Would you like to receive The WeekDay newsletter? If you wish to object to the use of your data in this way, please tick here. Log in. Cheltenham festival Horse racing Grand National. Torquator Tasso: an outstanding German with an Italian name. There are many reasons the answer to this question is yes.
Thoroughbreds exceed 40 mph in a race, and one wrong step typically results in a broken leg or ankle. Does the horse have to be euthanized, is there no other alternative? In most cases, yes, euthanization is the only viable option. A horse that breaks its leg has a severe medical condition, and there are complications in the treatment and recovery process of a broken leg.
Horses are prey animals. They have survived thousands of years because they are alert and move when threatened. What does a horse perceive as a threat? Almost anything that moves or makes a sound. They are designed to run and love it. Keeping a horse still is a huge obstacle to recovery. If a horse lies down for too long, they develop sores.
Many horses refuse to comply with treatment procedures and are unable to recover. There are numerous instances of racehorses thrashing about after surgery to repair a break resulting in a reinjury to their leg. When this happens a horse must be euthanized. Slings are sometimes used to bear weight for a horse with a leg injury.
Horses need to put some weight on their injured leg to ensure it recovers the necessary strength to support itself. Horses have no muscles in their lower leg or foot to aid the return of blood to the heart. Therefore the hoof must assist in moving blood. A broken bone or immobilization can disrupt blood flow. Horses may not tolerate being in a sling and struggle, injuring itself further. Horses like to move, but there are some with calmer dispositions tolerate restrictive movements and raise their chances of healing.
Horses are large animals; an averaged sized thoroughbred racehorse weighs over lbs. The uninjured legs often develop conditions such as laminitis or abscesses caused by carrying the extra burden. Laminitis is a painful and debilitating disease that can be fatal. Laminitis is inflammation of the soft tissue structures attaching the coffin or pedal bone of the foot to the hoof wall. Welcome to our new website! We hope you enjoy the new site. The British Horseracing Authority uses cookies on this website to help operate our site and for analytics purposes.
For more on how and which cookies are used and where you can alter our cookie usage, see more information. As an example, a break in the lower leg can be difficult to mend because horses have fewer blood vessels there.
The recovery process can take even longer if one of the horse's larger bones break. Preventing Injury. Complications of Treating a Broken Leg " ". Younger horses have a better chance of full recovery after breaking a leg. Weight : Most horses are heavy animals and their legs and hooves are small in comparison. Favoring a broken leg often forces the healthy legs to bear more than their share of the weight, and this — along with other factors — can increase the chances of developing crippling conditions like laminitis and abscesses [source: American Association of Equine Practitioners AAEP ].
The exact cause of laminitis an inflammatory disease of the material connecting the hoof to the leg bone, which can lead to their separation is unknown, but painful laminitis greatly increases the likelihood of euthanasia. Slings that wrap under the abdomen and hold the horse up taking the weight off the legs are commonly used for short periods of time but can't prevent laminitis. Slings can be uncomfortable, cause bedsores and lead to serious gastrointestinal problems.
If a sling is used for too long, the healed leg can't bear the horse's weight properly and laminitis could still develop. The weight of a horse must be evenly dispersed on all four legs [source: Young ]. Movement : Horses are animals that like to move and there's a big risk they might reinjure themselves at some point during the healing process.
A horse with a more relaxed disposition that doesn't mind having its movement restricted, usually has a better chance of properly healing. Infection : Open fractures are often complicated by infection, which can be further complicated depending on where the infection is located.
Because horses don't have muscles below their hock joints similar to the human ankle , there aren't many blood vessels to carry antibodies to the site of infection, thus making it difficult to treat [source: Carson ].
This fact makes giving a horse antibiotics difficult as well. Giving a horse enough antibiotics to be effective can kill the horse's natural intestinal microorganisms and interact with important pain medication [source: Equine Medical Care ]. Pain : Overwhelming pain is a double-edged sword when it comes to horses. Pain needs to be treated, but you run the risk of overmedicating the horse. If the horse feels totally pain-free, there's a good chance the animal might reinjure its leg.
The severity of pain from common postoperative complications, such as laminitis, lies at the root of a decision to euthanize. Cost : The long and complicated process of bringing a horse back to good health can be expensive, and there's no guarantee it'll work.
Besides being cost-prohibitive, rehabilitation can be hindered by an absence of available facilities that can treat severely injured horses and a general lack of knowledge. The Winner's Circle. Horses have a very small chance of recovering from a broken leg due to a combination of factors. For example, a horse is more likely to recover from an incomplete fracture than a complete fracture.
Similarly, the younger and smaller the horse, the better its chance of recovery is. Bones in different areas of the leg also have varying chances of recovery. Do you have to euthanize a horse if it breaks its leg? Often the only humane option after a horse breaks its leg is to euthanize it.
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