My horse broke his jaw today :(

V1NN

V1NN

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Get a phonecall from my yo this morning that my horse had hurt his mouth badly, so i go up and take 1 look at it and call the vet.
Soon as the vet arrives she hardly even has to look at it and she knows its a broken jaw.
I was quite shocked and was crying as i genuinely thought she was going to ask to put him down. He has to go to the big vet in Edinburgh tomorrow for an operation to wire his jaw, he seems to coping remarkably well he's eating hay etc and sloppy mashed up feed. He's been given a large pain killer and anti biotics. I phoned my boss to ask for tomorrow off but they wont give me it i'm totally gutted. I dont have my own transport but have luckily managed to find a horse emergency taxi system to take him from near Aberdeen to Edinburgh, I'll just have to find some way of getting him back afterwards.
He has been up for sale due to lack of time because of my job and my mum being ill with cancer but after this i think its made me realise just how important he really is to me.

Has anybody else here had a horse break its jaw before?

Thanks for reading and any advice much appreciated.

Sarah..x
 
Oh I am sorry to hear that he has broken his jaw...as regards to work...I would have to be there with my horse regardless of of they said yes or no.

Hope he has a speedy recovery
 
oh im so so sorry!
ive no expereince but not long ago watched a vet programme tht featured a horse wioht a broken jaw - he had ot go and stay at the vets, sounds very much like yours - had jaw wired etc - and the horse made a full recovery - the programme showed him returnign home
huge thoughts to you both x
ps - do you have any idea how he did it?
 
I don't have experience of it myself but know someone who's horse broke it's jaw, it made a full recovery. And i hope yours does the same and everything goes smoothly. Keep us updated.
 
I know someone whos horse broke his jaw and it had to be wired, he made a full recovery and was eventing some time after :)
I hope he makes a quick recovery though he sounds like hes already on the mend
xx
 
A pony I was looking after for a girl who'd bust her leg did this - he made a full recovery after being wired up and on box rest for a number of weeks. He amazed us by continuing to eat throughout (instinct must be really strong !!) so with luck yours will do same - but hopefully he won't do it AGAIN a few weeks later like this horse did !! (Still recovered again BTW)

Bad luck with the job though - why don't they understand how much ponios mean to us ? Fingers crossed you will both be fine, hugs anyway
 
Thanks guys for the support, and these stories of other horses all make me feel better.

I guess there wouldnt be much i could really do anyway the yo is going to get him all booted up etc ready to go and my mum is going to go up and grate some apples and carrots for him for before he goes then the horse taxi will be taking him and he'll get his op. I am a postie so i start very early but generally finish lunch time ish so will go soon as i am finished.

He is very young not quite 3 but he is an exceptionally chilled out chap so hoping he is good.
 
I don't have any personal experience of horses with broken jaws but I believe it is relatively common (kicks to the jaw) and generally most horses recover fine and are able to eat throughout. I don't think they necessarily need to go under GA either to have it wired so that lessens the risk (I could be wrong though). Bit harsh you can't have the day off work - that'd make me tempted to call in 'sick'! lol. Hope all goes well.
 
we are not sure how he has done it, i am told he was out on his own just in the little pen whilst he was being mucked out. (he has been on full livery lately) he has been chewing lately due to we think his teeth have been changing. he had a hay net to, but there does not seem to be anything obvious as to how he has done it. :( my poor boy
 
My vet told me a story about this the day said he went to see a horse at a yard that had a broken jaw,when he got there they were all facing away from him munching happily on there feed. He thought he'd been called out unnecessarily but indeed a horse had broken it's jaw very badly but seemed totally oblivious.the vet told me horses can deal with a lot of pain in there mouth without it affecting them, that's why they can eat thorny branches etc. Best wishes to your and your boy!!
 
its quite amazing, he is a very food orientated horse anyway and it seems where theres a will theres a way. Initially he couldnt but once he'd had the pain killer he was sooking the sugar beet and fibre cube mash we made him very quickly he had it all over his face and then he was trying to eat his bed so i gave him a fair handfull of hay and he was munching into that quite happily. Thats his taxi all arranged so fingers crossed it'll all go smoothly :) thanks guys x
 
I too didn't think 'Oh no!' at the post title as it is relatively common and relatively unserious compared to other fractures in a horse. Treatment usually involves wiring of the jaw and then unwiring and recovery is, in most cases straightforward :-). Hope his is, too x
 
My yearling colt well and truly smashed his after escaping on the road. There was very little lower jaw left in the front. 4 months later it's not healed yet. But it is getting better.

He was wired, but apparently there wasn't a lot to wire, but it did hold the gaping bits together. For 2 months I washed under the shield they put on him to protect the gums from the wires with hibiscrub. But now it seems to keep pretty clean.

PM me if you want to know anything specific.
 
Poor horse, fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
Boo hiss to your boss, could you accidently post some letters into his jaw :eek:
 
I've dealt with a horse who brole her jaw. She was turned out in a nylon head collar and got caught up on the edge of a water trough, pulled back and, well you know the rest. It was quickly wired and she was as normal very soon afterwards, no lasting damage luckily. I think its quite an easy op for the vets, so don't worry. Your boy will be fine Iam sure.
 
My horse did this to himself when he was about 12months old! God knows how he did.. he was and still is a horse who is in to everything, always has to lick and taste things! It was very clear when I looked in to his mouth that he had broken it, but I got my equine dentist out to confirm this. That day I organised to take him to the Equine hospital which is a 60 mile drive away for the next day (which happened to be new years eve!). So he had to wait 24 hours until we could take him.

You wouldnt have believed he had broke his jaw, ate his feed and hay as normal, was quite jolly in himself, just got on with it basically.. shows how much more pain they tolerate! My husband was well shocked at how well he just got on with eating, because as a teenager he had broke his jaw (from fighting!) and said he could remember that the pain was unbearable, yet our youngster acted as if nothing had happened to him!

When we took him to the hospital the Equine vets assured us it is a common accicdent with youngsters and that they get quite a few in a year with broken jaws! Anyway had his jaw wired up, and we went to collect him a couple of days later. He was on pain killers and antibiotics for a couple of weeks, our boy took it all in his stride, even with jaw wired he ate as normal and turned out as normal. I think the wire was taken out some 6 weeks later by our equine dentist and had healed 100%, and we have never had any mouth issue with him since! Our boy is now 4 years old.

Only thing that we had arise from his jaw was that about a year and a half after he had an extra tooth grow where the break had occured on his lower jaw, behind his lower front teeth! had our equine dentist come to check it out, and he said he had never seen such a thing occure with a horse before. So back to the equine hospital we took him just to find out what was going on, cut a long story short, x-rays taken and vets said we should just leave alone because it had rooted, we just now have the equine dentist grind it down when it starts to grow a bit much so he doesnt slice his tongue on it! But once again it has caused him no problems, and when I start him this spring he will be ridden in a bitless so his mouth is left well alone.

Funny thing to this story is we named him Dipsy, and this was before he broke his jaw....!!!
I'm certain your horse will be fine and make a 100% recovery. What happened with my youngster with an extra tooth growing is a very uncommon thing to happen. If you want to know anything else please don't heitate to ask or get in touch with me xxx
 
God what a horrible thing to have happen. Glad your vet seems to have everything in hand and from others have said it sounds like there's a really big chance your boy is going to make a good recovery. Sounds like you've had enough to deal with at the mo with your Mum being ill (mine went through chemo and radiotherapy too, so I know how tough it is for everyone) and now this. Sounds like you're due some good luck.

[[[[ HUGS ]]]]]

Fingers are cross that everything goes well tomorrow.

x
 
Is it one of your spotties in your sig? if so a bit of a coincidence if it is, because my boy that done this is a chesnut leopard spot (not the one in my sig picture another)!
Forgot to mention he did his jaw when in the stable and we have fitted the galvanised metal bars that seperate the stables, we actually think he hooked his lower teeth on to these then got stuck and maybe pulled away in panic as they do and broke his jaw this way, as this was the only place we found some blood!

We have now boarded over these metal bars. You cant win, these types of partition we fit into stable are so horses can see one and other and to keep the stables light and airy. When we did take our boy to the hospitial the equine vet did tell us of a incident that happened a couple of weeks before our visit of a horse who kicked out when in his stable at another horse next door to him (they also had the metal bar partition) and got its hoof stuck between the bars and broke it's leg....
 
So sorry to hear this. I'm guessing he is going to the Dick Vet school? My mare had to go from Aberdeenshire down there as an emergency in June. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with a tumor in her chest so the only option was to be pts but I have heard lots of good things about Dick Vet so he will be in good hands!

I didnt have transport for Tia to go down either but I managed to find http://www.aberdeenshirehorseboxhire.co.uk/ I paid for them to take Tia down to Edinburgh and it was very reasonable. Had hoped to hire the box myself to go pick her up but it was not to be. Perhaps give them a try when you find out the date you can pick your horse up.
 
Try not to worry ours broke her mandible as a 2 yr old (she's now 4). We found her with 3 lower teeth at right angles to the others. She had it wired under sedation. the wires stayed in for a few months and for a while the vet was worried about infection in the jaw. She made a full recovery.
 
Kendal Cavalier who won the Welsh National in the 90s broke his jaw as a youngster so it didn't stop him- I'm sure yours will be fine
 
Gosh! No experience myself. But I hope he makes a speedy recovery and *hugs* to both you and your horse.
Let us know how he's doing
 
i hope he makes a full recovery - there is not much that the vets cant do these days.
as for work i would take the day unpaid and sod em. xxx
 
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