I am window shopping. (things hit another snag, so this is all I can afford)
One cute ‘pony’ was advertised as rehabbing from said slab fracture.
I had to look it up, because, well…no clue.
Did I get this right, it is basically a large chip that may or may not reattach itself to the bone it broke off of?
I would only be looking for a trail buddy and pet and I understand that arthritis might become a problem later on. I have no clue about rehabbing and might not be in a good location to handwalk either. (and I am not even tire kicking…just looking from afar)
Are you asking if you should consider this horse as a trail horse?
If it were me, I’d pass if you want the horse to be ridden.
Slab fractures are knee fractures, most simply put. They are not “just” a chip. One of the weight bearing bones that makes up the knee literally cracks.
They can be tricky to rehab and return to work.
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Is it fresh? Or is it an old slab fracture already healed and the horse is sound on it without pain management? Was it operated on? If it was, a vet was involved, and may have an opinion, if asked. There may be xrays already that could be accessed and evaluated by your own vet. New xrays may be taken, and evaluated. If it’s an OLD slab fracture, and already healed, and the horse is sound on it, and you like the horse, and the price is right, for “recreational trail riding”, I wouldn’t be too frightened to at least consider it as a possible mount for you IMO. I may not consider it as a prospect for advanced three day eventing. But, knees are funny- some can xray as “horrific” with past injury, “look like a jigsaw puzzle” and stay sound no problem. Others don’t. Buying a horse is always a risk, this is a risk. Get used to it- there are no guarantees.
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I’m not the OP but she said the ad said “rehabbing from a slab fracture” which makes me think it is not old and healed. That’s a gamble I wouldn’t take from an unknown seller.
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To clarify: Yes, it would be for light riding/trails.
the ‘pony’ in question has done the first steps in the rehab, but - and I am probably mixing it up with a horse with a bow - is still in the handwalk phase and restricted turnout. So not brand new and not quite old enough.
The price would be fair for this type of project.
And this is more a question for the future as more has popped up that would not let me justify buying a Breyer, let alone a real horse with ongoing bills.
So how does one go about rehabbing something like this, assuming the hard work is done, the stall rest completed, the initial transition to ‘work’ has been started?
Well if it’s healed and the horse is back in work, you are just getting the horse fit like any other horse.
The problem is knees take a lot of abuse, so sometimes when work resumes you realize that because of the injury, the horse can no longer hold up to the workload. The arthritis just gets too severe.
My experience with knee injuries is that if the horse has residual pain or arthritis in the knee, it’s going to bother them regardless of whether you’re doing light work or heavy work. It’s not they type of injury where you just lighten the workload and they are fine.
The stat is something like 50% of slab fractures return to their former level of work with no issues. Slab fractures are not guaranteed career-enders, but they are definitely a gamble which side you’ll end up on, especially if you don’t know how it was managed.
I wouldn’t always say no to one, but if the horse isn’t demonstrably holding up to regular work, it better be very affordably priced (like free or a few hundred), knowing they may never be able to hold up to regular work.
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That is good to know.
When I said ‘work’ I meant hand walking and limited turnout. I suppose the owners think the knee won’t hold up to more than trails etc.
We had a race mare that had a complete slab of the 3rd carpal. We took her to Rood & Riddle, put 2 screws in it and she returned to racing and winning. But, it took a solid year of rehab. Hand walking, swimming, then walking under tack, jogging and very slowly and carefully building her back up. She then chipped the same knee and we retired her to the broodmare group.
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You would work with a vet’s advice on how to rehab, and when to start, how much to do. Depending on when the injury was done, and the location of the slab fracture, and what treatment, if any, was given. Once healed, light work begins. How long it takes to heal depends on the break, and whether or not it was operated on (screws inserted), or not. Again, the vet would decide which option is the best chance. I had friends whose race gelding slab fractured his knee, they did NOT operate (vet’s advice), he was on stall rest only for several months (which he took well). He went back into race training, and raced for several more years. You need more information to be able to make a judgement about whether this horse might be functional for what you are looking for.
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that’s the type of info I was looking for, thank you
My gelding (RIP)- in my profile picture had a slab fracture and retired from the track. He was rehabbed and a year and a half later, was completely sound. He hunted, did the hunters/eq, and jumped around 3’9" no problem.
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