UPDATE: Please send my friends good thoughts for their horse Mickey

[csziggy]

UPDATE in post #8

This is the family that takes care of my farm and horses for me. The wife has had this lovely bay gelding for several years and is finally getting time to ride and enjoy him. She and her daughter keep their horses at another farm where the daughter has friends who ride and where they both take lessons.

Last night whoever checked the horses last didn't latch Mickey's stall door. This morning Mickey was found loose with a broken leg - broken above the knee. They took him to the vet and spent all day there trying to figure out a way to save Mickey. The prognosis is worse than "not good."

Horses carry 2/3 of their body weight on their front legs. With their size and the musculature above the knee, there really is no way to set the bone. (Well, maybe if it were valuable breeding animal and they had lots and lots of money to spend on it with a chance of future profit.) The vet told them that even if they can patch it up, Mickey will always be "three legged lame" and probably in pain.

They are making the final decision tonight or over Christmas. I think I know what decision they will make and it breaks my heart.

[elleng]

1. Very sorry to hear this, csziggy.

Thoughts for your friends and Mickey.

[csziggy]

3. Thank you, elleng

Mickey is a very sweet natured horse - and not smart enough to unlatch a stall even if he could have reached the latch. I've got a feeling that after the first of the year there will be some discussion of negligence on the part of the other farm.

This is so hard, even when you know the right thing to do.

[okasha]

2. So very sad.

I saw a show once, maybe Animal Planet, in which the vet constructed a sling hung from the barn rafters to take most of a horse's weight while a broken leg healed.

Good thoughts for Mickey and his humans.

[csziggy]

4. Yes it is

I think that is part of what they are trying to figure out but I don't think with this horse it would be possible. He is Thoroughbred and not real laid back even though he has a good personality. I doubt he would put up with being in a sling for a day much less long enough for the leg to heal.

This family loves their animals like they are family.

Thank you for the good thoughts.

[shenmue]

5. {{{Mickey}}}

I has a Sad. Be easy, fella.

[csziggy]

6. Thank you, shenmue

He's at the vet, so I hope they have him loaded with painkillers.

[irisblue]

7. I am so sorry, how awful

[csziggy]

8. UPDATE: Not sure if this is good or bad

Mickey is hanging in there. I talked to his owner (I only talked to her husband the other day) and she was on the way to spend some time with him. They are still hoping to save his life but they know he can never be ridden again.

The break is worse than I thought but not as bad as it could be. The bone is broken in three places but none of the fractures are displaced. If they can keep him calm long enough for the breaks to calcify the bone will heal enough that he will be about to get around. The vet is still saying he will be lame on it, but it sounds as though it will be able to support him enough for him to go out in the pasture to graze and hang out. And it probably won't hurt once it heals.

The family is willing to keep Mickey for the rest of his life as a pasture ornament. They are also willing to make the hard choice to put him to sleep if he will be in pain and not have a decent quality of life. So Mickey is a very lucky horse.

We are all still very worried but at least there is a glimmer of hope.

Thanks to everyone who is keeping up with Mickey's saga.

[okasha]

9. That's good news.

Sounds like they have a great vet.

[csziggy]

10. I hope it is good news

But at this point the decision about Mickey's future is still up in the air.

Their vet is really good. I use my own vet most of the time, but have used theirs for emergencies when mine wasn't able to get here as fast. I wouldn't hesitate to any of the vets in that practice if mine retired.

[magical thyme]

11. 2 words: ace promezine

Half dose or less to keep him quiet, but still steady on his feet.

:hugs: to Mickey and his friends and family. Been there. Lost my first horse who was found "wandering" out of his stall with multiple fractures to hock. Negligence at the least, and possibly something worse than that.

[csziggy]

12. Mickey's at the vet clinic so they're keeping him medicated

We're all still hoping for a miracle but it doesn't seem to be happening.

[magical thyme]

13. how old is Mickey?

It's tough to keep a horse still that long, not only psychologically, but physically. And with one front badly injured leg, there is a high risk of laminitis and foundering in the other front leg, and ultimately the back.

Enough pain reliever, and he'll want (and need) to move around. Not enough pain relief, and he won't eat or maintain.