Most can return to training in four to six months but, as with other fractures, there is a risk of arthritis developing at the site of the injury in the fetlock or pastern that might limit the horse’s ability to race or compete again. This type of cast will support some of the weight of the animal while the fracture is healing. Many of these fractures can be repaired with screws to hold the bone together, but some of the more complicated and comminuted ones require a transfixation pin cast. “The fracture can be so painful that the horse can’t put any weight on the leg at all,” she says. The fracture can be a short line in the centre of the bone, a spiral fracture, or in some cases involving several different planes. “These usually happen during training and racing,” she adds, “but I do sometimes see them in horses who have been turned out in pasture and injure themselves there.” MacKinnon says she sees P1 fractures more often in Standardbreds racing in harness than Thoroughbred race horses, but she does encounter them in the latter, too. Length of recovery depends on the type of condylar fracture, MacKinnon says, but a typical recommendation would be three months of stall rest, followed by a month or two of light work, and then a return to work four or five months after the injury.Īnother common fracture MacKinnon sees is a break in the first phalanx (P1) of the pastern, one of two bones in the pastern (the second phalanx is referred to as P2). The spiraling medial condylar fractures are unpredictable and even with appropriate surgical repair may lead to a worse fracture during recovery from general anesthesia. “Lateral condylar fractures can often be fixed with screws, while the medial ones sometimes require both screws and plates to fix the break.” Any condylar fracture, but especially displaced fractures, may heal, but lead to arthritis in the fetlock joint. “The incomplete and non-displaced fractures have good outcomes,” says MacKinnon. An incomplete fracture may become complete, for example a non-displaced fracture may become displaced. The horse doesn’t stop instantly when the break occurs, and each extra step he takes can cause more damage. One of the most challenging aspects of these injuries is that they usually happen when the horse is moving at high speed. MacKinnon says medial fractures often spiral up the horse’s leg, although this doesn’t always happen. The break can be either medial (on the inside) or lateral (on the outside), which is classified based on where the fracture line starts. “This is definitely a race horse injury,” she says. MacKinnon explains that one of the most common fractures she sees is the condylar fracture – a crack or break in the horse’s cannon bone starting at the fetlock (ankle) joint and coursing up the bone. These can become much more serious fractures if the horse is not given time to rest and heal. Stress fractures are small cracks that occur because of activity.Closed fractures where the bone is not protruding through the skin.Open fractures where part of the bone breaks through the skin, which makes infection much more likely and increases the risk of complications.Displaced fractures where the bones have separated and moved apart.Non-displaced fractures where the pieces of bone stay in the same position as they would have without the break.Complete fractures where the crack has completely separated two parts of the bone.Incomplete fractures where there are cracks in the bone, but the bone is still in one piece – more common in foals, whose bones are softer and more flexible. Comminuted fractures where the bone breaks in multiple places.Simple fractures where the bone has a single break and the bone is now in two parts.Classifying the breakįractures in horses are classified and can be described in combinations of the following just as they are in humans: However, sport horses and even pleasure horses do occasionally break bones while out in the pasture or during other activities. Melissa MacKinnon, a board-certified veterinary surgeon at the Milton Equine Hospital in Campbellville, ON, says that the majority of fractures referred to the hospital occur in race horses, either during a race or during high-speed training.
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