Managing the cast-prone horse: banked bedding? Anti-cast strips? What else?

[irishchick]

Just got a call that my horse was cast in his stall, for the second time in a week. He eventually got up both times on his own after the barn manager arrived, but for the sake of my sanity I’d like to implement some preventive measures.

Stall is a foaling stall – 12’ X 24’. Horse is 17.1, 7 years old, can lie down and get back up without issue. The cause both times was poor judgment of where to lie down for a roll (too close to the wall, winding up propped against the wall after rolling all the way over then slipping down just enough to get stuck enough to give up).

24/7 turnout is not an option for this horse, to my great disappointment (we tried it for four months and he became severely sleep deprived; I board and there are no other full-time turnout spaces available).

What is the collective wisdom regarding the effectiveness of cast strips or deep bedding banks? I would like to keep an anti-roll surcingle as a last resort, as given his sleep problems I don’t want to do anything that might discourage him from lying down if I can help it.

[StormyDay]

Edit: Apparently I can’t read today.

I’d try banking deeply on the sides with straw. The straw kind of latches together and can’t get kicked around as easily as shavings do.

[Scribbler]

I read somewhere that horses with ulcers may choose to lie on their backs to ease the pain, and that sometimes this causes casting. I don’t know if it’s true but it’s an interesting idea. I just don’t think any horse is dumb enough to accidentally roll over and get stuck multiple times.

[Equkelly]

I’d go to a different barn with a better 24/7 turnout situation where he feels safer and will sleep.

[endlessclimb]

Sounds counter intuitive but - a smaller stall where he doesn’t have so many choices as to “where to lie down” so you can concentrate your efforts would probably be a good option. I’ve personally found that cast prone horses do better in not-giant stalls.

Otherwise, I think those cast strips look promising. Except I’m a cheap-o and would just screw a ledge of 2x4s along the wall for him to get a grip on.

Edit, are the stalls matted? Putting down mats might make it juuuuust slippy enough that if he were struggling he would slide further out from the wall. Not too slick, obviously.

[sheltona01]

I have seen anticast rollers. It attaches like a girth but doesn’t let them roll. I knew a lady who used it at show. Not sure I would want it on every day.

[trubandloki]

@endlessclimb

Sounds counter intuitive but - a smaller stall where he doesn’t have so many choices as to “where to lie down” so you can concentrate your efforts would probably be a good option. I’ve personally found that cast prone horses do better in not-giant stalls.

This is my experience too. Sounds so backwards, but it worked for more than one horse I know.

I think the cast strips (or a board) are a good thing to try too. It allows them to push against the wall and themselves further away if they are stuck at an angle.

In your case I think the decision of what to do also involves what your barn owner is willing to let you do. Are they OK with a deeply bedded banked stall?

[NancyM]

If the horse is going to need to push off the stall wall, CHECK the planks in the wall for how “springy” they are. Because:
When I was a race groom as a kid, the other groom and I arrived early at the barn to feed breakfast before the boss got there. The other groom would start at one end of the shedrow, and I would start at the other, opening doors, putting feed in. I opened one door, and sticking through the wall was a leg, from the horse in the next stall over. She opened that door, and saw the mare, who WAS standing, with her leg caught between the planks, snapped back on her cannon bone. We don’t know exactly how it happened… they were very old, very tough oak planks, not normally considered “springy” at all. But there it was. We dealt with it. The other groom pulled on the plank (injured her back doing this) and I removed the hind leg. We presumed that she had been cast, kicked at the wall attempting to free herself, and the leg went through and the planks snapped back tight on it, and then, somehow, she got up. We presumed it would be broken… but surprisingly, it was not. Badly mangled though, huge long recovery, lots of scar tissue, major injury. The boss arrived, after we had her free, it was a horrific injury. She returned to the races the next year, and won a few more.
But when I walk through other people’s barns, I often see stall walls just like this… planks that have way more “spring” than these old oak ones did. Planks that would “give” if a cast horse was thrashing into them- give, and let a leg through, and snap back hard on the leg. Every barn I have had since then always has a center post mid wall to support the planks. Because of that day, and that injury.
Good luck with a horse who casts itself often. I had one once, home bred filly, who did this. She just didn’t care. She would just lie there, and wait to be rescued. Usually cast in a paddock fence. Daily. Not sick, no colic… she just didn’t care. Eventually, someone told me to beat her with a broom while she was cast, which I was reluctant to do. But eventually, I tried it. To “frighten” her about being caught in the fence, so that she would CARE. It worked. She thought about it, and didn’t do it any more. So there you go, for what it’s worth. YMMV.

[endlessclimb]

Not my go-to, but interesting thought process, and even more interesting that it worked.

[pokesaladannie]

I have a horse that gets cast every so often. The fix was quite easy. We bought a stall mat, cut itin into two inch strips that we bolted to the walls at about 3ft high. Cheap and easy as long as barn manager is cool with it. Good luck.

[joiedevie99]

We have one who gets cast by rolling all the way over. Hasn’t happened once since he started wearing his anticast roller overnight about 18 months ago.

[candyappy]

Maybe he needs a 24x24 stall ? Is he continually getting cast against the short side? Might be the stall is just too small and no matter which way he lays when he rolls he hits a wall?

[horsepoor]

I had one on stall rest that had several incidents of getting cast, including a very scary one in super cold weather when his body temp was crazy low after getting him up. Banking the bedding didn’t help. We screwed 2x4s to the walls as anti-cast strips as I needed it NOW (didn’t want to wait on an order) and that was much cheaper than the ones you buy. I want to say we put them about 30-36" off the floor but I can’t remember for sure - I had used the marks on the wall from his struggles to kind of figure out the right height. They seem to have been effective as he was never found cast again. This was in my own barn, but if at a boarding barn, they’d be easy enough to remove again if needed so I hope they wouldn’t object.

I also had a friend who had a mare that she used an anti-cast roller on and it was very effective as long as the barn staff remembered to put it on.

[irishchick]

Thanks everyone.

Barn manager would like to try cast strips before getting involved with bedding banks, and will affix strips cut from an old rubber mat this afternoon. So we’ll see how that goes.

Ulcers: I’ll ask my vet, though it seems unlikely–he’s just not the type and has no other symptoms, and has been on KER RiteTrac since July as it is. And he doesn’t seem to seek out the upside down position, just to get overly excited while rolling and go too far.

Smaller/larger stall: he always winds up against the long back wall, not the short wall. He’s quite messy in a 12’X12’ and consequently the ammonia fumes get rather strong, but I’ll try that if the rubber strips don’t help. All the stalls are matted.

@Equkelly

I’d go to a different barn with a better 24/7 turnout situation where he feels safer and will sleep.

I’m honestly not sure such a situation exists at all. In any case I’d prefer not to consider a move unless absolutely everything else fails, as doing so would entail a pretty serious compromise of one or more of care/turnout/management/coaching/commute.

@NancyM

But when I walk through other people’s barns, I often see stall walls just like this… planks that have way more “spring” than these old oak ones did. Planks that would “give” if a cast horse was thrashing into them- give, and let a leg through, and snap back hard on the leg.

That’s terrifying.