My halflinger pony was cast in her stall (mare motel stall). She was down on the ground, pinned by a bar at the shoulder. The barn management tied ropes to her ankles and took a backhoe and dragged her out. As a result, she suffered a broken leg. Do you think this is an appropriate way to extricate a pony? Please help.

Since I can't picture it I'm not sure, but it does sound like pretty severe response.

What would you have prefered they do?

It's quite common practice to tie ropes to a horses legs to pull them out when they are caste.

I can't imagine her being pinned so bad that they needed a backhoe, nor was I there to see how they pulled her out. I can't say if your situation was handled correctly or not, although if she was that far under a solid fence that couldn't be taken apart I'm not sure what else they could have done.

Had they left her there and she was as stuck as it seemed (or had stopped fighting) she would have surely died. Horses can't take the pressure of their own body for too long if they are flat on their side.

If you are asking for personal opinion... If I saw a horse that was caste and I could get to them without getting killed (thrashing) then yes I would try to pull them over with a rope...hopefully with help.

I'm new to ths message board. I can send a picture of her Mare Motel Stall.

I am new to this message board forum. I would have preferred they call me, call a vet, call the fire department. Anything but what they did. I have a picture of the stall. She was pinned at the shoulder. She's a small pony. I can send you the picture of her stall and the letter I sent the owner of the barn.

My pony did not have one scratch on her! She had an established airway and no laceration! The only injury she sustained was a broken leg!

You seem rather confrontational. You need to talk to your barn owner and get this cleared up.

Very difficult to really say since I was not there but if my horse was caste the way you described it then yes sounds like an appropriate solution to me.

The airway need not be obstructed; it's a fact of what happens if they are pinned down too long.

I wasn't there, so I can't justify what they did or your reactions.
Had she been down for any length of time getting her free and up would have been my number 1 priority.

im not sure what this econd poll is for but do you have a picture of the stall on the forum maybe in your photo gallery?

I have used a backhoe in horse emergencies, but I remove the feeder or tear down the wall, not to move a live horse.
If they had called for help vets and fire departments have access to guides on what to do and more importantly what not to do. Dragging a horse/pony out by a leg is not done.
Yes a cast animal can die but it takes hours.
So if your real question is did they do something that caused your ponies death then yes they did. By law to be held liable for it you have to prove they did more then use poor jugement, you will need to prove they new this was unacceptable and can lead to the death of the animal.
I am so sorry you lost a good pony this way.

Never use a backhoe to move a live horse! Unless every other option has been exhausted and then only with a vet and the fire department right there! As a farm owner you ALWAYS call the client. So many other options. Without seeing the stall I'm immediately thinking that cutting the stall would have been much better.

While I have placed ropes on horses legs to roll them when they are cast - I actually like flannel bandages looped and slipped on - long enough but soft

I had a horse get cast once and the barn owner grabbed a lariat to try to roll him over. I stopped her and used the flannels - worked like a charm.

If you lost this pony due to the break then it sounds like you have a claim to me. Gross negligence I would call it. Take plenty of photos of the stall, etc.

A new pony at my barn, Lucy, cast herself two weeks ago (I think it was just days after she arrived); My BO found Lucy just kinda hanging out, not panicing (thank goodness) and they rolled her over using ropes, and Lucy was no worse for the wear. I have never heard of using a backhoe to actually move a cast horse though. A big scary machine getting that close to me would scare me if I were a horse, but I suppose in very dangerous circumstances, a backhoe might be the only way to move the horse??

Hard to say, since I wasn't there. When I use to board, it was fairly common for one particular horse to cast herself- and of course, no one else there but me I had to pull her away from the wall many times using ropes.

There were also a few other horses that I had to pull away by myself. I'm 5'8", use to body build, but I'm still just one woman pulling TB's and QH's by myself. If I could do that by myself, I have a hard time imagining that a man would need a back hoe to pull a pony. Sounds like she was stuck somehow and things should've been moved before pulling her away

Karen