Health Cautions In Horse Rehab

There are many things that can go wrong with rehabilitating a horse but the rewards are great also. Having a good team including veterinarian, farrier, trainer and groom (even if you are the last two!) helps a horse get back to a healthy state faster.

There are several things to be concerned with when horses have been badly out of shape. It can alter their mental state of mind. More than this even is the physical issues to correct and to dodge while on the road to recovery.

Founder or laminitis is an issue in the feet that causes tremendous discomfort. It can be caused by a sudden overload of feed, drug, stress and concussion (once called “road founder”). Horses that are fat can be extremely susceptible to this as and so can very skinny horses whose nutrition is increased in order to put weight back on them. Prevention is much better than cure. Extreme cases can result in rotation of the coffin bone in the foot which presses on the sole, creating a great deal of pain.

This is a disease which has resulted in euthanizing of famous and unknown horses alike. Secretariat, the legendary racehorse, was a laminitis statistic as well as Barbaro. Modern veterinary techniques can cut the tendons, which relieves pressure on the coffin bone but cannot change the prognosis of severe cases. Horses with this disease are often heavy in the front end or have suffered an injury that causes them to shift their weight to the other foot. Horses affected often rock back in an attempt to take the weight off their sore front feet. Back feet can also be affected.

I admit it, I cried watching this video:

Abscesses are another issue that can affect the feet. Like founder it can often happen in the front feet and the horse will shift the weight backwards to ease the pressure. The difference is that abscesses are very fixable. Horses that have been in wet or muddy conditions can come up with these. If you pick up the foot and gently but firmly press with the handle end of a screwdriver on the foot you can often narrow down where the abscess is.

Treatment involves having a veterinarian or farrier dig out the abscess. You will need to keep the horse in a clean, dry stall until it is healed. Sometimes a daily soak in a pan of water and Epsom salts is recommended to draw out the abscess and speed healing.

Colic is another problem that can occur, especially in cases of parasite overload added to poor condition added to stress. Colic is a general term for a belly ache and in a horse is a very serious situation requiring veterinarian intervention. Often the horse begins with being uncomfortable, perhaps laying down more than normal. If you make him get up he’ll lay down again, often trying to roll. This means getting the horse on his feet and walking him by hand.

As the spasm hits he may try to go down but it is important to keep him up and walking. It might seem ‘cruel’ but if it takes hitting him with ropes or whips to keep him up on his feet it’s that important to do it. The more a horse rolls the higher the chances of the intestine twisting. If this happens the choices are euthanization or surgery, and they may or may not make it out of the expensive surgery.

These three issues are not uncommon but do need rapid treatment. Do some research into these conditions, particularly if you are taking on an abused horse. And having a good equine veterinarian is important. It maximizes the chances of recovery for your horse to have quick action for these problems.