Fractures in Horses

Treating fractures in horses used to be quite difficult, and for that reason most afflicted horses were euthanized. Fortunately, as time has progressed so has technology, making it easier to treat these types of cases.

Symptoms and Types

The symptoms of a fracture may go unnoticed for some time and are dependent on the area of the fracture; among them:

• Severe pain in or around the fracture
• Swelling in the affected area
• Strange posturing
• Lifting the affected leg off the ground
• Strange angle of affected leg
• Failure to place weight on affected leg or an uneven weight distribution

Causes

There are a variety of situations where a horse might fracture a bone, but it most often occurs when excessive force is directed at the bone. This can happen as a result of an awkward kick, a bad fall, or from undue strain at competitive events. Bone fractures are most often seen in race track horses because of the high level of intensity in racing.

Diagnosis

Some bone fractures are more easy to diagnose than others. While many fractures display external, visible signs, others are less obvious. If there are no outer signs of a bone fracture, a veterinarian may take X-rays, or use a scintigraph (a device which uses radioactive tracers to generate an image of the affected area).

It is also important to be aware that fractures occurring in the horse's trunk or head are hard to identify at first because the animal does not always exhibit signs of the injury immediately.