The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

We Might Have to Put My Horse Down....

5K views 35 replies 24 participants last post by  HorseSavvy 
#1 ·
Got a call about 7:30 tonight that my horse Trigger got hurt. I didn't think much of it at first, because I know that he is the horse that gets picked on and I figured he just got a bad kick mark or something. Well, found out it is a lot bigger of a deal than that.

He had been in the pasture at my trainer's house and we are not sure exactly, but we think that he had been in a fight with another gelding or something. When he didn't come to get his food, my trainer knew something was wrong. Went out into the pasture(this pasture is huge, mind you) and found him limping.

Turns out he tore his hoof and the injury is to the coffin bone. We got him bandaged up and back at our barn and he happily enjoyed his hay(but I can see the pain in his eyes. I saw him coming off the trailer and it broke my heart). BUT, they said if the injury moves into his coronet, we are going to have to put him down. The next three days are critical, and we have to make sure to give him his medicine, and be at the barn with him as much as possible watching his progress.

I was VERY upset when I first found out. Trigger is absolutely the biggest teddy bear you will ever meet, he just also happened to be the one that always got picked on, hence the cause of his problem.

I will post updates as they come along, but right now I am waiting for news myself. so...
 
See less See more
#4 ·
I just got back from the barn. Luckily, my uncle lives less than five minutes away.

Honestly, the way they were describing it to me, I thought his leg was about to fall off. But, my vet assured me that though it was very serious, he thinks with his medicine and the help of my uncle being a farrier(hence my uncle can constantly check the condition of his hoof) that we MIGHT be able to save him.
 
#3 ·
Yes this is very sad indeed. I had a scare a couple of weeks ago which is never fun.

I was at work when they called me (and when the stable calls I drop everything and take it). They said that my horse's leg was swollen like two football sizes huge and had a puncher wound. When I got there we didn't know what he did to himself but he could barely walk.... I was thinking "Oh lord... will he ever heal up and not be lame for the rest of his life?"

Well we figured he probably fell and hyper extend his front leg to the point of ripping the muscle. But a couple weeks later with the vet told us that it was a pretty hard kick that surprisingly didn't break a bone.

But a couple weeks later he is all healed up and is as good as new again thank god!

Horses are like kids... and I hate it when they freak us out :-(
 
#5 ·
Hopefully after a couple days he will start improving. I wouldn't jump to putting him down until he's had some time to heal. I've had a colt that had a severe injury to the coronet/hoof I thought I would lose him as well but after much work and staying on top of the injuries a couple months later he was fine.
 
#6 ·
Yeah, save putting him down until there literally is no other option. That is terrible that happened to him. Murphy's law is alive and kicking in the horsey world, whatever can go wrong...............will. Poor Trigger. I hope it works out okay and there is no permanent issues. Poor guy. :,,(
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the support everyone.

RedRoan - Sorry about your horse! But that is great that it got back to normal. And you are right, horses are like kids. Never had one myself, but I know that I WAS going to the barn tonight, whether I had to get on my knees and beg or not.

close2prfct and smrobs - Euthanizing is absolutely the last resort. I am willing to sleep in the barn for weeks checking on him every five minutes and giving him meds when needed before I will put my baby down.
 
#8 ·
My prayers are with him! I hope he'll make it all right!
 
#9 ·
Poor Trigger. :-( But he is so lucky to have you Tennessee. I'm sure you will do everything you can to make him comfortable and care for his injury. Having an uncle as a farrier will definitely be a huge benefit in this case! Thoughts and prayers coming your way and a big hug to both you and Trigger!
 
#16 ·
UPDATE:
We have an appointment on Friday for an xray for him. We have ordered some stuff to try to grow his hoof back.


^^There is a picture of his hoof. Sorry the quality is so bad, we wasn't too sure about that flashing thing near his hoof. :P

He is starting to put pressure on the hoof, and when I was walking him out of his stall today to clean it, I noticed that he was walking better.
 
#18 ·
His hoof doesn't look that bad. What exactly are we looking at here? What is the white bubbly stuff?
lol. The white bubbly stuff is something the vet put on his hoof. I honestly have no idea what it is.

And trust me, that picture does his hoof NO justice. Like honestly, it looks like the cracked half of his hoof could fall off at any moment(which is why we only have one pic of his hoof not bandaged, we want to keep it bandaged up as much as possible).
 
#25 ·
Right now? No. But, he has a high risk of going permanetly lame, and that brings up an adequate reason for him to be down. Right now, though, we are trying to keep that from happening.

And unless you've seen his condition in person, it is kind of hard to call that "small" don't you think?
 
#26 ·
I can tell from the picture that it's severe. I have never seen anything like it. I'm very curious what he did! That is awful and I'm really praying all go's well. When smrobs asked about the granulex (that's a medicine that comes in an aerosol spray). that's what she was asking, if that's what you used. Can they put some type of filler in it or do they need to keep it open for drainage?
 
#27 ·
I can tell from the picture that it's severe. I have never seen anything like it. I'm very curious what he did! That is awful and I'm really praying all go's well. When smrobs asked about the granulex (that's a medicine that comes in an aerosol spray). that's what she was asking, if that's what you used. Can they put some type of filler in it or do they need to keep it open for drainage?

We aren't completely sure what happened. We have a good guess, but no sure clue. We were just confused when he didn't come to get his feed and hay one night(because he is usually the friendly one waiting by the gate).

And I am not sure about all of the medical stuff(I let my parents, uncle, and vet take care of that :P) but we bought something to help rebuild his hoof or something. I am not really sure. They find it neccessary to leave me out because it might "hurt my feelings".
 
#28 ·
Miracles do happen

Poor thing. I feel for you. But please know that miracles do happen! Keep faith! My mare foundered and the vet did the normal treatment vs putting down debate. There was never a question for me, I choose treatment, literally lived at the barn in the stall with her while juggling my wife and mother duties. But I got my miracle, the vet and farrier both were blown away. If the horse as the will to fight, the will to live, that goes a long way. A good support system helps too, which it sounds like you have in your family. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you guys and please keep us posted.

Jen
http://aspiringjen.blogspot.com
Please click daily on a few of the sponsor links...it helps me!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top