“He was a lovely eventing prospect, bred and groomed
for the upper levels,” she recounts. “He was the 2010, 2011, and 2012 FEH (future event horse) champion with incredible scores of 87.3%, 89.3% and 89% for eventing type, move- ment and conformation. I was planning on syndicating him and was working on a deal, and thought it would be best if he became a gelding. Two days after the gelding procedure, he rolled in his stall—which was laden with shavings—and he got cast.” Rose describes the nightmare scenario. “My groom found
me and was screaming hysterically that some of the colt’s intestines were coming out of his incision area. By the time we got to his stall, he was standing and all his intestines were spilled out. Consequently after speaking with my vet (who was out of town on a late Sunday evening) and realized his odds for survival were slim, I had to euthanize my own horse. It was the saddest and hardest thing I ever had to do.” Clearly this was a freak accident, but one that demon-
strates that the worst can and does happen—and that horse owners should be prepared for anything. In hind- sight, Rose says, had her groom known, he could have pushed in the initial piece of intestine sticking out and screamed for help instead of going to find her, which might have prevented the intestines from spilling out completely. If they had then bandaged the incision and taken Cor de Amore to a hospital to be sutured up and given antibiotics, he might have survived.
AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION… As a result of the accident, Rose now takes specific precau- tions. “I don’t put mounds of shavings in the stalls anymore,” she says. “I want to minimize castings, so I don’t make the horses too comfortable—especially the stallions, who love to roll!” Banking the horse’s bedding high and firm against the
stable walls so that the horse cannot roll up against the wall is a common practice in Europe and in some barns in the United States as well. Typically this works better with straw bedding, and the bedding is not removed completely when you muck out the horse’s stall; just the wet, dirtiest areas are removed, then fresh bedding is placed on top, the banked sides are tidied up and the straw packed down with a pitch- fork. This is not as effective or as economical when bagged shavings are used as bedding. Other preventative measures include boards or rubber
strips around the stall walls to give the horse traction if they become cast. An Anti-Cast Roller is a type of a surcingle spe- cifically designed to prevent the horse from rolling over avail- able for purchase from tack vendors.
…A POUND OF CURE Usually a cast horse can be righted, either on his own or with a little help. Although techniques vary, generally a rope or lunge line can be used around one or both fetlocks on the opposite side of the direction you want the horse to roll (in other words, the fetlocks up against the wall). Be sure to
32 July/August 2014
Cor de AmoreSE, a young eventing prospect owned by Rose Sul- livan of SE Farm, died tragically after being cast in his stall.
stand clear of the horse’s feet, and provide tension on the line to help him roll himself over. If the horse starts thrashing around and getting excited, he puts himself and anyone trying to help him at risk. If the horse is particularly excitable it may help to have someone hold his head down; since horses use their head for leverage in standing, this will prevent him from trying to stand. Then you maneuver the ropes around his pasterns. If you or your veterinarian can administer a sedative, that can help keep him calm. There is no “one size fits all” solution—every cast horse
situation will need to be approached individually. Anecdotes and experiences from trainers and veterinarians around the globe make that clear. Dr. Lillian Bonner, DVM, grew up in South Carolina and
now has her own practice outside of Christchurch, New Zea- land. She is familiar with the problems inherent in dealing with a cast horse. “It’s usually pretty easy; you just need to roll them over to the other side. Sometimes you do this by roping their down hind limb or do it by hand with a couple
Photos courtesy Rose Sullivan
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