Page 24 - June 2007 The Game

24 The Game, June 2007 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
FAST ACTION FOR FRACTURES
Well, not nearly as often these days -- thanks to advances in fracture repair which can now save the lives of horses who might once have been doomed.
But a fracture is still a catastrophic injury by anyone’s definition – and when it happens, immediate action to immobilize the leg and protect the injury from contamination can make the difference between life and death.
Do you know what to do?
1. If a horse in your care suffers any sort of severe leg injury, assume a fracture until x-rays prove otherwise.
2. Pull him up as quickly as you can (assuming the injury happens during training), and try to keep him as quiet and immobile as possible. With each step on the bad leg, fractures can become more complicated, blood vessels can be sheared, and breaks in the skin can occur when bone fragments lacerate from the inside out, allowing deadly bacteria to enter.
3. Call for sedation and/or painkillers if necessary, but use the lowest dose you can manage, because heavy sedation can reduce a horse’s coordination, making it more difficult for him to balance on the uninjured legs, and reducing the pain he feels will make him more likely to want to bear weight on the leg and move around.
4. If there is an open wound associated with the fracture, quickly clean it with water and bandage it with a clean quilt and wrap, to protect the area from further contamination. Apply direct pressure if there is a lot of bleeding, but be careful, as you may be pressing over a bone fragment.
5. Set about stabilizing the leg as quickly as you can. If the injury occurs during a race, the track veterinarian and ambulance will have appropriate splints available, but if it happens at home during training, you may have to improvise a bit. That’s why it’s important to have an easily accessible first-aid kit, complete with:
• clean wound dressings
• bandaging material (extra-long shipping wraps can be a godsend here)
• thick padding such as old bed pillows, synthetic foam, or duvet-style pillowy shipping quilts
• something that can be used as a splint – think old hockey sticks, hardwood boards of various lengths, electrical conduit, or PVC pipe cut in half
• and multiple rolls of duct tape.
Here’s how to splint various parts of the leg.
Cannon bone, long or short pastern bone or sesamoid fracture of the front or hind leg:
Your goal is to align the bony column and protect the soft tissues of the fetlock
and pastern from becoming over-compressed. The splint should cover the entire foot and extend to the upper portion of the cannon bone. Apply a thick padded bandage (using pillow or foam) from the coronary band to the upper half of the cannon bone, above the injury; then place a board, sawn-off hockey stick, or something else rigid against the front lower portion of the limb and secure it with lots of duct tape. It’s important to include the entire foot (even the bottom of the hoof) within the splint to avoid causing more trauma to the fracture site.
Mid-forelimb fractures (cannon bone, knee, or forearm):
Your splint needs to immobilize the lower limb, as movement in any direction could complicate the fracture. You’ll need to apply two splints: one running along the back of the leg from the ground to the point of the elbow, and one along the outside of the leg, again running from the ground to the level of the elbow joint. Include the entire foot in the splint to increase stability, and wrap the whole thing with duct tape or another non-elastic tape.
Mid-forearm fractures:
The principle is the same as for a mid-forearm fracture, except that the splint running along the outside of the leg needs to extend from the ground to above the shoulder to prevent lateral movement of the limb. The highest portion of the splint should be secured to the horse’s trunk by wrapping elastic bandages around the neck and chest, over the withers, and under the girth in a figure- eight pattern. (You’ll need to have LOTS of bandaging material on hand to accomplish this.)
Hind leg fractures of the cannon bone or hock:
The goal of this splint is to prevent movement in any direction and help re-align the bony column. You’ll need one splint running along the back of the leg from the ground to the highest point of the hock, and a second on the outside of the leg, from ground to hock. If you suspect the hock bones themselves are involved, the outside splint should be bent to follow the angle of the hock and extend the support up to the gaskin. (Here’s where PVC pipe can have the edge over a hockey stick.) Apply a thick padded bandage from the coronary band right up to the stifle (which will usually require three ‘levels’ of bandages), then secure the splint along the back of the leg with lots of duct tape, followed by the lateral splint.
Equine Health
by Karen Briggs
Dave Landry Photo
An Oscar Performance
A Head at the Wire
A series of real life stories by Paddy Head majeek05@hotmail.com
They don’t shoot horses, do they?
Black’s Home Law, the surviving twin, amazed me with her growth and maturity. I’d had 2 wins in a row on her, though she’d been disqualified in the first race. On this day, she would run against winners. As I rode out of the saddling paddock, I saw several of the trainers eyeing her closely, studying her conformation, taking in the long, easy stride. Even with another hike in claiming price, I suspected she wouldn’t be coming back to our barn.
This time there was no breaking in last position. We were in the middle of the pack and I decided to ride a smart race, saving ground on the rail. We held our position around the turn and into the stretch. I had lots of horse underneath me but nowhere to go. Traffic problems held us back until well after the sixteenth pole when we slipped through and rallied in the last few strides to make third. I fought back the tears as the claiming tag was hung on her halter and my beloved Paleface grey filly was led away to a stranger’s barn.
For days, I couldn’t look at her empty stall. Bobby Venezia, was liberated from sentiment by several thousand dollars into his pocket. He sent me over to look at a horse that was for sale. The stocky little New Mexico bred gelding was barely 15 hands but built like a wrestler. When I jogged him onto the track, he pranced and strutted like a bantam rooster. I expected a tough ride but the moment I took a firm cross, he bowed his neck and galloped like a gentleman. The stall was no longer empty.
The gelding had an odd name—Pat And Turn. Even with my vivid imagination, I couldn’t figure that one out. He was by Carbonated, out of Sweet Mama by Papa Redbird. No hints there.
With his cocky attitude and his thickly muscled neck bowed in submission, he had the trainers convinced I could gallop a tough horse. Several difficult new mounts came my way—and left just as quickly. One morning I completed 4 trips around the oval, all on the same horse. Quirky horses I could handle but the tough ones I would leave to the exercise riders.
Barbara Smith had been in the irons in Pat’s 2 year old race and she shared her observations. She told me he ran all over the track, not unusual for a first time starter. When I worked him in company, rather than shy away from the other horses, he drew in closer and seemed to relish the competition. I approached our first race with confidence.
We found the perfect 6 furlong race and the track came up fast. The number one post position didn’t thrill me. Coming out of the six furlong chute could cause
steering problems on an inexperienced horse but I was sure he wouldn’t shy from the other horses. We were the first to go into the gate and Pat was fidgety but had his head straight for the break. One moment I was bolting out of the gate like a quarter horse and the next, I was sidepassing diagonally like a grand prix dressage horse. Screams of protest erupted behind me as I careened past stall 2,3,4 and 5. Pulling on the left rein did nothing and my whip slapping him on the right shoulder was utterly useless. Only when we slammed into the number 6 horse did Pat And Turn change his direction.
A couple of the inside horses had recovered but when the jockeys saw me leaning in that direction, the rail opened up. After that disastrous break, I knew it would be useless to put effort into winning the race. My number would be flashing even before I hit the wire. All I could do was give the horse the best experience possible. His strength and fluid stride carried us easily through the race and with no effort on my part, we glided under the wire in third place.
By the time I galloped back to the unsaddling enclosure, my number was off the board. The Daily Racing Form summed up the race quite well with a dry comment: ‘Pat And Turn broke sharply to outside to impede rivals on the outside of him, saved ground on turn and rallied mildly in late stages. Following a stewards inquiry, Pat And Turn was disqualified and placed last.’
At films the following day, the head-on from the gate elicited a chorus of screams from every rider in the room. Denise Boudrot leaned towards me and asked, “Where are you going for your vacation?”
It was obvious the horse had spooked from the starter’s flag, something entirely out of my control but the stewards felt that I hadn’t made enough of an effort. I pointed out that I was hauling on the inside rein and slapping him with my whip but my protests fell on deaf ears. I was handed down a 5 day suspension.
I was totally confused. When I’d deliberately interfered with the other jockeys on Bouncing Bessie, the stewards blamed it on faulty tack. Then, when only an act of God could have stopped the horse from bolting, I’m suspended.
“You credit the stewards with too much intelligence,” Eddie Kelly said when I complained. “When you’re in trouble, stand up, yank on the reins and holler blue murder. If you want the stewards to know you’re making an effort, you’ve got to give them an Oscar performance.”