[Appylvr]

I was just wondering what everyone on here thinks should be done if a horse breaks a leg? This hasn't happened, but I was just thinking about it. I have two friends that had horses break a leg.

One was about 6 years ago. My friends had just moved into this new house and they had their horses out in the back. There were railroad ties lining the bottom of the chainlink fence, just sitting on top of the dirt. They didn't think anything of it, but were going to take them out anyways because it looked tacky. One day their mare got her shoe stuck in the fence and started struggling. Their old gelding came and stood by her and right about then she pulled loose and landed on one of the railroad ties! The other end flew up and hit the gelding in the leg, breaking it! A neighbor saw what happened and ran and got them.
They had their vet out (this was a vet I used once and couldn't stand!!!) And she diagnosed it. I don't remember exactly what she told them, but I think she wrapped it and told them to keep him quiet and keep it wrapped! Well, he must have done something cause the next day when they went out to feed, he wasn't putting ANY weight on the leg and could barely stay standing up! They had the vet out again (oh! she had not even done x-rays, because it was raining), she comes out and says, he rebroke it and she'll be back later to put him down! Can you believe that?

The other one was a gorgeous paint mare. She was 3 months pregnant and a wall of the barn fell on her one night, broke her leg. This was a expensive show horse, so the owners decided to have her leg fixed. And they decided they wanted her to go through with the pregnancy! Well she had the foal, but it was very small and sick! He had to be kept in the hospital for his first couple weeks of life, but came out healthy!
The mare's leg never looked right. It was always twice as big as the other and she could never really put weight on it. The owners had to put her down a year after she had the foal cause she wasn't doing good.

What do you think you would do if something happened to your horse? I'm just wondering cause I always thought if a horse broke it's leg it had to be put down immediately. Is it different now? sorry it was so long

[Trump Card]

I would put my horse down! It would be really upsetting but i wouldnt want him in pain! I also dont think i would have the money to pay 2 try and get him better!

[lynnloves739]

IMO it all depends.
I just took Jake in for surgery at a wonderful equine hospital. Up until actually seeing this facility I probably would have said I would have to put the horse down. However, the facility was so amazing and so professinal, that now I think I have changed my mind.

Depending on the severity of the break, and the percentage of a relatively normal recovery, I would consider having the leg fixed. There are a lot of factors involved though, such as future pain etc...Each individual situation would be different, but I think with today's technology the possiblities are endless and we have more options than losing the horse immediately.

Just my thoughts on it.

[BestofPrincess]

It depends on which horse. theres a horse at our barn who had fractured one of his rear coffin bones, and you wouldnt know with out some one telling you. Hes also sliced his hoof in half, and had his frog sliced of by sheet medal.....Sooo him no I would not put him down, when hes had the later of the two happen to him he only looked lame when he had the huge UC Davis boot on! And by the way he's in his 20's an x-enderance horse, and still does eventing

[Moostang]

I used to know a TB mare that had her knee broke when she was very young, they were able to save her and use her as a brood mare. Her knee ended up 2-3x the size of a normal knee.. and if you look head-on at her it bowed out and back in at a large angel, she had atleast a 100 degree angle at the knee. But she was awesome.. she would run full board out with all the other mares, even passing them at times. She also turned out to be a high scoreing broodmare with some of the warmblood associations (dutch, oldenberg, and american warmblood.?)(although it took several foals to get her there). It has been a long time since I have seen her, but I know in her late teens she was still have foals every other year, but they planned on retiring her earlier than most.
Rob also has an old foxtrotter gelding that had a knee injury (not really broke) but his knee fused together were he can't bend it. He is now in his late 20's early 30's, and it has been that way for about 15 years. Although he can not be ridden, Rob's mom used to take him to the school she works at (for abused children) and let them pet him and the younger ones could sit on him since he was in no pain.
Okay, now if it happened to Kristay, I would put her down, only because she has enough problem and she would have a hard time recoving from any severe injury in her current condition, if she was in her younger day I would try to save her.
If it was Scout, I it would depend on the injury since he is still a youngin.

[Lou3]

for humane reasons they should be destroyed.

[Paintlover]

I would put them down. I don't have the money or facilities to keep them

[Bubba]

Broken bones can be fixed, by a good veterinary hospital, but it *does* take a lot of time, diligent care, and money. Very rarely do those things all work out for someone in the situation of having a horse with a broken leg. Of course, as mentioned, it also depends on where the break is, how badly it was broken, even how the horse seems to be handling it.


I had a mare break her humorous (her lower-shoulder bone), pretty clean in half . The vet said even a young horse with that type of break doesn't have a good prognosis (mine was 27 years old). She said they can fix just about any bone, but the real challenge is keeping the bone fixed in place long enough to heal. Most horses reinjure themselves when they come out of surgery (waking up from surgery has always been one of the most dangerous and tense times in the survival of a horse...any kind of surgery).

For the horse's sake, it's often the kindest decision to put them down.

[Top Dun]

I think it depends on the temperment of the horse mostly AND then the willingness and ability of the owner to care for that horse while in confinement AND the severity of the break. A high strung horse who has difficulty being confined in a small area for long periods of time is NOT an ideal candidate for stall confinement while recovering from a broken leg. Age of the horse is also extremely important. An older horse takes longer to mend then a young horse. It CAN be done but it is expensive, Difficult and requires alot of intensive care for the horse. A sling in these situations also helps, but it may not be the best thing for the horse. There are many variables to consider when considering what to do when a horse breaks it's leg, but basically if you don't have the Time, Money and facilities to properly care for that situation, it may be best to have them put down.

[CountryBoy]

I would agree with what anyone said in this post. IMO it has to do with the owner as well as the horse. If the owner don't have the money, time or room to deal with a broken leg then they need to do whats best for them and the horse.
The things that vets can do these days is truely amazing. I have a post going about Equine Insurance, there are a lot of horse owners out there that don't even know you can get it for your horse or think it is only for the horse that are big money. Good insurance for your horse is cheaper then good insurance for yourself. With most of us if this were to happen our first thought is "How do I pay for it" if that were out of the way it frees you up to think about if you want to take the time to care for the horse while it mends. Its up to the owner assuming the break can be fixed.
A friend of mine rides a Arab that broke his hock when he was 3 the vet told them to put him down, he went to another vet who worked it over and the horse is fine. The hock is a little bigger then the other side but its not a show horse just a daily rider. It took a yr. and a half for it to mend well enough to start riding him again. Thats not that long if you think about it. I've seen poped splints take up to 8 months to heal before you can put them back to work. Like I said it depends on money, time, and resources.