Injured mare after spooking at double decker bus.

Finn

Finn

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Hi, Im after a little advice really please.

Last Fri (25th) I had the farrier out for a trim as shes barefoot and all was well so my mare got turned out afterwards to continue with her normal daily activities in the field. Sat morning arrived and we went out for a hack with her field mate and her rider. Troting along really nicley then a bus was coming towards us and I know my mare doesnt like buses so we kept in trot thinking if she was forward going and her mind on the job of trotting then she wouldnt be that bothered by the bus as her previous owner told me when I bought her 6 months ago that she didnt like buses or tractors. Oh my god! How wrong was I? She went up,down round, circles, backwards sideways all directions but forwards. Any way to cut a long story short we both ended up in the ditch sideways and half way through a bramble hedge. The other riders horse just stood watching us and never batted an eyelid. The bus driver stopped instantly and once we were in the hedge so did we. Anyway I aknoledged the bus driver to say thankyou and let him know we were OK and as he started to pull off again my mare went crazy again, anyway we ended up in the middle of the road and I lost both my stirrups and was round her neck and as there was cars coming I decided the best /safest option was to get off. Once off I just went to peices, shaking, crying etc etc and couldnt get back on as I was too scared. The other person got off his horse and rode mine back to the yard and I walked his back in hand. Anyway she wasnt quite right from the sun onwards and rang the vet Mon to see if they could advise anything or for them to come over to see / treat her and they told me to get the back person out as it seems something was wrong with her back as I explained all her symptons. Right hind Limping, tripping when being walked in hand, and general soreness down hind legs. Back doc came out last Tues and said her poll was out, C3&4 in her neck was out and her right side pelvis was quite badly rotated. All was put back into place and she trotted up sound this weekend. I rode yesterday in our school and she was slighty still tripping in walk on front right fore but it was a lot more noticable in trot so instantly got off as didnt want to cause her any more problems. I have rang the back doc back today and she is coming back out tomorrow night and will check her right shoulder, leg etc for me. Could it all be related to her spooking or should I be looking at getting the farrier back out because it could be feet related. I just cant undserstand why she is still slightly tripping on front right.

Hopefully someone out there could give me some more advise that I've missed or give me some ideas on the best option to go for.

Thankyou all for reading and sorry its so long.
 
I bet you're quite sore and stiff after falling in a ditch.

So will your horse be.......

So after the vet has been to see her (always the first port of call, as should have been advised by your back person) I imagine you will be told to give her some time off to allow the bruising and stiffness to subside.
 
Wow! What an ordeal for you both! Hope you're both recovering ok.

It sounds to me like her little display out on your hack might have hurt her more than she initially let on... I think having the back person out again is a wise move as often a follow up treatment is required but I would give her a week off just to chill and let any aches settle before you maybe look at her at the weekend and decide then. Vet may be a wise move at this point.


You say she is barefoot and was given a 'trim'. How much did your farrier take off? it could be that he trimmed too short and she's now a little footsore? Barefooters rarely need anything trimmed off - more often a little file down to keep everything in good balance and shape.
 
So sorry to hear your tale, which must have been really scary. It sounds to me like the incident has caused the lameness especially since your back person found some misalignments. Of course there is the possibility of 'shock laminitis' which could have been caused by the incident or your horse being 'footy' after trimming, however you say your horse is barefoot so presumably for a while now? I would let your back person take another look as you have given your horse time to recover from the back manipulations now. It could be that these realignments need more time to settle. Were you advised whether your horse would need a repeat visit?
 
Anyway she wasnt quite right from the sun onwards and rang the vet Mon to see if they could advise anything or for them to come over to see / treat her and they told me to get the back person out as it seems something was wrong with her back as I explained all her symptons. Right hind Limping, tripping when being walked in hand, and general soreness down hind legs.
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I don't understand how on Earth a Vet can diagnose something like this over the phone?! Make them come and look at her.
 
Your vet advised you over the phone to get a chiro out to treat lameness after an accident? :confused: For me that wouldn't instill much confidence in the vet, tbh. But agree that you need one to come and look at the horse.
 
I suspect your mare is feeling stiff and sore after falling into the ditch. She is probably bruised and it will take a few days for her to get back to normal. Did the brambles cause injury? Small penetrating wounds can cause nasty inflammaton.
I'm surprised your vet would dare hazard a guess of a diagnosis over the phone, the horse had an accident and needs to be checked over. I'd have a moan, maybe that will earn you a courtesy visit!! The whole incident sounds terrifying glad you are OK.
 
Many thanks for all your responses, I really appreciate it. I have the back doc coming back out tomorrow to check her right shoulder and leg etc as she didnt check that when she came last week, only her back, neck and pelvis. Shes also going to re check the area's she re- alligned last week to make sure nothing has popped out of place again. Once she has been I'm going to call the vets back again and ask one of them to come out to her just to give her the once over and check all is OK. I havent done anything with her since this happened on Sat 26th, I've left her to chill out and recover in the field in the daytime and bringing her into her stable at night. She trotted up sound this Sat so the back doc said it would be ok to tack her up and get back on board but after tripping a couple of times in the school I got off after only 10 mins as didnt want to make her worse. Hopefully between them (the vets and back doc) they will be able to find out whats wrong with her.
 
Finn said:
Many thanks for all your responses, I really appreciate it. I have the back doc coming back out tomorrow to check her right shoulder and leg etc as she didnt check that when she came last week, only her back, neck and pelvis. Shes also going to re check the area's she re- alligned last week to make sure nothing has popped out of place again. Once she has been I'm going to call the vets back again and ask one of them to come out to her just to give her the once over and check all is OK. I havent done anything with her since this happened on Sat 26th, I've left her to chill out and recover in the field in the daytime and bringing her into her stable at night. She trotted up sound this Sat so the back doc said it would be ok to tack her up and get back on board but after tripping a couple of times in the school I got off after only 10 mins as didnt want to make her worse. Hopefully between them (the vets and back doc) they will be able to find out whats wrong with her.
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I think in cases like this you would always be looking for a veterinary examination first, followed up by a consultation with a registered and recomended osteopath or chyropracter (whichever was recomended by your vet).

It's always concerning to read phrases like rotated and popped out - as these are very inacurate phrases commonly used by people who don't fully understand the mechanics of the horses muscle and bone structure.

Good luck with your mare - I'm sure she'll be fine. But it's always good to remember that if a horse appears stiff and lame the vet should usually be your first port of call.
 
amymay said:
I think in cases like this you would always be looking for a veterinary examination first, followed up by a consultation with a registered and recomended osteopath or chyropracter (whichever was recomended by your vet).

It's always concerning to read phrases like rotated and popped out - as these are very inacurate phrases commonly used by people who don't fully understand the mechanics of the horses muscle and bone structure.

Good luck with your mare - I'm sure she'll be fine. But it's always good to remember that if a horse appears stiff and lame the vet should usually be your first port of call.
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Hi, My vet was the first port of call and when I told her my mares symptons she said it sounded like she had a back issue and was to get a Chiropratcor out to her which is what I did. My vet said if she wasnt any better in 2 weeks to call them back and they would come out to see her. Shes fine since the Chiropractor has been out but just this slight tripping on her right fore which we thought she was tripping before due to her pelvis being out. Chiroparctor is coming back out tomorrow then the vet.
 
Hi, My vet was the first port of call and when I told her my mares symptons she said it sounded like she had a back issue and was to get a Chiropratcor out to her which is what I did. My vet said if she wasnt any better in 2 weeks
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Which is very concerning........
 
Finn said:
Hi, My vet was the first port of call and when I told her my mares symptons she said it sounded like she had a back issue and was to get a Chiropratcor out to her which is what I did. My vet said if she wasnt any better in 2 weeks to call them back and they would come out to see her. Shes fine since the Chiropractor has been out but just this slight tripping on her right fore which we thought she was tripping before due to her pelvis being out. Chiroparctor is coming back out tomorrow then the vet.
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I understand why you did what you did IYKWIM. I would have insisted that the vet came and looked at her though. If there was no real injury it might have been kind to give the horse some painkillers and anti-infamlitaries grrrr....inflamitaries, flip spelling/typing failure hits again. :(
 
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