[barrels_and_bling]

Looking for some advice.
One of my mares had a horse shelter land on her back/ hips tow years ago in a bad wind storm and has since been unsound. The vets assume that she fractured her pelvis. She has had legend shots, acupuncture and laser therapy done on her and that has helped a ton! She has improved so much and almost looks like a normal horse these days but she still isnt right when you know what your looking for. She gets sore often, cant kick anymore (not complaining about that) she has a slight bump on her lower back and her back legs can barely operate separately. I have gotten back on track blankets and such and they seem to be helping as does blue lotion but im looking for other things to help as well. Preferably things that I can just do with her like exercises as money is tight but will consider other ideas as well. Any and all ideas will be appreciated! I would love to see her be able to be ridden again as she was an amazing horse <3

Thank you!

 

[waresbear]

How old is the horse? For hip/pelvic fractures, the younger horse the better they heal, generally speaking under 10. Can she lay down and get up no problem? If she is under 10 and she can lay down and get up no problem, I would suggest a horse therapist. They do acupuncture, laser therapy, deep muscle massage and chiro. All that gets blood flowing to the sore area and helps get things back together. If no to any of the two above, better painkillers. I'm very sorry this happened to your horse. We lost an older horse to a hip fracture, over tranquilized at a vet clinic by a new vet. The horse fell in the stocks on a cement floor. Also I would have a knowledgeable vet do a rectal while you are walking her to see how the area has healed together. Our horse was older, over 30, we kept him on painkillers and had to be on watch all the time when he laid down and got up because he needed help. We did the kind thing before winter set in. Horse chiropractor friend of mine, had a young four-year-old stallion fracture a hip. While she does not do laser therapy or acupuncture, she did do massage pressure points, and made sure everything else was aligned continually. The stallion healed up well, was broke and ridden, and still breeds mares to this day he is now 20 I believe. As you probably know, there are very few places that can x-ray a hip/pelvis as they need quite a powerful x-ray machine and it is very expensive.

 

[BeckyFletcher]

Looking for some advice.
One of my mares had a horse shelter land on her back/ hips tow years ago in a bad wind storm and has since been unsound. The vets assume that she fractured her pelvis. She has had legend shots, acupuncture and laser therapy done on her and that has helped a ton! She has improved so much and almost looks like a normal horse these days but she still isnt right when you know what your looking for. She gets sore often, cant kick anymore (not complaining about that) she has a slight bump on her lower back and her back legs can barely operate separately. I have gotten back on track blankets and such and they seem to be helping as does blue lotion but im looking for other things to help as well. Preferably things that I can just do with her like exercises as money is tight but will consider other ideas as well. Any and all ideas will be appreciated! I would love to see her be able to be ridden again as she was an amazing horse <3

Thank you!

Is she at a facility where you could split a barn call and get a chiropractor to take a look? Where I live, splitting it with others, its about $100 which isn't bad IMO. I don't have much extra money either but taking a little from a couple paychecks isnt as bad. The one I was using used to also be a vet so she was really good in many ways and crossed over some.

 

[barrels_and_bling]

How old is the horse? For hip/pelvic fractures, the younger horse the better they heal, generally speaking under 10. Can she lay down and get up no problem? If she is under 10 and she can lay down and get up no problem, I would suggest a horse therapist. They do acupuncture, laser therapy, deep muscle massage and chiro. All that gets blood flowing to the sore area and helps get things back together. If no to any of the two above, better painkillers. I'm very sorry this happened to your horse. We lost an older horse to a hip fracture, over tranquilized at a vet clinic by a new vet. The horse fell in the stocks on a cement floor. Also I would have a knowledgeable vet do a rectal while you are walking her to see how the area has healed together. Our horse was older, over 30, we kept him on painkillers and had to be on watch all the time when he laid down and got up because he needed help. We did the kind thing before winter set in. Horse chiropractor friend of mine, had a young four-year-old stallion fracture a hip. While she does not do laser therapy or acupuncture, she did do massage pressure points, and made sure everything else was aligned continually. The stallion healed up well, was broke and ridden, and still breeds mares to this day he is now 20 I believe. As you probably know, there are very few places that can x-ray a hip/pelvis as they need quite a powerful x-ray machine and it is very expensive.

Shes 13 I believe. She has some issues getting up and down but it has gotten easier it seems. Our chiropractor is worried that she might make things worse by adjusting her, however the horse is one that needed chiro every 4 months before the accident and she was due to be adjusted again when the accident happened as you could tell that she was very out again. We're pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place because of the expensive x-rays that would need to happen before the chiro but in order to get them we would need to haul her 5+ hours and that would just be awful for her.

 

[waresbear]

Keep her on the best painkillers you can. I am not a vet, but I really doubt this horse will be rideable again, much less out of constant pain. What you see now is as good as it gets, is this acceptable for her and you as an owner? Again I am so sorry this happened to your horse. Tragedy.

 

[walkinthewalk]

So far, I have lost my post twice when I try to get a link.

Please go to my post #16 in this link and cursor down to where The paragraph OP, if you are still reading---

https://www.horseforum.com/horse-health/older-mare-body-weight-807791/page2/

The horse in that post has used up half of a cat's nine lives and it's a miracle he is still here

Agree with Wares, your horse will need a lighter work load, or simply become a companion horse or maybe even a walki/trot lesson horse for anyone under 100#, if it has that kind of disposition.

There is not a vet in my area that will inject my horse and they all do that sort of thing. I never asked why but possibly because he is insulin resistant.

What I do for him


1. Cosequin ASU+ (Plus). Not cheap but it does help.

2. Red light therapy, 15-20 minutes daily. Always in the AM to help him move better for turnout (he comes in every night). A quality red light therapy pad is. It cheap but it's a one time investment, well worth the money. Mine is 12 years old and I've used it on horses, dogs, and my leg when I had cellulitis.

https://equinelighttherapy.com

I know the red light therapy helps. My personal opinion on magnetic therapy is that I will not waste my time

3. Go to WalMart, Walgreens, etc. and buy a chair size massage therapy pad. My horse loves that massage pad but he does. It like it directly on the hump over his sacrum. He has learned to tell me where he wants it by licking/chewing. I keep the vibrator on the Low setting. I hold it on him by thing a stretchable standing wrap around it & him.

The chair size massage pads are about $20. I would LOVE to have a SportzVibe massage/heat sheet but I don't have $700.

I use the massage pad after the red light therapy pad for 15-20 minutes max.

4. I have a hollistic vet/chiropractor/acupuncturist visit both my horses monthly. She is excellent at her craft and has been instrumental in saving this horse's life.

5. Study how your horse travels on the back end and continually look at how she wears her hooves and frogs. I'd they are wearing in a wonky manner she might benefit from custom made, orthotic shoes.

My horse has had to be on front shoes for his founder issues for awhile. He went into custom cut rear shoes two resets ago, in the holes of helping his back issues.

To-date they are the closest thing I've seen to a magic bullet for this horse.

However, making orthotic shoes is not a task for anyone without the education to understand how the hooves connect to the rest of the body. It would be really easy to more harm than good and perhaps even permanent harm.

This doesn't mean your horse needs orthotic shoes on the rear -- I only mention it as something to consider if she is walking funny and/or her rear hooves are not wearing evenly. It's a brand new thing for me and I've been dealing with my horse's fractured sacrum since 2007

 

[waresbear]

Once a bone knits, especially a big one like a pelvis, that is how they are going to travel. The bone is set. If this was two years ago, what you see is, is how the bone has healed and how the horse is going to travel. You may make her less painful with this, that ,and what have you, but nothing is going to make her travel sound again.

 

[walkinthewalk]

I forgot to add that a low starch diet will also help your horse, even if insulin resistance is not an issue. Too much starch can exacerbate inflammation

A quality grain-free ration balancer should work

This is my poor Joker putting up with the massage pad tied onto him. At $20, the massage pad does NOT have a timer.


Be sure you use a heavy duty extension cord. If you don't have electric at the barn, hopefully you could find one that is battery operated.

Also, just a heads up. even though Previcox is much easier on the stomach than bute, it still gave Joker ulcers. My hollistic vet said I could put him on Devils Claw instead but I have to research to see if it has negative interactions with the Cosequin ASU+.

If you aren't using any meds, you might try the Devils Claw. The hollistic vet uses it on her horses and said she buys it at our local Tractor Supply.

I hope this is all helpful for you.

Be prepared for extra work and extra $$$. I have learned that, as far as meds, nothing cheap is going to work. My best deal so far, has been that $20 massage pad

 

[walkinthewalk]

Once a bone knits, especially a big one like a pelvis, that is how they are going to travel. The bone is set. If this was two years ago, what you see is, is how the bone has healed and how the horse is going to travel. You may make her less painful with this, that ,and what have you, but nothing is going to make her travel sound again.

That is true -- that is not the point of the orthotic shoes, in Jokers case. Joker "rolls" on the outside of his hooves, much like a child that walks on the sides of its shoes.

His shoes are fashioned so as to prevent him from rolling his hooves. It's nothing new, but my farrier did do some inquiring before approaching me with the idea.

When I say it's a magic bullet, I mean that Joker is walking more comfortably than he has walked in a very long time. The way the shoes are fashioned somehow relieve some of the pressure that travels downward.

Is he now rideable? No and he never will be but he is a lot more comfortable, which is what the farrier was going for.

I'm merely trying to give the OP some options to keep on the closet shelf, that are working for Joker

i don't even know how long these shoes will work. Joker's run the gamut of staying barefoot, in & out of boots and various types of front shoes more times than I can count. He has so many things wrong, he shouldn't even be here.

Traditional Vets look at him 2-3 times annually and the hollistic vet examines him monthly, because I want fresh eyes on him to tell me if I'm missing something.

 

[waresbear]

Also, OP, find a vet who will do rectal exam while the horse walks to see if the pelvis is even together. If it's not, you need to talk to the vet about making a decision.