How the hell did he do that? My horse has a skull fracture 😫

[Gusbear]

I’ve owned horses since 1980. I’ve dealt with all types of wounds and injuries over the years but never a skull fracture. Certainly not one with a massive gapping hole above an eye with bone visible.
It’s a long story short as I was away at the time it happened. YO seemed to think he had a ‘nothing to worry about’ small cut above his eye. Thankfully a fellow livery called me a few days later to say his eye was swollen shut, had bright green pus oozing from it (apologies to anyone about to have breakfast) and the small cut was indeed a gaping wound.
Cue me cutting my trip short, racing home and two lengthy and very expensive vet visits and 2 1/2 weeks later I have a horse that looks like he’s just returned from the trenches as his head is bandaged and depending on the X-ray results might require surgery if he has any floating bone.
First vet somehow managed to prescribe the wrong dosage of meds (underestimated by a third of the amount). Plus she also didn’t flush the wound properly according to tne the second attending vet.
Both vets couldn’t even give me a vague timeline as to how long it will take to heal, that is if there’s no surgery required.
I’m thinking 3 months at least.
I’ve had to put job hunting and house renovations on hold in case I need those funds for vet fees. My horse comes first no matter what so I’m not complaining but if anyone has had a similar experience I’d love to hear it as I’m budgeting on beans on toast minus the beans for the foreseeable future.

 

[maya2008]

My old TB cut her head open to the bone above her eye one winter - on the stable. That was an interesting insurance claim! We had prompt treatment as she was pouring blood so vet trekked to us through the snow, flushed, stitched and provided antibiotics. I would think you could claim against the person in charge of your horse while away as if they had called the vet promptly, you would have not incurred this massive cost and layoff of horse. Mine was back in work as soon as the wound healed over - a matter of weeks.

 

[cauda equina]

God what a horrible shock for you and thank goodness for the on-the-ball livery who realised it wasn't as straightfoward as your YO thought

A horse I sold broke his face when he got his leadrope tangled up somehow then panicked and bashed his head on a wall
It all healed up perfectly well, I hope yours will too
Sending best wishes to you both

 

[humblepie]

Oh poor boy. Hope recovery goes well now you’ve got him sorted.

 

[ycbm]

I had a horse with an eye socket fracture above the eye that spat out bone shards for a few days but healed up easily enough after that.

I had another horse rip his head right open above the eye, a gaping great wound. That was stapled and healed easily but no bone was involved though it was split right down to it.


Hopefully yours will heal as easily once any loose bone chips have been ejected or removed.
.

 

[conniegirl]

Ive had one with a skull fracture but no damage to the skin on his head! He has galloped head first into a brick wall.

He was kept on very strict, quiet box rest for i think 3 weeks.

 

[Parrotperson]

Oh bless. How awful. Poor horse. And you.

As to how they do it my friend was given the hunter she looked after at the end of his last season

Turned him out. Did the usual bucking and kicking. Then galloped straight into a tree. Killed him instantly. Bloody horses.

Fingers crossed even with the mistakes (are they equine vets? If so not good…) he’ll heal soon and will be fine.

 

[SEL]

@SpotsandBays - her youngster fractured his eye socket last year. Probably a kick.

I'd be livid with the YO for not getting that seen to though. Once a 'small cut' has developed into swelling yet alone pus it needs a vet asap.

I knew one in Australia with a huge dent in the side of its head. Obviously done something horrendous but he'd been given to the trekking centre and no one knew his history. Didn't seem to bother him in the slightest so hopefully yours will heal up fine.

 

[J&S]

Running into a tree seems to be a possible scenario for your poor horse. I have heard of it happen in the past. They actually don't see straight in front of them I was told.
Do hope he mends well.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Poor boy. I only know of one other and the wound healed really quickly. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

 

[ihatework]

Bless you!
Thank god for livery stepping in I’d be incandescent at YM.

FWIW these things generally heal up ok

 

[SpotsandBays]

My boy fractured his skull last year (temple sort of area).
He didn’t have a visible wound (other than a very small nick) but he had some pretty gnarly swelling - we assume a kick/banged his head off of something.
Xray and Ultrasounds were too murky for us due to the swelling and location, so we ended up with a trip to the RVC for a CT scan. He had an inch size chip in the bone which was not attached. We opted to wait and see if it would re attach itself, otherwise we would have had to have it surgically removed (sequestrum was the word I learnt that day!) thankfully it did sort itself out.

 

[vhf]

Mine had a fracture but no wound at the actual fracture site (to the left of her right eye). She dripped blood from her nose and mouth (small amounts) for 2 weeks, was on box rest for ten days then very restricted turnout for 5 more weeks; turned away for six months. But the fractured skull was possibly the least of her worries. She had a lump you could feel for a few years, not sure even I would be able to find it now.

 

[Squeak]

Hope your poor horse recovers quickly and it's uphill from here.

I'm another who would be furious with YO. It sounds like it was very obvious that your horse needed a vet, thank goodness the livery stepped in.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

We have had a few in the yard that jave fractured various bits of their skulls (one was a kick, another got a fright in his box and short backwards hitting his head off of the top of the door frame, one fell and got kicked mid-race).

All healed up perfectly fine with no surgery required. 2 required stitches, the other had no open wound.

I would expect random nosebleeds for the next couple of weeks. Sparodic ones after hard exercise or field hooleying for the next few months. If it's just blood it's nothing to worry about it's just fragile vessels and capillaries being over taxed. Your horse will probably end up with quite a snotty nose whilst it's healing too as crap will go down through the sinuses and out.

We don't tend to box rest after the first couple of days as they really need to be out in fresh air with their heads down to let any crap drain down and out.

The kick and the door frame horses were back in quiet work a week later. The one injured in the race was off for a few months but it was the end of the season and he was due a holiday anyway.

In the long term your horse may end up with a lump on his skull or a dent. But it won't affect his workload in anyway shape or form.

 

[Red-1]

Not exactly a fracture, but I helped with one who had an operation on his skull and a hole drilled right into his forehead. He had a pipe fitted to drain grunge. It looked awful!

He healed amazingly well. I seem to recall some box rest while the tube was in, then a little walking in hand, then back to walk work under saddle. He did a lot of walk work TBH, but then returned to all singing all dancing work with no further issues.

I would be furious that YO hadn't realised the seriousness of the injury.

 

[live2ride]

Mine caved in his skull, the morning of our first dressage competition, but I have no clue how (I think my mare kicked him). All healed up fine and quickly; we had a risk of the bone dying, which would need to be retrieved, but thankfully it didn't. He seems to suffer more now with hay dust than before, but no apparent issues apart from the massive dent; for about a year the airflow up his right nostril was decreased. (Didnt even box rest, he just chilled for a couple of months in the field I think). The most painful bit for him was he developed crepitus (air under the skin). The vets were fascinated. Even to this day, my vet loves to test the vet students to see if they can spot the obvious deformity.

Photos of the day he did it, and all healed up.



Edit to add, I just looked through my photos. He did it in September, and I was back on by November.

 

[Marnie]

I found one of mine with a hoofmark on his head - just a bit of a graze in a hoof shape, didn't seem sore or anything, the vet didn't seem concerned. A week or so later he started getting a lump, it was x rayed and he had fractured his skull. It never bothered him - just looked a bit odd! Sorry about the photobucket watermark, it is a really old photo and is actually in the sticky post on the Vet forum.

 

[Time for Tea]

My older New Forest pony has a dent in his head where he was chased into a tree as a yearling, escaping a field bully. Apparently he had a branch stuck in his head. It’s just above his eye. He was lucky I think, could have lost an eye if the branch was a bit lower. When I had him stage 3 vetted the vet seemed amused, she said they have lots of space in their skulls and it wouldn’t cause any kind of problem. Nobody seems to notice on odd occasion we show him, probably too busy goggling at his giant splints.

 

[Apercrumbie]

Poor horse, I would not be impressed with the YO - did they even clean the wound?

We've had a freak head injury with one of ours - still not sure how they did it but they did. It was quite a nasty wound but cleared up really nicely and we've had no ongoing issues. I hope yours has a similarly smooth recovery.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I’ve owned horses since 1980. I’ve dealt with all types of wounds and injuries over the years but never a skull fracture. Certainly not one with a massive gapping hole above an eye with bone visible.
It’s a long story short as I was away at the time it happened. YO seemed to think he had a ‘nothing to worry about’ small cut above his eye. Thankfully a fellow livery called me a few days later to say his eye was swollen shut, had bright green pus oozing from it (apologies to anyone about to have breakfast) and the small cut was indeed a gaping wound.
Cue me cutting my trip short, racing home and two lengthy and very expensive vet visits and 2 1/2 weeks later I have a horse that looks like he’s just returned from the trenches as his head is bandaged and depending on the X-ray results might require surgery if he has any floating bone.
First vet somehow managed to prescribe the wrong dosage of meds (underestimated by a third of the amount). Plus she also didn’t flush the wound properly according to tne the second attending vet.
Both vets couldn’t even give me a vague timeline as to how long it will take to heal, that is if there’s no surgery required.
I’m thinking 3 months at least.
I’ve had to put job hunting and house renovations on hold in case I need those funds for vet fees. My horse comes first no matter what so I’m not complaining but if anyone has had a similar experience I’d love to hear it as I’m budgeting on beans on toast minus the beans for the foreseeable future.


View attachment 116815

poor lad hope he heals well and quickly, spoil him rotten for the next week or so.

 

[Fransurrey]

There was a thread in here a while ago of a horse that I think had impaled his head somehow and not only fractured the skull, but had a gaping hole! Anybody remember that? It all healed amazingly, so I wouldn't worry too much OP (apart from the standard of care you're getting from the yard manager!).

 

[Hannahgb]

Mine fractured his eye socket, only a small cut that looked like nothing. But needed very very strong antibiotics, thankfully no surgery but it was queried at one point. He was much better within a few weeks, I am sure he was back in work within 6-8 weeks

Hope your boy recovers quickly

 

[Apercrumbie]

A point that may give some comfort to OP - the head has plenty of blood supply to tends to heal quicker than other body parts. Fingers crossed your boy will be back to full health in no time.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Ive had one with a skull fracture but no damage to the skin on his head! He has galloped head first into a brick wall.

He was kept on very strict, quiet box rest for i think 3 weeks.

Sorry if this is insensitive but how did they manage to gallop into a wall?

 

[Birker2020]

I’ve owned horses since 1980. I’ve dealt with all types of wounds and injuries over the years but never a skull fracture. Certainly not one with a massive gapping hole above an eye with bone visible.
It’s a long story short as I was away at the time it happened. YO seemed to think he had a ‘nothing to worry about’ small cut above his eye. Thankfully a fellow livery called me a few days later to say his eye was swollen shut, had bright green pus oozing from it (apologies to anyone about to have breakfast) and the small cut was indeed a gaping wound.
Cue me cutting my trip short, racing home and two lengthy and very expensive vet visits and 2 1/2 weeks later I have a horse that looks like he’s just returned from the trenches as his head is bandaged and depending on the X-ray results might require surgery if he has any floating bone.
First vet somehow managed to prescribe the wrong dosage of meds (underestimated by a third of the amount). Plus she also didn’t flush the wound properly according to tne the second attending vet.
Both vets couldn’t even give me a vague timeline as to how long it will take to heal, that is if there’s no surgery required.
I’m thinking 3 months at least.
I’ve had to put job hunting and house renovations on hold in case I need those funds for vet fees. My horse comes first no matter what so I’m not complaining but if anyone has had a similar experience I’d love to hear it as I’m budgeting on beans on toast minus the beans for the foreseeable future.


View attachment 116815

So sorry about your boy. How on earth does he manage to keep that bandage on though?

 

[Gusbear]

Thank you everyone for your own stories and well wishes. He seems quite bright and still has a massive appetite. The day he stops eating and begging for treats is the day I start to worry.
X-ray results show a small bone chip. The vets are going to come back out and do more saline flushes of the wound site over several days which should hopefully dislodge the bone chip. They are specialist equine vets, however they are all very young and I suspect newly graduated. The first vet apparently estimated my horse‘s weight at 600kg. The second vet said the same thing. He’s 19hh and built like a tank so when I told he is closer to 900kg she said she’d never heard of a horse weighing that much Hence why the first dose of meds was well under what it should have been.
I’m so grateful to my fellow livery. I’m very lucky that all the liveries are good friends and we all look out for one another and each other’s horses.
I’m more than a little disappointed with my YO. She’s also a good friend and until this episode has always been on the ball with the care of all the horses. It’s so unlike her to have not picked up on the severity of the injury. She said she did try and clean the wound however he wouldn’t let her near his head. She has been very apologetic ever since and I know she feels bad, but I’m still angry as what if my fellow livery hadn’t noticed the injury? The YO says she checks on all horses twice daily. There’s only a dozen horses on livery and all of them will come over to their field gates as soon as they see a car or person so I’m stumped to understand how did didn’t notice anything for 4 days if indeed she was checking on the horses.
Anyway, I can’t dwell on that as just need to concentrate on getting my horse healed and next time finding a more experienced vet.
I’ll keep you guys updated on the progress when the vets return next week.
Cheers all x

 

[Gusbear]

So sorry about your boy. How on earth does he manage to keep that bandage on though?

The baggage is adhesive so it hasn’t moved in the heaviest of rain we had the last couple of days. It will need to be cut off.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Thank you everyone for your own stories and well wishes. He seems quite bright and still has a massive appetite. The day he stops eating and begging for treats is the day I start to worry.
X-ray results show a small bone chip. The vets are going to come back out and do more saline flushes of the wound site over several days which should hopefully dislodge the bone chip. They are specialist equine vets, however they are all very young and I suspect newly graduated. The first vet apparently estimated my horse‘s weight at 600kg. The second vet said the same thing. He’s 19hh and built like a tank so when I told he is closer to 900kg she said she’d never heard of a horse weighing that much Hence why the first dose of meds was well under what it should have been.
I’m so grateful to my fellow livery. I’m very lucky that all the liveries are good friends and we all look out for one another and each other’s horses.
I’m more than a little disappointed with my YO. She’s also a good friend and until this episode has always been on the ball with the care of all the horses. It’s so unlike her to have not picked up on the severity of the injury. She said she did try and clean the wound however he wouldn’t let her near his head. She has been very apologetic ever since and I know she feels bad, but I’m still angry as what if my fellow livery hadn’t noticed the injury? The YO says she checks on all horses twice daily. There’s only a dozen horses on livery and all of them will come over to their field gates as soon as they see a car or person so I’m stumped to understand how did didn’t notice anything for 4 days if indeed she was checking on the horses.
Anyway, I can’t dwell on that as just need to concentrate on getting my horse healed and next time finding a more experienced vet.
I’ll keep you guys updated on the progress when the vets return next week.
Cheers all x

I had this with my 18.3hh 865kg, I had to get a weigh bridge lady out in the end so the vet would prescribe appropriate amounts of antibiotics. Glad he's still bright and wish him a speedy recovery.

 

[Birker2020]

The baggage is adhesive so it hasn’t moved in the heaviest of rain we had the last couple of days. It will need to be cut off.

Gosh, he is good. He must be feeling still quite sore, you'd have thought he would be rubbing it to rid himself of it.