pepperhill
Well-Known Member
I'm sure this topic will bring forth some strong feelings for some, but I really feel that this information should get out there.
I went to purchase a quarter horse and while there it came up in conversation that I raised minis. The comment was made that "my relative has some that he would really like to get rid of as he "inherited" them in a bizarre situation". So we went to look. There were 5 or 6 minis there. Some were in a dry lot pen with hay, and some were staked out in the tall grass on those dog tie out cables, eating "crop circles". Most looked just fine.
But this story is about one in particular. It was a 35", 15 year old mare that had just foaled "a week or so" ago. This mare was completely unable to move or walk on one of her front legs, and the shoulder was obviously broken or dislocated. She was in amazing pain. The owner said he had no idea how she got like that, but he wasn't going to take steps to correct it, he was just going to put her down and bottle raise the baby. When I explained how much work it is to bottle raise a very young mini baby properly he said he was just keeping the mare alive long enough to raise the baby and then put her down. I mention again, she was in amazing pain. I bought the mare and her baby and brought them home.
A thorough physical assessment showed deep cuts just above the hoof on the back of both back legs, a dislocated right shoulder with a bone chip, and a deep cut just below the back of the knee on the left front leg. There appeared to be an old cut on the inside of that same knee with some dried skin sticking out, but to my horror, it turned out that the skin was all dead and sloughing off! She lost all the skin down to the muscle on a 10" section of that front leg. The tissue was horribly hot and infected and she had a temp of over 104. I have no idea how that poor mare was standing on those two mangled front legs.
The injuries told the real story. The guy was used to putting the horses out on their tie-outs every day and then going to work. He said at night he put them all in the pen. The next day he would rotate who he put out so they could all have some green grass. Apparently this system had been working well for months. He must have been totally unaware of the fact that when foals start getting up and moving around, their ever vigilant mothers have to do some fancy footwork to keep up with them.
Although he wouldn't admit it, he put that mare out on a tie out cable and went to work. What happened is that as that foal started scamping around, the mother started spinning around trying to keep an eye on her baby. She spun that tie out cable so tightly around that front knee and it stayed that way for so long, that it killed the tissue up and down that knee. There were indentation lines clearly visible in the tissue. Not to mention the deep cuts and more shallow rope burns on the rest of her legs. Finally, tangled up and struggling, she managed to dislocate and break her final good leg!
At this point, the fever is down, and the tissue is healing. The problem is the dislocation. It had been out for several days before I saw her so putting it back in was a nightmare! It is currently in place, but it may not stay because of all the muscles being stretched out so badly. She may still have to be put down. It is not possible to spend thousands of dollars on surgery for a rescued pasture pet. The whole thing is just a disaster.
I am not here to cast judgment on people who use tie-out cables on their minis or push my opinion on the public. I just wanted those folks that use them to be aware of just how bad the damage can be and never, ever, leave a horse on a tie-out unattended! This whole tragedy could have been avoided.
I went to purchase a quarter horse and while there it came up in conversation that I raised minis. The comment was made that "my relative has some that he would really like to get rid of as he "inherited" them in a bizarre situation". So we went to look. There were 5 or 6 minis there. Some were in a dry lot pen with hay, and some were staked out in the tall grass on those dog tie out cables, eating "crop circles". Most looked just fine.
But this story is about one in particular. It was a 35", 15 year old mare that had just foaled "a week or so" ago. This mare was completely unable to move or walk on one of her front legs, and the shoulder was obviously broken or dislocated. She was in amazing pain. The owner said he had no idea how she got like that, but he wasn't going to take steps to correct it, he was just going to put her down and bottle raise the baby. When I explained how much work it is to bottle raise a very young mini baby properly he said he was just keeping the mare alive long enough to raise the baby and then put her down. I mention again, she was in amazing pain. I bought the mare and her baby and brought them home.
A thorough physical assessment showed deep cuts just above the hoof on the back of both back legs, a dislocated right shoulder with a bone chip, and a deep cut just below the back of the knee on the left front leg. There appeared to be an old cut on the inside of that same knee with some dried skin sticking out, but to my horror, it turned out that the skin was all dead and sloughing off! She lost all the skin down to the muscle on a 10" section of that front leg. The tissue was horribly hot and infected and she had a temp of over 104. I have no idea how that poor mare was standing on those two mangled front legs.
The injuries told the real story. The guy was used to putting the horses out on their tie-outs every day and then going to work. He said at night he put them all in the pen. The next day he would rotate who he put out so they could all have some green grass. Apparently this system had been working well for months. He must have been totally unaware of the fact that when foals start getting up and moving around, their ever vigilant mothers have to do some fancy footwork to keep up with them.
Although he wouldn't admit it, he put that mare out on a tie out cable and went to work. What happened is that as that foal started scamping around, the mother started spinning around trying to keep an eye on her baby. She spun that tie out cable so tightly around that front knee and it stayed that way for so long, that it killed the tissue up and down that knee. There were indentation lines clearly visible in the tissue. Not to mention the deep cuts and more shallow rope burns on the rest of her legs. Finally, tangled up and struggling, she managed to dislocate and break her final good leg!
At this point, the fever is down, and the tissue is healing. The problem is the dislocation. It had been out for several days before I saw her so putting it back in was a nightmare! It is currently in place, but it may not stay because of all the muscles being stretched out so badly. She may still have to be put down. It is not possible to spend thousands of dollars on surgery for a rescued pasture pet. The whole thing is just a disaster.
I am not here to cast judgment on people who use tie-out cables on their minis or push my opinion on the public. I just wanted those folks that use them to be aware of just how bad the damage can be and never, ever, leave a horse on a tie-out unattended! This whole tragedy could have been avoided.
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