Anyone have experience with this? Looking for performance horses that returned to work, how long were they off, and what therapies were used to assist in healing. TIA
You are asking about a broken pelvis? If so, it depends. It depends on exactly WHERE the break is mostly. And (to my knowledge) this is not something that you can easily discern… xraying a horse’s pelvis is not really feasible. At least it isn’t in my reality. Not knowing for sure exactly where the break is located means that you have to proceed blindly, hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst, and let the horse tell you how things are proceeding. Having this knowledge does not make the situation any better or worse for you or the horse, it would just encourage you to put the horse down if it is bad. If it is bad, it will become apparent in time.
I’ve known of three cases, two were my own horses, the third belonged to a friend. All three recovered. Stall rest is a good option, if possible. Pain management while healing. Then it depends on how well it heals, and whether the break effects a joint, or not. If clear of a joint, the prognosis is fairly good. Yes, they may end up with an asymmetrical pelvis, looks a bit lopsided. It may result in soundness issues in later life, due to the asymmetry, or not.
The horse who won the Grand National steeplechase a few years ago had broken it’s pelvis TWICE previous to winning the race. Recovery was successful each time, obviously. So take heart, that there is hope for your horse, if this is what you are looking at.
With recovery from a serious injury like this, a lot depends on the horse himself, how mentally tough he is, how he handles pain, whether he will continue to eat and drink and not be too stressed with the long recovery, how he handles anti inflammatory drugs. Ulcers are an issue, from the pain, from the stress, from the confinement in a stall. Laminitis is also a possibility, from weight baring on the sound side (Barbaro). If your horse can avoid these pitfalls, good chance that the bone will heal, in time.
If this is something that has happened in the past, and you are just looking at an uneven pelvis, already fully healed… it is what it is. Whether it is functional or not, and whether it becomes a problem at a later date is something that you only find out in time. As with all serious injuries, a less stressful athletic career will be safer for long term soundness, but that Grand National winner seemed to do OK, so never say never.
Good luck!
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Most people refer to a tuber coxae fracture as a knocked down hip. If this is what you mean, I know 3 or 4 off the top of my head. All but one returned to previous (low level) work. The one that didn’t, I think was actually due to management that was too conservative. The horse was locked in a stall with out even hand walking for about 8 months. She had range of motion issues that the other horses did not have. The others were hand walked and given supervised turnout much sooner.
The muscle attachments are altered when the tuber coxae is fractured and the horse needs both time to heal and easy range of motion exercises to prevent excessive shortening of the muscles. Of course, if the horse is on three legs, that has to be taken into consideration, too. With regard to stall rest vs. movement.
If you are referring to any other pelvic fracture, I have some experience with others. Most other pelvic fractures are very bad, need very careful management, and have poor prognosis. Although, I do know one who spent months in a tie stall and has since come back to light work.
Pelvic fractures are relatively easily identified with ultrasound and if you need further diagnostics, that is the way to go.
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Yes it is his tuber coxae and he is perfectly comfortable now. His gait is still abnormal though. We are about 8 weeks in. We do lots of stretching in hopes of preventing the muscle from shortening and we do PMEF 2-3 times a week. Wondering what else could be added in that others have found successful. Wanted to do some laser but haven’t been able to make that happen. Also considering some hydrotherapy after the first of the year. He is 8 and was is top shape when the injury occurred. He was supposed to be my upper level dressage horse 
Aquatread can be great for range of motion.
I have never actually tried it on one of these horses, but I once discussed using an Equiband on horses like this with a couple of physical therapists and PhD types. The short version of the thinking is that one of the muscles most effected with this fracture is the tensor facia lattae which has a big role in postural support. The Equiband is a postural trainer and will encourage the horse to use itself correctly and develop the muscling it needs to compensate.
You can put the Equiband on at any gait, even if handwalking, or on the treadmill. They are also relatively inexpensive.
