My gorgeous cob has a broken leg!

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jen1

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My lovely cob has been kicked in the field! a horse that has been causing trouble in another field by pulling at other horses rugs was moved to the field my horse was in. My horse was in there with one other and they have been together for 2 1/2 years and are great friends. New horse went in at beginning of this week.

I got to yard yesterday morning to find a hole in his leg and he could hardly walk. Luckily vet was there with x-ray equipment to re x-ray another horse that had been kicked a few weeks ago (another field and not the horse that kicked mine) so thankfully they were able to check my boy immediately and x-ray on the spot.

Heard back from vet today and they say that he has a lump of bone that has been dislodged from the top of his tibia and a fracture up into the joint.

I am sooo F(*&ing pissed off as one of the other liveries asked for this horse to be moved as it was 'pestering' her horse and pulling at it's rugs, now my horse has a broken leg!!

Vet said 8 weeks box rest, don't cross tie as it's a back leg so no point as he can still move around. X-rays being sent to a specialist over the weekend and they will have a look, other option is surgery but she scared me by saying that the risks are very high that he will either make the leg worse or break another one when he comes round from the anaesthetic, as well as the risks of the anaesthetic.

Spent all day with him yesterday and today, just popped home to re charge phone and dose up on coffee and Nurofen. Have a thumping headache now and just don't know what to do re the surgery. Vet said he would have a quicker recovery time if operated on, and if not he could poss dislodge the bone chunk in the stable. Damned if I do and damned if I don't situation, what do I do?? He's not a competition horse so I am not on any timescale to get him fit again he can be in for as long as it takes, I just don't want him to be in pain.

He's on bute and antibiotics but she said they can't take the pain away too much as he will become blasé about the leg and may hurt himself more if it doesn't hurt so much. He is such a lovely boy and wouldn't say boo to a goose in the field and wouldn't dream of kicking anyone or anything. He is a live wire to ride and a real genuine character, really REALLY is one of those 'sort hard to find' that everyone talks about. He has really helped me through some very very hard times personally these last 2 years, I just want to make the best choice/decision for him.

Anyone got any good suggestions for keeping him happy in the stable? Obviously he has hay, can't put too many toys in there as he's not supposed to move much, can't be cross tied as it's his back leg and vet said he will move his back end around anyway. Big thick bed and plenty of hay, but any suggestions to make things more happy/comfortable would be most appreciated. Still shaking and feel like I am not really here at the moment.

Will put a pic on here of him so you can see what a handsome chap he is! Well I think so anyway!



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How awful for you!!!!!!

Whenever Amy was on box rest I always made sure that I visited her at least three times a day. She would also have a radio on.

I never gave her stable toys - as she wasn't in to them.

I really hope your boy makes a full recovery - which I'm sure he will.

(((( Hugs ))))
 
Oh no what a horrid thing to happen.

Perhaps a mirror in his stable? Wouldn't encourage movement but might interest him for a bit?

Sounds like the box rest is the place to start or is the surgery not an option at a later date?

Really hope he makes a good recovery he looks absolutely stunning.
 
He's beautiful. I'm so sorry what a dreadful thing to happen.

Hide lots of lovely friut and veg in his hay. Is he allowed a treat ball with a few nuts in it?

I hope he mends and is as good as new. Big big <<<hugs>>> to you both.
 

(((hugs)))), so sorry, and yes he certainly is gorgeous. Fingers crossed the box rest is all that is needed.

No tips I'm afraid just vibes. My mare injured a leg badly a couple of years back and was on box rest for about 8 weeks. They cope amazingly well once they adjust to it.
 
Thanks everyone I have tears rolling down my face at the moment prob electrocute myself on keyboard now! He's had loads of visitors today everyone at yard loves him to bits he really has what you'd call presence!! He loves kids too! even stopped on a hack last week to 'talk' to a toddler!! He wanted to stop not me!! Just stands there and puts his big head down for kids to stroke him!

Vet and x-ray people were so nice yesterday kept calling him the big man and said how handsome he is!! and he was just so good having injections, x-rays and being poked and prodded!
 
He really is stunning what a horrid thing to happen, sending you lots of thoughts dont know what else to say...
 
Wow what a hansome chap.... poor you!!... Well both of you!!

My horse is completely accident prone and he has had surgery 3 times and thankfully come around OK every time.
The last time was a stab wound into the side of his hock joint so I had no choice but for him to be anaesthatised for them to flush the joint.

The vets do have to give you the worst possible scenario when they tell you the risks, as I was leaving I felt like I had given him a death sentence, but he came round fine and had a text book recovery so don't be too frightened of surgery if they think it the best route to go.

Good luck!!
 
{{{hugs and healing vibes}}}

If it's any consolation bones usually heal better than tendons/ligaments and it sounds like the vet is very hopeful. The biggest worry is infection so as long as it stays clean/uninfected he should heal nicely. BR is a pain in the bum though. Mine was kicked in the field and fractured his splint bone - 4 months BR
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He had ad lib hay, regular grooming, visits from me and other horses over his door, hand picked grass and grazing in hand whe it was allowed. Good luck
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sorry to hear that about your boy, all the best for a full recovery..
Andy got kicked in Nov 2005 and fractured his elbow, was cross tied for about 4 weeks to stop him from lying down.. the fracture wasn't bad enough to require surgery but the vet did check with a specialist to be double sure.. to cut a long story short, he was back eventing in March 2006..
if surgery would only give a quicker recovery time would the risks of surgery mean that you should let him have a longer recovery period as you say that you are willing to give him plenty of time.. would he not be better cross tied for a couple of weeks to prevent him dislodging anything by lying down/rolling.? if he is a sensible person might be worth considering if you are worried about the surgery..
 
He IS gorgeous, what a shame. No helpful advice for the surgery/no surgery decision Im afraid, but whatever you choose I hope it goes well for him.
 
What a horrible thing to happen - he is such a lovely looking horse. <<<<hugs and positive vibes to you both>>>>
 
i am so sorry to hear your news - i am writing as my mare and another had a scrap (someone fed in their field) and unfortunatly the other horse also broke her leg, she had the operation choice but decided against it - she gave her 4 months off and is now back in work happily and shes 22. Just wanted to let you know there is hope. best wishes for you both.
 
OMG u poor thing (((((HUGS)))))

Hes so beautiful and mahoosive (how big is he?) that must have been one hell of a kick to hurt his big legs
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My chap has been on 2 long periods of box rest this year. Luckily hes pretty good in his stable (its the walking we have an issue with but thats another story
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The things that break his day up are lots of small feeds which are mainly chaff and a couple of balls which have his hard feed in and cut up veg. On occasions he has either a lick-it, carrots hidden in his hay, apples to bob for and sweeds hung up for him. He doesnt get those everyday, maybe one or two during the week.

O and he loves a good scratch
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Hope that helps.....
 
So sorry for you and your boy. Hope he makes full recovery.
Hope your getting all your vet bills paid by whoever decided to put the kicker in with yours. Did they warn you they were going to do this??

Keep us up-dated on his progress he's lovely a real cob
 
Oh gosh, nightmare, really hope he heals quickly. Don't forget to look after yourself too! I would try a little radio, mine love it! Also a friend tried a mirror for one of hers and that definately helped too. Lots and lots of attention and love, which i'm sure he'll get!
 
Oh that is horrendous, poor you and him
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If it helps, Twiglet broke his leg in a very similar incident a few years ago - before I got him - and he doesn't have anything like the big strong legs yours does!

He had a lot of box rest (and a lot of ACP!!) but he came sound and now - touching vast quantities of wood - that leg causes him no problems at all. He's done hunter trials and events since the incident, and bar maintainance Cortaflex, that leg seems no different to the other, and he's 18 this year.
So try not to fret - although it seems horrendous now, it might turn out ok.
 
Oh there is also some relaxing reflexology type stuff you can do on their ears, i read an artical on it, but its ment to really relax them, perhaps you could try that (unless he hates his ears being touched!!)
 
I really do feel for you on this :*(

You know, you try to do your best for them and keep them in a natural environment and let them graze with friends... and then they get beaten up. Id be fuming and i can see why you are :*(

In regards to the pain - dont panic too much. I lost a horse many years ago with a break in his hock and the vet told me in no uncertain terms that the pain they feel with breaks is nothing like the pain they suffer with colic. I asked purely because mine was still eating and snuffling around in his bed and aside from (obviously) as hideous leg; he was bright, attentive and quite cheerful.

The best you can do, as Amymay said, is to try and spend time with him and as she also said, radios can help enormously imo.

Does he like lickits? Id personally avoid stable ball type toys as, from experience, some horses get quite violent and excited with them (which obviously you dont want)
 
So sorry to hear about your horse's injury. He is such a handsome chap. We had a TB yearling on box rest with a tendon injury many years ago. She had a lick in a bucket that kept her amused and then we moved her to a pen in our calf shed so she had the calves for company. Hope your horse recovers well.
 
I was going to ask what is being done about your vet's bills seeing as you didn't give permission for that horse to be in the same field as yours.

Fingers crossed your pony will be ok. He looks so lovely x
 
My mare broke a bone in her hock some years ago and she spent many weeks in her stable. You will be suprised how quickly they get used to staying in.

Then the rehabilitation over 6 weeks was taking her daily for just a few strides of a walk initially to a half mile walk in hand and then started riding her again.

Now many many years later at 27 she is still going strong.

Make sure that the yard owner gived you a field for your horse and it's friend once you can turn out again and never ever allow another horse in the field with your two friends.
 
Oh how horrible!! Don't know what to say.
My gelding was diagnosed with a broken sesamoid in the summer (which it wasn't
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) It's the most awful thing to live through.
Hope youboth start to feel better as soon as possible.
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Oh he's such a handsome chap but even if he weren't it's still an awful thing to have happened. I'd say don't rush your decision either way, surgery or not. Take a day or so to think about it and to be honest, whichever decision you make could turn out to be the wrong one. You can only do what seems like the best thing at the time, and hope for the best.

A stable mirror as others have suggested would perhaps keep him entertained for a little while - otherwise lots of attention from you!
 
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