After care for backwards fall

[the_sandiest_shoes]

My mare flew backwards off the trailer in a panic and tripped, falling upside down (happened in a split second and never did anything like this before - I’ll be extra careful going forward but what’s done is done). I saw her underside/ legs in the air, so I know she was upside down in some way, and then she instantly bounced back up and stood there looking at me and the hauler and my trainer.

I got a lead rope and walked her around carefully. Other than a couple of minor cuts and scratches she seemed completely fine. I don’t know how - it easily looked like it could have killed her. My trainer gave her banamine and we cleaned the little cuts and looked/felt her over carefully, seeing nothing.

She was monitored at the barn all day and seemed fine. I handwalked her last night and checked her all over again and nothing seemed sore or looked off (she did have banamine though).

My question is what should I do going forward? My plan was to just keep watching her and taking it easy and then trying some light work in a few days. I can’t easily get a vet out to check her and I don’t want to haul her into a vet, considering the nature of the accident that just happened, since she honestly (insanely, miraculously) seems totally fine. Is it really possible she flipped over off a trailer and is …fine?

[4horses]

Well, she certainly could be fine. It depends on how she landed. I would palpate her head/neck topline, and points of the pelvis. Look for any pain response. Horses can take a tumble without injury.

[mmeqcenter]

She certainly could be fine. However I’d definitely try to have a vet or chiropractor check her out all over. One possible concern often not thought of from a backwards fall is the possibility of broken withers. I’ve known a few horses that went months or years with progressively worse behavior (pain induced) due to undiagnosed broken withers. Broken withers don’t often present with an obvious lameness.

[the_sandiest_shoes]

I pressed hard all over her withers, neck and back/hips and she didn’t react, but I will see if I can a vet or chiro to check at some point…From what I think I saw she got lucky and landed on her butt before rolling backwards like an egg (rather than hitting head or withers first), but I’ll keep watching…

Thank you!

[lenapesadie]

@mmeqcenter

over. One possible concern often not thought of from a backwards fall is the possibility of broken withers.

I was about to post this same concern.

[joiedevie99]

Assuming she palpates ok now, I’d just have the chiro out this week to check her over.

[Displaced_Yankee]

Not exactly the same situation but kind of?

My horse slipped in a two-horse trailer, managed to stand up in the other stall, while we were traveling. I literally opened the side door to unload and my horse was on the other side as if I had loaded him there to begin with.

Horse backed off normal, proceeded to graze while we checked him over. Other than the obvious manure on his haunch from when he was down, no cuts or scratches. A frantic call to my vet and she prescribed 2-3 days of bute, 1 week of tack walking (as long as he seemed fine), and a chiro appointment as soon as possible. If anything seemed out of sorts I was to call her ASAP.

Horse was good until chiro appointment. Chiro adjustments were pretty much normal, no alarming adjustments that suggested an injury. He resumed full work and has loaded like a champ ever since.

YMMV

[JB]

@joiedevie99

Assuming she palpates ok now, I’d just have the chiro out this week to check her over.

Exactly this.

1-2 weeks out, to make sure there’s no real damage. I watched my then-2yo run down hill, try to stop hard, and his hind legs slid forward and he fell hard on his butt, backwards a little, then fell over.

He seemed fine, I didn’t find any swelling in the next days, no soreness. But a young growing body can handle a lot more than an adult. I decided to have my chiro out maybe 2 weeks after. I didn’t tell her what happened, and she asked me if I’d seen him fall. So yes, he was out enough behind, in a way that led her to think “fall”, and I’m glad I got that taken care of before he compensated for week or months and “suddenly” it was an issue when he went into work, or something.

[Texarkana]

How scary! To reassure you, most of the time, they really are fine. Just give the horse some time off and keep an eye out for swelling or pain, like you are already doing.

One time I was turning left out my driveway with a horse in the trailer and heard a loud BANG. Since I was turning, my side view mirror was angled just right to see into the trailer. I saw four hooves in the air! Somehow, someway, my tied horse flipped over onto her back in the stock trailer. I pulled over and by the time I ran around to the trailer, she was already back up on her feet. She didn’t even break the rope or halter. I still don’t know what happened but she was no worse for the experience.

[Kyrabee]

Just keep an eye on her.

I had a mare that sat down then went over. She was tied and pulled back just as I released the knot and she was on a bit of a down slope. She whacked her head hard enough to tear out a chunk of forelock. No blood was seen. She got right back up and seemed fine. I did call the insurance for sure in case something showed later. She was fine.

Good to keep an eye on any suspected head injury.

Susan

[Texarkana]

@Kyrabee

Good to keep an eye on any suspected head injury.

To this point…

Same horse I mentioned above whacked her head in the trailer on a different trip. It was such a minor incident and I saw no wound, so we went on our way. When we arrived at our destination, which happened to be the vet clinic, she had the tiniest trickle of blood on her face. The vet insisted on cleaning it up, and it was a good thing he did because she fractured the crest of her skull. The broken bone not only punctured through her skin under her forelock, there were also bone shards embedded deep into tissues. It took nearly an hour to clean out the wound and she ended up with several sutures. Later that afternoon when we got home, the mare started displaying weird neuro behavior consistent with TBI. With a lot of anti-inflammatories and rest, she was fine. But boy was that an ordeal for something that seemed like no big deal in the moment!

[leesa1]

@the_sandiest_shoes

I pressed hard all over her withers, neck and back/hips and she didn’t react, but I will see if I can a vet or chiro to check at some point…From what I think I saw she got lucky and landed on her butt before rolling backwards like an egg (rather than hitting head or withers first), but I’ll keep watching…

The surface that she landed on, was it hard or soft/sand?

For what it’s worth, my horse had an accident that landed him on his back and he also palpated fine repeatedly. After big issues under saddle, several examinations by vets, physios, chiros, dentists and saddle fitters all cleared him of physical issues and each diagnosing that it must be behavioural/training, professional riders who got no improvement despite months of training and my eventual insistence of an xray with (yet another) new vet, his fractured withers were found. By then years had passed unfortunately. Whether they would have healed better if found sooner, who knows.

I’ve also had a physio declare a horse pain-free and no back problems despite kissing spine being found on xray the day prior and back soreness felt by the vet.
Palpating fine does not necessarily indicate that nothing is wrong in there! If your horse has any out-of-character behaviour when they come back into work, please follow your gut and get scans if necessary!

An opinion is just an opinion but scans don’t lie.

Edited to add: I just read your bit about your horse landing on her butt first. my horse also landed on his butt first, it didn’t save his withers unfortunately but it also caused a twisted pelvis, muscle wastage on the side he landed, suspected SI problems and a bunch of undiagnosed-but-obvious soft-tissue problems over his hind end.

The only reason I say this is to make you aware that palpating a horse and having them not flinch doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t problems deep within the body. If your horse shows any problems under saddle that they haven’t done before, please give them the benefit of the doubt and get scans.

[leesa1]

Here’s a video of my horse with his fractured wither. It’s not difficult to see why he fooled so many equine professionals into thinking he was pain-free.

buzz4

I could visibly see a difference in him. The angles between his point of hip, ischium and his SI had all changed and rotated kind of backwards. If you look closely at the bit where he stops and stands under the shelter, you can see his lumber spine is raised and there’s a flat spot between where the lumbar vertebrae end and the sacral ones begin. That and the tail being held straight out. Subtle signs that treating professionals thought were normal, but that I knew weren’t there before his accident.

As his owner you will be more familiar with your horse’s body than people who see your horse only rarely. Trust your gut!

[the_sandiest_shoes]

Totally understand on the palpating thing - it was sand that she landed on (soft).

I’ll continue to monitor. I know her well and she’s not stoic under saddle when she’s in pain, so that’s helpful.

[Clover5]

I would caution you not to wait too long to have a vet out.

I had a horse who flipped coming out of a trailer the day he arrived. I wasn’t present, and the trainer didn’t tell me about the accident - I found out many months later from a barn worker who witnessed it.

He wasn’t lame, he wasn’t obviously sore. He didn’t buck, he didn’t kick. He jumped 3’ courses, and did perfect lead changes, and generally took care of me. He was just kind of crabby under saddle - switching his tail, pinning his ears periodically, etc. It was blamed on him being annoyed by my leg brushing him with spurs (I’d never used them before but he needed them; though they were the nubbiest, bluntest little spurs you’ve ever seen). After a few months of continuous crabbiness the assistant trainer proposed that he was not being annoyed by the spurs and that he was, in fact, sore.

We had him checked out, and let me tell you this horse was a SAINT to have been packing me around. He was sore everywhere. We didn’t know the extent of the problem (or what caused it, at least at first) so it was a months-long game of whack-a-mole with different sorenesses and subtle lameness. We did hock injections, ulcer treatment, and massage/chiro. We messed around with shoeing and we rehabbed for his SI issues. It felt like an endless cycle where we’d get one part of his body better and find out somewhere else was sore; realizing the part we just fixed had been so bad that it had been masking the other problem. Eventually we had a bone scan done, and he lit up like a Christmas tree. Hid neck, back, shoulders - you name it, it was probably sore. We didn’t have X-rays done, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had broken his withers.

His jumping career was over, and his future as a light riding horse was questionable. I ended up losing him to colic about a year after the accident, so I can’t say how everything would have turned out in the long run - but I’m sure he would have had a better chance of recovery if he’d been extensively checked out and aggressively treated from the get-go.

She may be ok, but if it were me I’d be inclined to get her withers x-rayed, her SI assessed by a vet and/or trusted massage/chiro person, and maybe have her checked with one of those lameness locators if you have access to one. At the very least I would give her a week or three off riding, in case she’s bruised her topline, and have her get a massage, since falls like that usually result in at least some muscle tension and soreness.

Most people would probably consider this overkill (which is fair!), but believe me, it is completely heartbreaking having a horse go through what my horse did. I hope she was lucky and walks away from this unscathed.

[bingbingbing]

That’s very sad Clover5. So sorry.

I totally agree with giving the horse some time off, how could she not at least be sore from falling like that. I’d have a vet check her over as well.

[the_sandiest_shoes]

Thank you! I have not been able to book a vet or chiro to come out yet but I will once one is available for peace of mind (they’re busy and don’t deem it urgent based on my description).

[Libby2563]

@Texarkana

Somehow, someway, my tied horse flipped over onto her back in the stock trailer.

@Texarkana

Same horse I mentioned above whacked her head in the trailer on a different trip.

@Texarkana Please tell me this was Abby and you don’t have two disaster-prone mares!!

[Texarkana]

@Libby2563

@Texarkana Please tell me this was Abby and you don’t have two disaster-prone mares!!

Oh it’s ALL Abby. It’s always Abby. Never a dull moment with her.

[StormyDay]

I would X-ray the withers. My OTTB flipped (though no one told me ) and he broke his wither. Weirdly enough he was non reactive on it until it started having minor arthritis from it later down the line. I rode him the week after it happened and he was perfect and he went to shows in the months following it.
About two years later he started having issues and we xrayed and found out he had cracked it real good. Luckily it healed ok, it looks funky on the X-ray, but it doesn’t bother him.