If you saw a lame horse . . . WWYD?

HashRouge said:
I'd bring the horse in, see if there were any obvious signs as to why the horse was lame, notify the owner and the YO if they were around, and ring the vet if necessary. I used to keep my horse on the yard behind my house, and during the summer I could always see the horses from my house. One day I looked out and noticed that one of the mares was lame, so I rang the YO (didn't have owner's number) to let her know, and ask if she wanted me to bring the mare up to the farm. Luckily the YO was in so once I'd got the mare on to the yard she took it from there. I would never have dreamed of leaving her though - at the very least I would have expected someone in my shoes to notify the YO. I had to rescue horses from all sorts of situations in those fields, from shoes caught in fences to one mare who managed to get herself stuck between a fence and a hedge. I don't keep my horse there anymore but me and the rest of the family still keep an eye on the horses when they're in that field. I can't imagine just leaving a lame horse!
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You see if it was my horse, and the cause of lameness was something like arthritis, I would be very p*ssed off if random people kept bringing my horse in. Sometimes it is better to leave be.
 
I'd check the horse over in the field for an obvious injury, then call the YO/YM and owner - I wouldnt bring in as there may be a reason I'm unaware of as to why the horse is out. X
 
I would ring if no answer would ring yard manager and probably bring horse in while they get to yard to have a look. If can't get hold of anyone would probably bring in and depending on how lame call the vet at least for advice.
 
Would ask the YO/YM as horse has presumably been put out whilst lame for a reason (or wasn't that lame when it went out). However if no YO/YM would phone owner and ask.
 
I would try to get hold of the owner and if I couldn't I would bring the horse in and determine if it needed an emergency vet, which I would expect would be very rare as most things can wait a couple of hours.

Out of interest the horse was on three legs and still managing to trot? The horses I have seen that were hoping lame were all restricted to a very slow walk.
 
Would depend on how well I knew horse, nature of injury etc as to whether I bought it in and then called/text owner or vet or call owner first.
 
My horse came in from the field hopping lame and was PTS within a few hrs-she had broken her leg. If anyone had seen her and not brought her in and rang me she would have suffered maybe for hours. If I was there and seen her I probably wouldn't have brought her in I dread to think of the pain she was in walking from field to stable but I was grateful for getting a call to attend ASAP and I'd do the Same for my worst enemy
 
EllenJay said:
You see if it was my horse, and the cause of lameness was something like arthritis, I would be very p*ssed off if random people kept bringing my horse in. Sometimes it is better to leave be.
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But there is a difference between a horse being a bit stiff, and actually being lame. I assumed we were talking about more than just a bit of stiffness :confused:. The horse in question was lame. More to the point, given that I kept my horse on the same yard, I was aware of her history and knew how she normally moved. She DID have arthritis, being in her mid-20s, but I was 100% certain that something else was going on. As it turned out, she had an abscess and needed her shoe removing so that it could be drained (YO's daughter was a vet, so well able to deal with it). I wasn't just some random busybody interfering :confused:
If a horse that was sound the last time you saw it suddenly appears lame, I can't imagine it would be better to "leave be". What if there was something seriously wrong???
 
Sorry - didn't meant to post and run - living with two teenage daughters means laptop time can be scarce and I don't always like using my phone to access HHO.

Some answers:

YO/YM is very hands off . . . we sort things like this out between ourselves. Everyone knows everbody's name and all the horses . . . down to which horses go out in which fields and which stables they live in. Horse in question isn't mine, but his issues (kissing spine, degenerating hocks, navicular changes) are well known on the yard. In addition, horse has been had long term rehab due to a large crack in his right fore hoof multiple times.

If I had seen him, I would have gone into field to check on him/get him to stand still and rung his owner to ask her what she wanted doing with him. As it happens, nothing was done - apart from a casual comment to owner as she stepped onto the yard. Turns out the crack in his hoof has re-opened - nothing further can be done for him - he is being pts tomorrow morning. The outcome would have been the same had the owner been notified - but I am still baffled by the lack of care and concern showed. :confused:

P
 
Poor lad, sending hugs to your friend :(

I have and would again, bring in if I saw a horse unusually lame for their normal selves, then contact the owners and if I couldn't get a hold of them I'd let the YO know.

I have also turned horses out where they have trotted off 'short' rather than hopping, I've still phoned the owner. Once your around the same horses for any length of time you get an eye for what's normal for them to look like, I pay attention to these things, I'm a firm believer in keeping an eye out for one another. I've always been really greatful when someone has gotten in touch with me about my lads, even when it's turned out to be nothing at all, it's the fact that folk care enough which counts.
 
I've seen both sides of this one. One evening I came down to find my horse 10/10ths lame in her stable - no-one had bothered to let me know and the poor creature had to wait an extra 2 hours in terrible pain until the vet could come. Since the other livery would have brought (dragged probably) her in some time after 4pm this was way too long. Poor animal shouldn't have been moved at all as it could have been a fracture. As it turned out she'd done a tendon and kicked herself in the process, and made a good recovery. I'm afraid I still haven't forgiven the other person 8 years on though. And the second viewpoint - a couple of new liveries moved on and after a few days I noticed their older gelding was quite badly lame in the field. I went out and caught him, checked for swelling, picked out his feet and found nothing. I sent a text to his owner and it turned out he had just been pared and was alway very footy afterwards. They were grateful I'd taken the trouble and I was happy that it was nothing serious. I would NEVER leave any animal in distress without examining it to the best of my ability.
 
Cracks can be repaired, if its a 1/4 crack farrier will cut out the hoof around the crack and go barefoot with road work, it will make hoof grow quicker and keep trimming, vertical cracks can be repaired with wire and shoes and keeping the feet short which encourages growth so the crack grows out quickly, we currently have 5 with 1/4 cracks and they are all doing well, still on work and one will race soon. Sad he is going to be pts, i guess his age is against him.
 
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Similar thing happened at our yard, I was just leaving for a long ride on my horse when I spotted one in the field absolutely hopping lame. There were a number of people turning their horses out so I shouted to them to show them and they said carry on we'll sort. When I got back from a four hour ride I was horrified to see the mare still in the field being harrassed by her field mate and barely able to walk. Went and got her straight away and called owner and left messages. Apparently all the other livery's had done was look to see if the owner was still there and when saw they'd left did nothing!! Poor mare had torn a tendon and was on box rest for a year and I do wonder if it wouldn't have been so bad if she'd been brought in when we first saw her. Same mare was left running the fence line one day after she was back out and again noone bothered to get her even knowing she was recovering from a serious injury. I will always try to help as I know i'd want the same done for me.
 
Text or ring, if I can't get hold of them, bring the horse in I think. As long as it wasn't something like arthritis, which you would likely know about anyway, I would rather do this and feel my conscience was clear over an animal in pain regardless whether the owner might thank me or not.

Along a similar vein, I have gone into fields near me (that actually I now know the owners of the horses) and righted very slipped rugs. Again I would rather someone did this for me than have a cold/wet horse, or a horse at risk of injuring itself on a rug :)
 
If I saw a horse moving strangely for them I would always go and check especially on some yards people turn there horse out the 24/7 and only check them once. I once found a horse with a massive wound to the stifle couldn't get hold of the owner but got the ym to help get him into a stable as the field was a way from the yard. Id like to think and pretty much know because they have before that anyone seeing my horse in trouble will call asap and usually I can get there pretty quickly to assess the situation. I could never leave a animal in pain.
 
Went out to feed this morning and one of my youngsters is hopping lame. She's injured her knee and it's a bit swollen. She's still out in her field and I will go out and cold hose her in a little while. She won't be coming in. If I saw someone else's horse who lives on my yard hopping lame, I'd go in and assess the situation, tend to it and inform the owner. The horse would likely remain out in the field until healed.
 
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