The Acute Management of Severely Lame Horses

Fractures are a common injury in racing thoroughbreds, with which our large Newmarket equine practice deals with on a regular basis. We also see a number of fractures in other types of equine patient referred from other colleagues. There are approximately14,500 racehorses in training in the UK, and about 90,000 runners per year, on the 59 racecourses. Of these, 17 only hold flat race meetings, 24 jump meetings only, and 18 racecourses hold both flat and jump race meetings during the year. These races are all on grass surfaces, but there are also 3 racecourses with “all weather” surfaces.
The incidence of fatal fractures of distal limb has been reported (Parkin et al 2004). In flat racing there are approximately 0.4 per 1000 starts, and in national hunt racing this figure increases to approximately 2.2 per1000 starts. A veterinary surgeon examining a horse with a possible fracture, is often put under immense pressure by owners or trainers, in an often a highly emotional situation. It is therefore vital to adopt a strategy for the acute management of equine fracture patients. This should involve an initial evaluation of the situation, examination of the injured limb, preparation of patient for transport, alerting a referral centre, and finally transportation of the patient in as good a condition as possible, to ensure the best possible chance of its salvage. […]