| In last week's article on horse head injuries, I introduced | | | | complicates treatment. And for horses who have |
| you to a horse with a skull fracture. And even though | | | | sustained permanent brain damage - this unchecked |
| horse head injuries like that one appear pretty | | | | swelling is the most likely reason. |
| gruesome on the outside, the horse's brain emerged | | | | In order for a horse to hurt himself badly enough to |
| from the incident unscathed. Today, I'll tell you why and | | | | cause brain swelling, his head has to impact a hard |
| how you use this information to know whether or not | | | | surface at high speed. That almost always come |
| your equine vet needs to come to your barn for an | | | | when a horse rears so high that he falls over |
| emergency call in the even of a head injury. | | | | backwards and tags his head on a wall, a fallen log, or |
| Your horse is a pretty good sized animal. So you | | | | a concrete floor. |
| would think he has a pretty good sized brain. He | | | | If he connects with the immovable object with enough |
| doesn't. Even a 2000-pound Clydesdale has a brain | | | | velocity to damage the brain box, he could give himself |
| about the size of a baked potato. Not to sound flippant, | | | | a brain hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain box), which |
| but that's one reason horses don't sustain many | | | | means swelling. That is a true emergency: if your |
| serious brain injuries. There just isn't that much brain up | | | | horse has swelling in the area of the brain box (see |
| there to injure. | | | | above graphic), you need to get your vet to your |
| But thankfully, the single most important part of the | | | | horse pronto. |
| horse's skeleton is also the strongest. It's the assembly | | | | You might be asking "Sierra, how can I prevent this |
| of bones and connective tissue known as the "brain | | | | from happening to my horse?" |
| box." | | | | Glad you asked. The short answer is control rearing on |
| The brain box consists of a series of bones and a lot | | | | or near hard surfaces. |
| of fiber-osseus tissue that protect the brain extremely | | | | You know better than anyone what scares your |
| well. The parietal bone protects it from the top. The | | | | horse. And while you can never be totally sure what |
| occipital bone has its back. | | | | he'll spook at, you can take some action if he gets out |
| The bottom is shielded by the base of the mandible | | | | of hand. |
| (jawbone - not shown in this picture) along with all of | | | | If you're horse is in close quarters and becomes just a |
| the spongy cartilage, ligaments, and tendons that allow | | | | little spooked, you can probably calm him down with a |
| the jaw to move up and down freely. | | | | gentle hand and pleasant tone of voice. |
| Your horse's ligaments and tendons act kind of like | | | | But if your horse is so mortified that all he wants to do |
| shock absorbers for your car. The more healthy | | | | is rear and you can't stop him from doing it, get him out |
| ligaments and tendons your horse has in the brain box, | | | | of the area as quickly as you can. And if he's on a |
| the more likely he is to come out of a head injury | | | | concrete surface, get him off of it. ASAP. |
| without any real brain damage to speak of. | | | | Take all horse head injuries seriously. Just because the |
| That's the upside. Here's the downside... | | | | brain box is very strong doesn't mean it he can't injure |
| The brain box, as strong as it is, is rather small; there's | | | | it. If your horse hits his head hard enough - God forbid - |
| not a lot of unused space in the middle of all those | | | | it could, indeed, result in swelling of the brain. Equine |
| bones and protective tissue. If your horse hits his head | | | | vets have a hard time treating these injuries. I'm sure |
| hard enough, his brain will swell. And there's not a lot of | | | | when I graduate from vet school, I'll eventually have to |
| room for it to do that. This, more than anything else, | | | | do it. But I'm not looking forward to it, that's for sure. |