Janice, I thought you might be interested in another ancient horse, Minx A friend of mine has a 24 year old thoroughbred who had a bad fall and now is expected to recover. You just never know, I will cut and paste her note as it is interesting. Minx was always well taken care of though.
"34 year old Minx fell off a bridge into a small stream yesterday. One of the Mexican horse wranglers Jane hired was a hero. He jumped in after her so she wouldn't thrash around and aggravate her injuries, got her on her feet, coaxed her down the stream to a place where the banks were lower and pulled her out. When I got the call, I was afraid I'd have to put her down, but she didn't seem to break anything. She has a major sprain on her right rear hock where the large tendon detached from the bone. Amazingly, when you consider her age, she is expected to recover. She can lock her bones the way horses do when they sleep standing up, so she can stand on it. This eliminates concerns of laminitis in her other legs while the injured one heals, as happened to Barbaro. The vet is coming with x-ray equipment tomorrow to make sure there are no breaks. She's a tough old girl with a strong will to live, so I'm optimistic, but I'd appreciate any prayers you could send her way." and the note after the x ray: "The vet came with his x-ray equipment yesterday and said not only will Minx recover, but she doesn't have to be confined to her stall, and recovery should take two to three weeks. I am amazed. The primary concern was that when the Achilles tendon tore away from the bone, it took some of the bone with it. If so, she would not have been able to get up if she fell down and would have had to have been euthanized. However, the x-rays showed that the bone is intact. According to the vet, Minx has great hocks for a horse of any age let alone a 34 year old. She had a second injury; a groin pull on the other leg, involving torn muscles. This would have been very painful, and is quite swollen. The vet gave Jane and Josie instructions for wrapping both legs and hydrotherapy (hosing with cold water) for the groin pull. They love her and are taking very good care of her. She's to be turned out in flat pasture with one other horse for company, so she can move about normally which will improve her circulation and help with reducing the edema. In two days, Minx went from huddling in the corner of her stall with dull eyes and head down, to bright-eyed interest in her surroundings, normal moving around in her stall, and a normal appetite for carrots. It's a miracle. Who would think that a 34 year old horse could fall of a bridge with anything other than a bad outcome? Thank you for your concern and prayers. I"m so relieved. Love, Kathy "
