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Comment by Cindy Jeffery on December 14, 2012 at 1:26am

Thank you Jackie for your encouragement.  We are finding that Soul is healing slowly, we don't expect this to happen quickly, neither do we expect him to be totally sound for riding.  He belongs to my friends autistic son and the family visits everyday to change his blankets and SMB boots, I do the feeding, all of us massage his shoulder when we are with him and chatter away.  I have some frozen apples that were left in my horse trailer tack room, they are in good condition but they make for a nice refreshing treat for him :-)  He is such a character and very agile even with a bum leg.  He got a new turnout blanket and lolly gags around watching me feed the other horses, ears & eyes watching then I bring his breakfast and tease him about sleeping in, then he lifts himself up off the ground when I cluck and cajole him and comes to the feeder for his breakfast.  We don't use Bute as the vet had said because of what you just said, we were concerned he would injure himself further, like you say pain is his best friend right now.  We have him on MSM and Ruta right now but I believe he will soon be ready for some accupuncture and massage therapy.  His Mom is determined not to give up on him, likewise the rest of his family.

Comment by Jackie Cochran on December 11, 2012 at 10:28am

Be careful about pain relief.  If the injury is not healed the horse can make it a LOT worse if he does not feel pain!  This is the type of situation in which pain is the horse's friend.

It was in the 1930's I think, the Kellogg ranch had an Arabian foal/yearling (?) colt that got its foreleg broken above the knee, a complete break of the bone.  The leg healed crooked, they sold the young horse, and that horse, crooked leg and all, became a working ranch saddle horse.  The Arab stallion *Raffles had a complete break in his hind leg above the hock when he was over 20 in the 1950's (?), they put him in a sling for 6 weeks, and he went back to breeding mares until he died.

I have found that horses heal better if their people do something, it does not have to be much, hosing with cold water (well if you are in deep winter maybe you better sponge lightly with warm water!), light message if the horse agrees to it, and sympathetic words.  With *Raffles they would feed him individual blades of grass when he was in the sling.  Horses, at least Arabs, have survived much worse.  So long they have help they can come through some horrible things in the broken bone department.

So long Soul can get up on his own, takes interest in his surroundings and other horses, and keeps on eating and drinking (and pooping!) you can let tincture of time heal the injury, and when the horse is recovered give him some physical therapy to help stretch out the leg.  Riding can be part of this, in fact the vet told me to consider going ahead in "breaking" my colt to saddle and to start riding him even if he was only 2 years old.

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on December 10, 2012 at 10:30pm

Sure do get criticisum from people.  It seems everyone has something to say and all say we have to look out for the horses welfare first and if he is in pain he should be put down.  There are a lot of pain relievers out there and the possibility that Soul will recover, maybe not to his formal self but to the point that a teenage autistic boy can have his horse back to play ball with.  The horse wasn't real keen on riding and neither is the boy, but on the ground they are amazing together.

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on December 10, 2012 at 10:26pm

We spent time last night putting sport medicine boots on him, he'd never worn them before so was slightly irritated but couldn't do much about it.  His human had never put them on before but with my coaching she managed to do a pretty good job.  Change over day tomorrow, tonight he got a brand new turnout blanket so he should be pretty warm and dry when he lays down.  I brought my horses in to their stalls to have their feet done.  Soul was laying down watching as each horse came in, then his curiosity got to him and he got up to meet the new comers.  He even came into the stall that attaches to the pen he is in, quite a feat since he is strictly and outdoors kinda guy.  Yes I think the cold snow will help his good legs, will keep the laminitus at bay. We were very encouraged today by his demeanor, I think I will introduce my kind old gelding to him for a little company. So many people think horse need human intervention all the time to heal, if given the chance they can heal themselves on certain injuries.   My guys even know what herbs they need for minor ailments.  After all they are the ultimate herbalists. :-)  Currently we are looking for a massage therapist and accupuncturist, there is one around here but so far haven't made contact, she may be out of town.  Thank you for sharing about your colt it encourages me and in turn I can encourage Soul's owner, she plans to do everything she can to help him, she won't give up on him and Soul isn't giving up yet either.  I find it hard to know when the time is to pull the plug so to speak, but I have found in the past the horse will let us know.

Comment by Jackie Cochran on December 10, 2012 at 8:53am

My colt went down for 24 hours.  I could not get my colt to stand up.  I called the vet, he dropped by on his rounds and flipped the colt over so he was lying on his other side.  The vet was not hopeful, but the next morning I got to the stable and the colt was standing.  I was lucky, he had no extra health problems from this.

They just have to rest sometime, especially the front leg that is sound.  You HAVE to watch for the other front leg after he gets moving around.  Since you can't trim his sound foot when he is 3-legged the hoof will get out of balance and packed with dirt and manure.  Every time my colt was lying down when I was out at the stable I cleaned out the hoof on his sound leg.  When your horse finally walks with 4 legs ask the farrier to change his routine if necessary, and trim and balance the lame leg first, then the sound leg.

Wise horse, lying in the snow, cooling the strains on his sound leg.  I am also glad that the horse has a "pet" human.  Gives the horse a purpose in life.

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on December 10, 2012 at 2:27am

Yes I agree wholeheartedly! This horse is very interesting and scares me in the morning when I go out to feed.  I find him laying on the snow and he will stay there for quite awhile, I worry about the length of time he is down so I call to him he responds by wiggling his ear, nickering or lifting his head, I think maybe he is giving up but have discovered he is resting his 3 good legs and it takes a couple of hours.  I worry cause I read somewhere that horses shouldn't be down  for more than an hour at most, have any of you heard anything like that?  I also worry about pneumonia setting in because of his weakened condition, he has been this way for a month now.  We blanket him regularly and he wears sport medicine boots for extra support on all fours, lots of work involved changing wet blankets and boots.  He is lonely, his people only come visit him once a day usually in the dark, I have been trying to get them to understand he needs them there more and in the day light.  They are knew at having horses, only at for 3 years and are determined to save this horse.  They are not worried about him ever being rideable, he is a companion for an autistic teenager.  They play a game together in the arena with a pilates ball.  The teen has ridden and is good at it but prefers to play on the ground with the horse.   I've noticed how important it is that we humans spend quality time with our horses when they are sick or well, but especially sick.  Horse get depressed quite quickly especially ones who are the life of the party and are gregarious.  Just like people I'm thinking. :-)

Comment by Jackie Cochran on December 7, 2012 at 11:29am

It sounds like he is making a lot better progress than my colt did.  It took me four or five months after the kick to get my colt to walk on all four legs.

So long the horse is not giving up it sounds like you are doing the right thing.

Just realize that you may have to help the horse loosen his shortened tendons on the bad leg.

When a horse has heart almost anything is possible if the human is willing to do the work.

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on December 6, 2012 at 11:37pm

Yes, called the vet 16 days ago, didn't arrive until 4 days ago, not impressed although he is extremely overworked.  No imaging equipment, we live in a very rural area, the closest is 12 hours away.  The horse would definitely not get in the trail let alone travel on 3 legs.  After much reading on the internet, and confering iwth Davis University in California, we decided to go with my 30+ years experience living, working with and doctoring horses plus my experience with homeopathic remedies which is what I mentioned before.  It has been so long now that it's time to do physio and I have a vet coming that is certified to do accupuncture and equine massage therapy.  The first vet recommended putting him down and bute to relieve his pain, I felt he just didn't want to deal with it being overworked and all.  Even I (as a lay person) know there are many ways to relieve the horses pain to the point of recovery without putting him down.  Soul is a 6 year old Morab, bright, alert, in good physical condition except for his leg.  Over this long period of time he has been looking after himself, we have helped with his pain and he keep his leg very still, holding it up  or resting the tip of his hoof on the ground.  Today, I saw him balancing on 2 legs diagonally, which is something he hasn't done since the injury, he has been able to get up and down off the ground himself since the injury as well.  I can see healing has taken place, he now to the point of physio and massage therapy.  This horse has shown to me his tremendous heart that Morabs are so known for, awesome little horse.  He is determined to make it, we just have to be on guard for laminitus and other complications that could possibly happen. 

Comment by Jackie Cochran on December 6, 2012 at 7:46am

Yes, call the vet!

30 some years ago I had a yearling colt that was kicked in the elbow which caused a green-stick fracture of his elbow.  No possibility of a splint. The colt would not put weight on his leg.  After six weeks the vet told me to start doing physical therapy since the tendons on that leg had shrunk.  There I was, 6 months pregnant, stretching his leg out for around 20 minutes a day, and in a few months he finally started walking on all four legs.  I ended up donating him for a 4-H horsemanship project.  He did end up sound enough for harness work.

I know that the vet technology has gotten better since then, at least the imaging.

Comment by Mary-Joe Figueira on December 5, 2012 at 9:50pm

Have you called a vet. I don't think this is something a lay person should be trying to do on their own. It has been 16 days. Have you not called the vet. The horse is probably in pain. A fractured scapula could potentially cripple the horse if not dealt with.

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