Ronnie got cast last night - aftercare - advice please?

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BeckyD

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Last night Ronnie got cast in his stable, thank god there were still a few of us there to sort him out as I'm usually on my own by that time. He was pretty calm whilst we put lunge lines around him to right him, but once he started to come over he started to struglle, blundered and fell over the other way, and landed with his feet in his water buckets. He was pretty stiff on his o/s fore (the leg nearest the wall) and had nicked a bit of skin off fetlock on n/s - and banged the tendon on that leg getting out of the water bucket in a panic.

I walked him round for a bit and he seemed to be ok by the time I put him away, not too stiff or sore, very slight warmth on tendon. I stable bandaged 3 legs and cold bandaged the injured leg, and gave him a sachet of bute with his supper.

Assuming he's ok today (yet to hear from YO) should I be gentle with him for a while? We're booked in to do 2 dressage tests tomorrow night - should I cancel?

It was horrible seeing him so stuck, heart breaking really.
 
Isn't it awful?

Thumper got cast a couple of months ago during a bout of colic - and to be honest I was worse than useless.

I would see how he is in he next couple of days before making a decision on the dressage - he could be quite sore.
 
Yes it really was awful, he looked so frightened and helpless. You must have been in bits - colic AND getting cast.

My only hope is that as he was stuck for such a short period of time and he didn't struggle until he started to get up, he wouldn't have hurt himself too much.

Any idea what would happen if no-one had been there to set him right? I had a very sleepless night last night panicking about him doing it again. I can envisage it meaning curtains?? In 11 years of horse-owning that's the first one I've had get cast, poor Ronnie
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Any idea what would happen if no-one had been there to set him right?

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He probably would have sorted himself out - they so often do.

But it's horrid, I agree.
 
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Any idea what would happen if no-one had been there to set him right?

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He probably would have sorted himself out - they so often do.


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I doubt it, this IS Ronnie. Whenever he gets in a muddle with anything he just stops and waits patiently for someone to sort him out. I can imagine him lying there upside down all night...waiting...
 
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Whenever he gets in a muddle with anything he just stops and waits patiently for someone to sort him out

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Bless.....
 
I think horses quite probably get cast in stables over night without people ever knowing other than the bedding being a mess! Yes you do hear some horror stories of them getting their legs stuck in things but provided you don't have anything they can get stuck in I don't think it's anything to be unecessarily worried about. Just make sure you put good banks round the side to try help prevent him being able to do it again.

We had a horse once we found stuck down a ditch. We have no idea how long he'd been trapped for and, with the help of vet, workman and JCB we got him out and, other than it taking a while to get blood supply back to his side that he was lying on he was fine and he was an old boy. Therefore I wouldn't worry unduly. I would assume the YO is likely to do evening checks anyway so your horse is not likely to be down for too long if it did happen again anyway.
 
I agree totally horses are probably'upside down' more often than we know apart from the bed being kicked about, My horse is very often 'up side down' when I come down to do eveing checks and to be honest I generally leave him to sort him self out, Keep pulling them over with ropes unless they are very stuck will only pull their backs and strain muscles. My horse stays there quite calm then will wriggle and wriggle until away from the wall, get up and then go back to eating his haylage. Just make sure you have decent banks and nothing that they can gt stuck in. Bear in mind my horse is 15.1hh and in a 15ft x 16ft stable !!
As for your after care just walk out and see if he is stiff but unless anything untoward happened he should be right as ran ! Good luck in your dressage !
 
Good job you where there. Might be an idea to get his back checked as they can often injure themselves when they struggle.

I get Bs done every month and one month he had a very sore back and we think he got cast but managed to sort himself out. A physio/chiropractor would also be able to help you make a decision about wether he is phyisically up to the dressage
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I think you will just have to see how he progresses - he may be a bit stiff and sore, or he may be fine.
If you are worried about him getting cast again, there are a few things you can do to prevent it/reduce it.
Firstly, you can have high, fairly solid banks in your bed. Secondly, you can fit an anti-cast strip of wood or similar around the walls, parallel to the floor ( a foot or so up) - this will give his feet something to grip on so he can push his body backwards and then get up.
Finally, and probably the easiest and simplest, is to buy an 'anti-cast' roller, which is just like a normal roller, (which everyone used to use for keeping rugs without cross surcingles on) but with a metal hoop going up from the withers. It stops the horse rolling right over, and thus becoming cast.
Hope your boy is ok.
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Thanks that's good advice. I'm waiting for physio to come out for a separate matter (but won't be before tomorrow) so will get her to check his back in case he's done anything untoward.

I'll see how he is tonight, see if there's any sore spots and go from there. Apparently he was ok this morning so fingers crossed. Am not worried about dressage, there's plenty more competitions (hopefully!). Just want him to be ok
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Thanks for the guidance. Big banks bit of a difficulty as he's a bit of a box walker and tends to tramp them down (shavings bed on rubber). He's also the wettest horse on the yard and we've found the best bed for him is slightly thinner than I'd like, otherwise he's a 2-3 bales of shavings a week-type guy.

Anti-cast roller is in back of my mind - another horse has one of those at my yard as she's regularly getting cast without it I believe. I hope he doesn't do this often, I think he was just extremely agitated with the flies, still a bit sticky and sweaty although I'd sponged him off, and probably rolling a bit violently. Once he was back on his feet and stopped trembling he knocked me out of the way in his search for hay
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Bless him, big cuddles for him tonight. I can't thank the other ladies at the yard enough, they were brilliant. If they read this, THANK YOU!
 
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