I have a mare that had a clean break in her left front sesamoid from attempting to jump out of a round pen while weaning, made it the first 4.5ft, took with her the last foot, I am told :lol:.
She had 3 mos stall rest after setting the break apparently.
I was weary when purchasing her at two but had her xray’d by the same vet clinic who handled the initial call/treatment, ironically the vet I always use and trust. Xrays show full calcification of break, very tricky to notice despite the slightly larger bone around the ankle area.
Vet stated that we were lucky it happened at a very young age and healed well.
Mare has never been lame a day in her life and she is now my Level one/schooling two dressage horse, whom I also dabble in 3’ hunters.
I think injuries all depend on, cleanliness of the break, (fractures I was told can be trickier) and timeliness of setting/proper rehab.
My vet advised that the nature of horses being prey animals, their injuries heal quickly and strongly to prevent reinjury of same bone. But I think that can be a problem as well. Healing too quickly + How it heals = the real question.
Now, another filly was purchased at my barn, had a similar injury but owner did not feel the need to give stall rest. As soon as she ‘looked’ sound she was out with the herd and often times owner insisted that filly needed to learn ‘join up’. So she was chased around a small arena, galloping at full speed until she yielded.
A year later filly now 2.5 y/o, looks sound but even to my untrained eye you can see a slight hitch when landing on the joint.
Horses are tough creatures. They can bounce back from a lot given luck and proper knowledgeable treatment.
I wish you luck!
