.

If you doubt what I say, speak to your vet!
 
on a lighter note..................when i was a teenager one of my friends got stuck on a fence whilst show jumping, she use to have a craking 12.2.........jump anything use to take him in the 14.2 classes no problem unitl this one day when the parral was just that bit too wide.............so you have wide parral...................a 12.2 stuck ontop..........................legs not touching the ground either side.................and a kid crying stuck on top.................this was sorted my taking the child off, a couple of blocks pulling a wing away, the pony slopped to the ground but still on his feet, we took him out of the ring he was sound popped the kid back on the pony and out him straight over a fence............great pony just hated motorbikes!
 
Siennamum - I thought you were going to say that your horse couldn't make up his mind about foxhunting!
smile.gif


Really sorry this has happened and <<vibes>> for full and speedy recovery
 
I've given him a Danilon, but did want to leave it a couple of hours to see what bits were going to swell up. As it happens nothing has externally, so we may have gotten off lightly. Walking round the field quite happily atm so fingers crossed he's ok.
 
He's definitely stuck on the fence on a few issues, mainly around just how much notice he's going to take of pesky humans and whether he really wants someone climbing on him (only 3!)
 
[ QUOTE ]
He's definitely stuck on the fence on a few issues, mainly around just how much notice he's going to take of pesky humans and whether he really wants someone climbing on him (only 3!)

[/ QUOTE ]

Aww bless. They do like to have their little issues don't they?
 
[ QUOTE ]
JG my vet has always asked me not to give bute if in any doubt that he needs to be seen by vet.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's no point giving Bute if the vet is coming - as Bute takes up to 12 hours to start working - and vet can give iv inflammatories that will work much faster!

The points I was making were: 1) Bute does NOT 'mask' pain - it is not a pain killer but an anti-inflammatory, and ONLY reduces pain if it succeeds in recuing inflammation. If there is a strain, or a break, it will have very little effect at all on the pain - although it's still useful with a strain as inflammation will slow healing!

2) If a horse is NOT lame immediately after an 'incident' - then it is VERY unlikely there is any serious damage. Lameness/stiffness the next day is the result of inflammation and can be TREATED with bute. If you call the vet the next day because a horse is lame and stiff, chances are he WILL prescribe bute - by giving it immediately you may PREVENT the inflammation and there will be no lameness or stiffness - or at least less than there would be otherwise!

And any vet worth tuppence will - if a horse has been given bute - ask how many and when and he can gauge from that if the bute is likely to have altered the picture at all. If the owner says: I gave him 2 bute last night and 2 this morning and the horse is not very lame at all, that in itself is diagnostic and useful. And if the horse is STILL very lame, it confirms there is an underlying injury - not JUST a bit of bruising.
 
One of mine got impaled on the post of a post-and-rail fence. He'd tried to jump out of his paddock. The fence stake went in behind his stifle and projected out (although the skin was not broken) up beside his hip bone. The fire brigade rescued him after an hour or so. Was doubtful at the time he'd live, but he did and went on to JA show jump believe it or not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top