What would be best if your ALONE with a cast Horse?

McNally

McNally

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 February 2009
Messages
1,579
Visit site
Ive been in the cast horse situation a few times and we have had 2 or 3 people there to help both times one of those was very very experienced and took control.

Made me wonder if im on the yard alone which more often than not i am and its what i would consider a higher risk yard for horses getting stuck (racing they come back get washed and inevitably roll madly!) what would i do?
My instant thought would be hold its head down and stop it thrashing and hope i had a jacket on and a phone but what if not?

Once i get one of these thoughts i worry!! ;-/
 
McNally said:
Ive been in the cast horse situation a few times and we have had 2 or 3 people there to help both times one of those was very very experienced and took control.

Made me wonder if im on the yard alone which more often than not i am and its what i would consider a higher risk yard for horses getting stuck (racing they come back get washed and inevitably roll madly!) what would i do?
My instant thought would be hold its head down and stop it thrashing and hope i had a jacket on and a phone but what if not?

Once i get one of these thoughts i worry!! ;-/
Click to expand...

Ideal scenario would be to sit on its neck while you summoned help, although I have in the past, got a cast horse rolled back the right way on my own. It depends on the angle its cast at, and how calm it is. If the horse is lying still enough that you can get lunge lines over both the legs nearest the wall without it thrashing around and hurting you, it's not impossible for one person to uncapsize it.

I'm saying what I would do though - not what I would recommend (H&S etc etc!)
 
It has only happened to me once, silly bu**er tried to roll on a hill and went straight into the big bale of haylage. I couldn't get near his flailing legs to get a rope around them and had just set off to phone vet and fire brigade(lost the plot I think) after nearly being kicked in the head several times trying to get the haylage out of the way, when he managed to get his legs free and get himself back over. I would never want to experience it again.
 
I'd also say sit on its neck & call for help. Did it once on my own happily with a shetland. Did do it once in an emergency, but horse knew & trusted me well, visibly relaxed when I appeared to save it & it wasn't actually that badly stuck so got a thick lunge line round its legs. But horse was a calm sort anyway, not sure what I'd do alone with a very stuck thrashing horse tbh.
 
I'll be watching this thread as I was going to post something similar - I've luckily never been in a cast-horse situation, and I hope I never will be, but it is something that worries me, especially as new horse rolls every time she comes in (at least twice) for the night, and even though the stable is big and the banks are huge she always scares me with how close she gets to the edge! She's a very stressy type so wouldn't like to try and get her the right way up by myself, she'd definitely be panicky.
 
One of the ponies got cast at ours a few months back, far from being on my own I was surrounded by the ponies owners and other liveries. However the owners didn't even realise what was going on!!!

It was very lucky that he was so calm once he'd gotten stuck, I started up by his head incase he thrashed, but since he remained quiet I was able to get the rope round his legs and pul him over on my own. I then had to explain to the owners just how dangerous a situation it can be!
 
I have had to do this regularly (lived on yard with racehorses, now with yearlings etc). I have never ever sat on the neck and called for help. Firstly it depends on the horse as to whether I'd stand back and call for my colleague, or get a lunge line and carefully attach it to whichever leg I think will give me most leverage (one of the ones underneath of course). I am not big but I can shift most of ours far enough from the wall so that they can get up.
Foals are the easiest to move. I am very careful in attempting this as I live on my own and if anything happened to me, I wouldn't be found until the morning so I won't risk going in with one unless I am totally happy that I can sort it out on my own.
 
Thanks I'm on the right lines then! It only occurred to me when on Sunday one of them at work rolled and got very stuck whilst I was mucking her out! Luckily as I say others were there but for sure the way she was thrashing she would have injured herself. Then on Monday another one did it!- the second actually freed himself but it's easy to see how legs are broken
 
McNally said:
Thanks I'm on the right lines then! It only occurred to me when on Sunday one of them at work rolled and got very stuck whilst I was mucking her out! Luckily as I say others were there but for sure the way she was thrashing she would have injured herself. Then on Monday another one did it!- the second actually freed himself but it's easy to see how legs are broken
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about broken legs, while I am sure that someone on here will have heard of one, in the last 10 years I have not heard of a TB breaking it leg while cast, we had one have a heart attack, but aside from scrapes and wrenches, no broken legs (touches wood).
 
Laafet said:
I have had to do this regularly (lived on yard with racehorses, now with yearlings etc). I have never ever sat on the neck and called for help. Firstly it depends on the horse as to whether I'd stand back and call for my colleague, or get a lunge line and carefully attach it to whichever leg I think will give me most leverage (one of the ones underneath of course). I am not big but I can shift most of ours far enough from the wall so that they can get up.
Foals are the easiest to move. I am very careful in attempting this as I live on my own and if anything happened to me, I wouldn't be found until the morning so I won't risk going in with one unless I am totally happy that I can sort it out on my own.
Click to expand...
As above, each one is different and as Laafet says if you are in a position where if you get in trouble you won't be missed/found until the next day you have to weigh up the risks. I also live alone but am lucky to have a few very obliging, strong, sensible neighbours who are used to dealing with livestock and follow directions brilliantly if I need to call on them.:)
 
Foals are easy enough, I've had a couple where I've done them by hand [no comment].
For anything bigger, I pop two ropes round the opposite legs providing horse is calm enough and drag them out as much I can or flip them over.
 
Laafet said:
I wouldn't worry about broken legs, while I am sure that someone on here will have heard of one, in the last 10 years I have not heard of a TB breaking it leg while cast, we had one have a heart attack, but aside from scrapes and wrenches, no broken legs (touches wood).
Click to expand...

I know one that broke her pelvis :eek: Very, very rare though, just sheer bad luck, although it might have helped if they hadn't had a 16.2 NH type in a 10x10 box :(
 
The shetland that was cast had managed to do so in a 12 x 12 box. The horse I helped alone was one that was daft enough to try rolling into a corner, wasn't actually all that stuck, more lying at an angle & unable to get up the momentum to go back over the other way.
 
How do you manage to pull them over? When my horse got cast the second time, there was 2 of us and we struggled to flip her, their not light! She is very good in that she lies there knowing ill help her. Not sure how one person would have enough strength
 
I have dealt with cast horses on my own, and have managed to get them back over by using lunge lines around their legs to give me some leverage to get them unstuck - however the horses in question were very calm about the whole situation.

Its not impossible to do it on your own, but if your not confident in doing it alone or not sure what to do, or the horse is extremly stressed out and its too dangerous for you to do it alone then I would call for help and try to keep the horse as calm as possible until help arrives.
 
Last edited:
I used to have one that would damn near get stuck daily. Such a wagon. At any rate by the time you walked to her she'd be righting herself. One time she really got smashed. Could not move legs and blanket straps were so tight so I had to cut those first. Got blanket bunched up underneath her. Anyway managed to get headcollar on and had to pull head. Then pulled tail. Did this as gently as I could but no way of getting anything on the legs. Anyway, once I sort of wiggled her she got herself sorted and up.

I have had less incidents of casting since going back to straw in which I can really bank the sides. Not for a second suggesting this is the answer, just my own observation. I'm only 5ft and weigh 100pds so I have to be careful. I can call for backup too.
 
If you are alone, then its vital that you stay safe or you wouldn't even be able to raise the alarm if you were kicked in the head for example! As said before, depends on the position the horse is in - I had one wedged in the doorway of its stable which was very tricky. I was advised by the vet, that if the horse is calm ( they do get exhausted, and so settle to some extent) and the position is right, put a bale between them and the wall. This can stop them rolling about onto the wall again. But best to stay calm and try to calm the horse whilst you wait for others ( summoned by phone!) to arrive.
I would think the last thing to do was to sit on its neck as you then become something to be feared- not seen as aiding the animal. Would putting a blanket over the horse's head help? They do that in the case of leading a horse out of a fire I think, or is that just in films?!
 
RubysGold said:
How do you manage to pull them over? When my horse got cast the second time, there was 2 of us and we struggled to flip her, their not light! She is very good in that she lies there knowing ill help her. Not sure how one person would have enough strength
Click to expand...

Sadly used to doing stuff much stronger than that lol. Joy of cobs and youngstock. For any of the heavyweights [17hh+], it's been a 2 person job mostly but the cobs/babies/TB types are easy enough to manage on your own I've found.
You know it's really less feminine when you can move a big square bale around by yourself, or pick half of one up by the strings and into the back of a pick up lol.
 
Many years ago I found a friends horse cast against the field fence, luckily she was quite calm, dont' know how long she'd been there for, I managed to get her back over on my own, found the strength from somewhere, I held both inside legs and pulled her over, probably not the best idea but I just did it, dont' know how I managed to keep out of her way when she rolled over, its too long ago I cant' remember !

Why don't people use anti-cast rollers if they know its likely to happen ??
 
Laafet said:
I wouldn't worry about broken legs, while I am sure that someone on here will have heard of one, in the last 10 years I have not heard of a TB breaking it leg while cast, we had one have a heart attack, but aside from scrapes and wrenches, no broken legs (touches wood).
Click to expand...

Tell that to my yearling who has managed to chip her cannon bone, seriously damage her pelvis and break bones in her face getting cast while she was away (not all at the same time either, she is clearly too stupid for words!)
 
Happy hooves- sitting on the neck helps stop them struggling & reduces the chance of them getting more stuck & injured. It's also done in driving accidents when the horse falls & has to be cut free from harness/ carriage. Provided you are calm when doing so I've not seen an adverse reaction to it.
 
We have a mare prone to casting. Pulled her over twice on my own but hard work and she was calm.

I use an anticast roller on her and would use one on anything else that has shown a tendency to roll on the walls.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top