if a horse breaks its leg why does it have to be put down. Why can't it be reset like a cat or dog?

Answer 1

Even when the bone can be fixed it causes problems in the other legs while it heals. The hoof is a necessary part of the circulation system of horses. The have a one way valve system in the veins. Basically when they step down on a foot the valves open and the veinous cushion is compressed absorbing shock and forcing the blood back to the heart. When the foot is raised th pressure of the arteries and gravity draw fresh blood in to the hoof. There are no muscles in the lower leg or foot to aid in circulation like there are in other parts of the body. This effects the leg that is off the ground and not pumping and opposite leg that the horse cannot easily lift and is getting no fresh, oxygenated blood

Answer 2

It depends on the break. Some are able to be wrapped, but if it is severe enough, the only humane thing to do is put the horse down. It is more common for a horse to break a front leg, which is where they carry the bulk of their weight and there is no way a horse can work 'three-legged'.

The harness that is available to 'suspend' the horse could be used to keep the weight off has been used (esp. on high priced racing / breeding animals). This is not always successful (the horse gets no excersice and the rest of the horse will atrophy). A horse cannot lay down for any lengthy period of time, again, because of the weight. The tremendous weight can cause blood flow to be restricted in the abdominal region and cause a whole other host of problems.

A break is not the only reason a horse is put down, there are many problems that can happen to the legs making it very painful for the horse. These usually are due to poor or no care or hereditary issues. As sad as it is, you have to think of the quality of life that the horse (or for that matter any animal) will have. Far too often animals are kept alive because the owner is being selfish. If an animal is in pain that cannot be treated, it is just mean to keep the animal in this state just because the human can't bear to humanely put them down.

Answer 3

It depends on the break. In Barbaro's case, the leg was pretty badly broken, but there was enough there to pin together. Another horse was recently put down because it totally shattered the leg, and there was nothing there to work with

Unlike dogs or cats, horses don't do well with having their weight on 3 legs. Like Barbaro, the other leg will start to break down from the strain. You can also see now that 7 months after the fact, Barbaro is still not out of the woods and there can still be complications. In his case, pastern joint (right above the hoof) is fused from being pinned, so he has an irregluar gait. He probably won't be able to really run even just for fun anymore, but could live a long life.

Also, racehorses in particular are usually too high strung to be suited to what it takes to be in a cast and immobile for weeks. In addition, it has to be extremely expensive to reconstruct a horse's leg after it's broken.

That being said, I saw on TV years ago a horse that had an artificial leg on its right hind leg. Never heard more about it or how long it lived, but it seems like that's an option, but probably expensive as well.

Answer 4

Many times it can be fixed. But it depends on how bad the break is, and at what part of the leg.
Remember, a horse is an animal that is best kept moving. So to be immobilized due to a leg injury can put a lot of strain on the rest of the horse and for the time it takes to heal the broken leg, the rest of the horse is now unfit. The cost for a backyard horse owner to keep a horse through all of this is outrageous and most can not afford to put themselves or the horse through further agony.

Answer 5

Horses bones aren't always set like a humans. Depending on how bad the break is, there is ussually only about a 50% chance that it will ever heel. If not put down the horse will have to spend a lot of time on stall rest and many times the owner can not afford the vet bills. Ussually the only way to sell a horse that won't heel is if someone is just looking for a friend for their horse and not a horse to ride on. But that is rare and ussually just giving it away instead of selling it.

On some racehorses they do work harder to keep alive if they are worth a lot of money because then they can breed them but they ussually don't end up back on the track.

Answer 6

it can be set.the racehorse,barbaro,who broke his leg on may 20,2006 is still alive.however,a horses system is more complicated and delicate than a cate or dogs.if a horse breaks a leg and has one set,because of unequal pressure when standing,the other hooves can develop a condition called laminitis,which is dangerous and can be fatal.if a cat or dog has one leg in a cast,nothing will happen to the other legs.a horse also becomes ill if it is made to lay down in one place too long,so a horse HAS to stand a good part of every day,even in a cast.that being said,many racehorses survive broken legs,with todays advances in vet technology.most pet horses do nort survive.why?it takes many thousands of dollars to save a horse with abroken leg,and expensive state-of -the art vet facilities are needed as well.racehorse owners have that kind of money,most average horse owners dont.even with all the time,effort and money in the world,the treated horse may not live.barbaro has had several set-backs and it still cannot clearly be said he will make it,even tho he's been in a vet hospital since may.type in "barbaro update",they will give u an idea what he's been up against.

Answer 7

Broken bones of young and small horses heal quite well. Big horses, however, weigh at least 1,000 pounds, so each leg carries about 250 pounds. When a leg breaks with 250 pounds bearing down on it, the bone typically breaks into many pieces. A bone that is broken into many pieces may poke through the skin, leading to infection of the bone. In addition, it is difficult to put the bone pieces back together with enough strength to withstand 250 pounds again, and small pieces of broken bone can lose their blood supply and die, again causing infection.


However, it is not impossible to fix broken leg bones in large horses and we certainly to not shoot any horse with a broken leg like in the old days. Just like those used in people, there are stainless steel plates, screws, large pins, or casts that can be used to put broken bones back together. Most horses with broken leg bones are not Humpty Dumpty and can be saved.

Answer 8

We had a horse and it broke its leg and we did not have it put down. It only depends on the type of break, the cost of fixing the break and how much time the owners are willing to spend helping the horse heal.

Answer 9

It truly depends on what part of the leg i broken, however the most common part is the "ankle" portion.

this is the most brittle part of the horse, and the recovery process is not easy, not guaranteed, and very painful.

also the procedures aren't often successful due to the nature of the break and the design of the portion that is broken.

but there are certainly horses that are repaired at great cost and length of effort, but that was a million dollar horse, and a lot of people had a lot of money invested in him, so they wanted to do everything they could to get him back up again.

hope this helps!

Answer 10

i have 18 horses and i know that when a horse breaks its leg it cant be reset like dogs and cats because dogs and cats can stay off there legs but horses sleep standing so you cant really do anything about it.if this has happened to your horse i a terribly sorry!