Thursday, June 7, 2012

Equine Supplement And Fractures On Your Horse

By Mark Givens


A good equine supplement is really helpful for your horse's health, especially in building up its bones. When your horse suffers from a break, here are some signs and symptoms. A horse is all of a sudden totally unable to make use of the leg, a loud crack is observed prior to the beginning of lameness, the limb is completely unstable or at an uncommon angle or the animal is in severe pain. In such conditions, the horse is going to be shocked, so cover him using a rug and phone your vet instantly, requesting an emergency visit. Keep the horse still as he may panic when he finds out he cannot move. Food can have a soothing influence; hay plus a bucket of feed are great critical "pain relievers".

Often a horse will become obviously lame when a bone is broken. The end result is dependent upon many factors that differ from case to case. Many horses obtain basic or hairline fractures and recover with rest and proper care. Others have problems, or have a lot more serious injuries. Miracles do occur and horses that should have succumbed to a serious break have come back with flying colors. Other times a gentle break leads to terrible complications. Horses are prone to devastating leg cracks because of their weight and power. Think of a piece of chalk. If you were to push it down with weight and force it could crush into itself and crumble. It is a similar scenario with a horse's leg bone. An injury like this is often seen over the racetrack and usually results in euthanasia. Though not all bone injuries happen this way nor do they all bring about death.

Lameness because of "splints" is most frequent in two-year-old horses going through training. The lameness is most apparent as the horse is trotting, working or quickly thereafter. Lameness may appear and go or perhaps be present constantly for as long as a year. If one palpates the lower limb along the side of the cannon bone and splint bone, the horse will exhibit a pain response when force is used to an irritated area. This can be a sizable swelling where ossification (calcium mineral depositing) is already happening or a really small swelling where ossification is just beginning. It is important to be aware that there may be more than one splint developing on a horse simultaneously. After the inflammation has totally subsided and the ossification is completed, the soreness usually disappears.

Cracks in the coffin bone or distal phalanx usually occur in the horse following some type of trauma, usually from kicking, or perhaps a significant force put on the coffin bone (i.e., racing on hard tracks). However, they could take place from a penetrating object or because of a serious infection in the hoof that has extended to the coffin bone. In these cases, the bone fracture is 2nd to the infection. Although coffin bone fractures are unusual when compared with other fractures that take place in the horse, they happen most often in Standardbred racehorses, Quarter Horses, and Thoroughbred racehorses, and also can occur in foals. Fractures in the coffin bone occur most commonly within the forelegs, no matter the breed or use of the horse.

A very good equine supplement is perfect for your horse. Equine splint bones run down both sides of the horse's leg and fasten by ligaments to the shinbone, also called the cannon bone. A remnant of the five toes held by ancient horses, the splint bones can be weighed against the first and third finger which is the ring finger of human beings. Splint fractures vary in their location on the bone, the problems that may ensue as well as their causes, but all involve a major break on one or both of these bones. Veterinary remedy varies depending on these aspects.




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