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Linkat
Posts: 8411
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I always wondered about this. People and most animals that break a limb simply end up getting them put in a cast or repaired in some way. Why do you kill a horse that breaks its leg? Why not try to repair it?
Here is a pony that was given a fake leg.
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littlek
Posts: 39225
Location: Boston
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There's a reason. I don't really know it. Something along the lines that horses stand 24/7, they don't lei down. It's hard to have a leg heal when you're always standing on it.
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Linkat
Posts: 8411
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| littlek wrote: |
| There's a reason. I don't really know it. Something along the lines that horses stand 24/7, they don't lei down. It's hard to have a leg heal when you're always standing on it. |
I would imagine it is more difficult, but people go to crazy lengths for their animals - it just seems that they would do the same for a horse.
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littlek
Posts: 39225
Location: Boston
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Wy
Posts: 1943
Location: US - top left corner
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One way is to put the horse in a sling and lift its weight off the ground. This is very stressful; the horse's general health often deteriorates severely if this is tried.
Basically, it comes to a choice between long, expensive treatment that may not work, and stressing the horse to its limits.
Yes, people go to crazy limits for their animals, but sometimes euthanasia is the best of a bunch of horrible choices.
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littlek
Posts: 39225
Location: Boston
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The cruelest part of this, given the options for a broken horse leg, is that people still race them.
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Letty
Posts: 36260
Location: Daytona Beach area
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Equus
Posts: 5066
Location: Shawnee Mission, KS
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A broken leg is much more serious for a horse than a human. Horses need to walk/stand for proper blood circulation. The act of walking helps pump blood back through their leg and into their body. A horse that cannot do this will die anyway and suffer tremendously.
Broken legs can be fixed, but it is astronomically expensive. Most horses, except those worth millions and fit for breeding, sadly aren't valuable enough to save. It requires putting the horse in a sling, lots of injections for antibiotics and tranquilizers to avoid thrashing, physical therapy and almost around-the-clock care. Remember Barbaro? They tried this with him and the procedure failed and he still had to be destroyed.
Even valuable breeding horses sometimes can't be saved. The mended leg will still be weaker. Since Thoroughbreds by regulation require live-cover breeding instead of artificial insemination, if a horse's rear leg is broken (will carry the most weight during breeding) it probably won't be able to breed and will be euthanized anyway.
I've never heard of a horse with a prosthetic leg- that's new to me. Assuming it isn't photoshopped, the poor thing probably still requires extensive vet care and its life expectancy is probably shortened.
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Equus
Posts: 5066
Location: Shawnee Mission, KS
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A reason a lot of racehorses get broken legs: the triple crown is for 3-year old horses since they are fastest at that age. Most horses are born in the Spring but could be born anytime of the year. Yet their official birthdate is always January 1st. A horse's skeleton and muscle structure aren't completely developed until about the age of 5. Some would say it is cruel to race horses before age 5.
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ossobuco
Posts: 46183
Location: Enchanted Land
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Nodding along with Equus.
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 2:04 pm 
