Managing ‘Broken’ Horses in Emergency Situations

Sedation and bandaging can help buy time for a thorough exam and to make a thoughtful decision about the horse’s future.
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Managing
A fetlock with both sesamoid bones shattered. | Photo: Courtesy Dr. Dean Richardson

“We’re always going to have broken horses,” said Dean Richardson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, at the start of his presentation about orthopedic first aid during the 2016 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 3-7 in Orlando, Florida. Fortunately, not all broken horses are also hopeless.

Richardson is the chief of large animal surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center, in Kennett Square. He described for veterinarians how to best handle orthopedic emergencies such as extremely unstable limb fractures.

“With proper sedation and simple emergency bandaging, a large proportion of catastrophes can be humanely managed until a thoughtful decision can be made,” as to whether the injury can be repaired surgically or the horse requires euthanasia, he said

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Alexandra Beckstett, a native of Houston, Texas, is a lifelong horse owner who has shown successfully on the national hunter/jumper circuit and dabbled in hunter breeding. After graduating from Duke University, she joined Blood-Horse Publications as assistant editor of its book division, Eclipse Press, before joining The Horse. She was the managing editor of The Horse for nearly 14 years and is now editorial director of EquiManagement and My New Horse, sister publications of The Horse.

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