Keep the horse as calm and nonetheless as potential when you look ahead to veterinary assist.
Do not stroll him or permit him to take a single step on his personal. Instead, ask others to make the world round him as protected as potential. If it is going to assist, provide the horse hay and water and/or deliver one other horse to face close by. You could also be tempted to carry up the injured limb to maintain the horse from placing weight on it, however remember that 10, 15 and even half-hour could move earlier than assist arrives. You may additionally put your self in danger if the horse is unstable. If he’s holding up the limb himself, it’s finest to only let him be.
Leg fractures in horses can typically be surgically repaired. (Getty Images)
Stay with the horse.
Use your cellular phone or scream for assist in case you should. Do not let go of the horse, even in case you assume he can’t transfer. Horses have turned minor, survivable fractures into catastrophic ones by escaping their handlers and operating off in a panic.
Control any vital bleeding.
If the fracture is open and spurting brilliant crimson arterial blood, apply direct stress with a towel, saddle pad and even your shirt to staunch it. This could also be painful for the horse, so be extraordinarily cautious. There is not any want to use stress if the wound is simply trickling darker blood.
If you might be succesful and have one other individual to assist, apply a Robert Jones bandage
If you could have one other individual to assist, are assured in your wrapping talents and your horse is standing calmly, you may apply a Robert Jones bandage, which makes use of thick padding, exhausting splinting supplies and several other layers of wraps to stabilize the leg. This shouldn’t be one thing you may study on the spot, nonetheless. Practice the approach beforehand so that you’ll be ready in an emergency.
A Robert Jones bandage can stabilize a fractured leg till the veterinarian arrives. (EQUUS archives)
Send somebody to verify the opposite horses
If the fracture occurred in a discipline, it might have been the results of a battle. Send somebody to verify the opposite horses within the herd for indicators of damage. Also, in case your veterinarian may need bother discovering you, recruit a helper to information her to your location.
