Attempts to Save Horses

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 662, 14 May 1929, Page 6

Attempts to Save Horses

BROKEN LEGS Not every racehorse who breaks-a leg is instantly destroyed, but the difficulty of attempting to set a horse's leg is such that only in the case of extremely valuable apimals is it usually tried. The whole trouble is not. as is widely imagined, that the bones themselves will not knit. The difficulty lies in the fact that it is almost impossible to get a horse to remain reasonably still to allow the fractured ends to stay properly in position. Unlike & man when he fractures a leg, a horse cannot be trussed in one position until the leg is right. His natural movjunents place a strain on the injured leg, which usually undoes all the work of a veterinary surgeon. The weight of the fractured part. too, drawing away from the upper part of the leg, tends to prevent it knitting. Usually in the case of a gelding an owner or trainer orders immediate destruction, because he does not want to be further bothered with the animal. In the qp.se of some mares- and stallions, however, an attempt is made to preserve them fox stud purposes. English Cases Cases have been known in England where horses treated for a fracture of a bone in the pastern have been raced again a few years later without a sign of any ill-effect. But Australian veterinary experts can remember no such case. In the case of Oatendale, the promising three-year-old who was destroyed at Randwick last month, there would have been little or no chance of effecting a save. His injury was not altogether a fracture, according to latest advices. The suspensory ligament that keeps the fetlock in place tore away, leaving the lower portion of the leg useless. To make a cure in such cases is one of the most difficult tasks in veterinary science. Xhe case of Miliieme a few years ago is worth recalling. He broke down afi Randwick, and being a gelding the intention was to destroy him. But he had come to be looked upon as a stable pet, and so an attempt, - which proved useless, was made to save the leg. Until some way is found whereby a horse can be kept perfectly still in the one position, saving a fractured leg will be the exception and not the general thing.

OUT FOR A YEAR LEADING VICTORIANS (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) MELBOURNE, Monday. The stipendiary stewards of the Victoria Racing Club have disqualified for 12 months the racehorse Chariot, the jockey. W. Scanlon and the trainerowner W. Foulsham, for alleged improper conduct in regard to Chariot’s running in the Sandown Park Handicap on Saturday. W. Scanlon was well in the running for the jockey’s premiership, having ridden IS winners up to a fortnight ago. After It Again Last July, at the Wellington Racing Club’s winter meeting, Mr. Frank Ormond supplied the winner of the Trial Stakes in Toxeuma. This year Mm Ormond has another that is to make his debut in that event, so it will be interesting to see whether the newcomer can follow in the footsteps of his stable-mate. Grattus (Lord Quex — Earthshine) is the name of the maiden performer, and he is being got ready for business by W. McKinnon at Greenmeadows for his owner-breeder.