Broken Pelvis in foal

[NaniLio]

A - I’m so sorry to hear about your boy Our 2010 Landkoenig filly jumped out of the pasture in March and stumbled on landing resulting in a complete fracture of the acetabulum. Luckily it was not displaced. She was anesthetized and rads were done to confirm after Brian was unable to image or block out at home. She did 3 1/2 months of complete stall rest. She didn’t set foot outside of the stall the entire time. How she didn’t loose her mind is beyond me! Brian wanted her to be thin to help alleviate some of the stress on the fracture. I don’t know how much that played a roll in her recovery but it’s something we did. After the stall rest she was transitioned to a flat paddock and then back to full pasture. She was weak and sore initially but was very good about pacing herself.

This is her 7 months after her injury.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRkXfPvWsrE

I don’t know what her long term prognosis will be, Brian’s opinion is that we just continue on conservatively letting her tell us what she’s able to withstand. Some of his ortho friends have suggested doing PRP or something along those lines which we may do at some point.

I hope it works out with your boy. Let me know if you want me to have Brian send any of the info he accumulated while we were figuring out Laka’s injury.

[buschkn]

Well it looks likes we might be in a similar situation with one of my weanlings. He’s been off for a few weeks and a pelvic fracture is suspected. We’ve tried stall rest and now will be taking him for xrays under anesthesia so they can lie him on his back. Hope the OP’s baby is doing well. Is good to hear about other experiences so we know what to expect.

[Kyzteke]

A friend of mine had a foal who fractured her pelvis. She was still on her mom when it happened. I don’t know all the details, but the filly had some 6-8 weeks of stall rest and recovered just fine.

My stallion was very lame and my vet thought it might be a pelvic fracture and said the outcome might not be so bad if he had 2-3 months of stall rest. However further xrays showed it was him femur that was fractured and he was put down.

I wish you luck.

[Highflyer]

We had one that did it as a weanling-- she ended up not sound enough to race but was sound enough to be a pleasure/ local show horse. She came from the breeding farm with the injury (they had xrayed her and said she was fine and just needed rest, and when we got her she was LAME and suddenly the rads had disappeared) and it took a long time for her to seem comfortable even in the stall-- we did Banamine to help her get up and down and Ulcerguard to get her eating and she stayed in the stall for several months and then in the portapad for a while.

[Ridewithnopride]

I’m very sorry you are dealing with this!

I guess it depends on what you intend to do with this horse. If you bred it for yourself, than you will have to evaluate whether it will ever have the potential and capabilities to persue what you want. However, if it was bred as re-sale than thats a completely different story.

Honestly, if it was mine, I would put it down. Given the way the market is and the fact that theres plenty of other sound horses out there looking for homes…again, thats just me.

[dianehalpin]

I don’t know about that, Ridewithnopride.

I knew a reining champion who was very toed-out in back which caused him to break his pelvis in a sliding stop as he basically did the splits. He was put on long-term stall rest. The break healed in such a way that he was straighter in back and he went one to win even more championships.

If this young horse we’re speaking of is not in uncontrollable pain and if stall rest can mend him, I would go with it until further notice and vet’s advice, at least. He may wind up being a major talent.

[Wits_End_Eventing]

Stall rest it is

Thanks to everyone who replied to our question. We appreciate the stories of recovery and the honesty of recommendations to put him down. We have decided that as long as he remains bright eyed and not in pain we will wait the injury out with him and hope for the best. Should his hip deteriorate we will put him down as we would not want him to live in pain.

Thanks again,
“A” and Dale

[EquineLVR]

I had an OTTB come to me with a fractured Pelvis that some where along the line had healed but obviously was lame and not rideable - however she is quite happy to just hang out and be a broody - perfectly fine and pasture sound.