BlackStallion

Horses are very sensitive animals. When it comes to pain, they are one of the animals that cannot bear pain and they would rather die than to suffer the pain. Here is an article about how broken legs of horses leads to death.

Turbo Stallion

Pretty depressing actually

This is another reason we have to be very careful in how we handle our horses. For that reason, I don't think I could ever bring myself to use Horses for racing. Still an interesting article regardless.

dcrivers

I thought they didn't do that so much anymore. With modern medicine, mending broken bones is much easier now. I can understand that the horse may not be able to race anymore. Understand about the impact and weight thing on the weaker bone, but does that mean the horse has to die? Would they keep a champion around for breeding purposes?

SpiritWind

I'm pretty sure dcrivers is right... I have a friend with a horse where you feel down his leg and feel where his leg was broken, and he's certainly not dead.

BlackStallion

Unlike humans, horses have very little tolerance when it comes to pain. When the fracture is really unbearable for the horse, it will not eat and the fractured part will not just heal and that will lead to its death. But not all horses will just let go easily.

Of course, these horse breeds for racing are at the top of the horses just like athletes on humans. But even athletes can die on fractured spines. This may not be a good analogy but what I mean is even the healthiest and fittest horse, when it cannot bear the pain then it will sometime give up on bearing the pain and just rest.

cherokeemyluv

Certainly not all broken legs lead to death. Barbaro's leg was a very extreme case and wasn't a simple fracture but a completely shattered bone, which was why it required such intense surgery. After they screwed his leg back together with metal plates and such he still had to recover, which required supporting his weight on the "good" leg. A body mass to hoof surface comparison shows how much weight is supported per square inch on a healthy animal, let alone one who can't use a leg.

On the other hand lots of simple fractures are healed cleanly using casts and such. Granted there are still some people who would put down a horse instead of going through the time, effort and money required to heal a broken leg, but many horses are probably saved.

mark

I’m glad to hear that. I always thought it was so sad to shoot a horse because of a broken leg. I guess I thought that had gone out with the days of the wild west.

PonyAtWalmart

It definately did. Back then, it was hard to heal a human bone properly, let alone an animal that can't tell you what it feels.

BornintheSaddle

This may sound a silly question, but is there no way that a horse can be supported during the healing time to even out the weight to hoof ratio? I have seen so many dogs with trolleys harnessed to their chest so that they can scoot along when they lose a leg, or are paralysed in the back legs, but couldn't something like that be used for a horse somehow?

I am completely new to this and a little naive, and it makes me sad reading this thread.

Buckskin

I'm pretty sure a horse would spook if you stuck its back end onto wheels. Even then though, there would be abnormal pressure on the front hooves and they would develop laminitis or navicular disease, and require euthanasia.

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BornintheSaddle

Yes, like I said I am lacking knowledge currently, and perhaps am a dreamer too. It would just be so nice if something more could be done to help them, you know?

Buckskin

The thing to remember about treating animals is that treatment can only go as far as the owner is willing, or can afford to go. This is why medicine for cats and dogs is so much more advanced that for sheep. An expensive stallion might be worth trying to keep alive, but for a gelding most owners will decide that it isn't worth the animal's pain or the vet's bill.

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Allan

Exactly, that is why most horses that have sever injury are better put to sleep than for the horses to endure the pain. Better ease the pain because by letting them sleep because they will still die in the future. You are even giving them a favor.

SaddleSore

And this is where insurance comes in for your animal. I could never afford the vet bills the size that some of my friends have been hit with. So I make sure to always have some fairly heavy insurance on her so that if she ever gets hurt I only have a small deductible to pay.

waggy

Whoa! I just learned about that just now. How can such a fierce and huge animal die from such a simple injury? But I liked that I am learning a lot of stuff here regarding horses and stuff. Thanks for sharing guys!