After the tragic ending to the G1 Test at Saratoga Saturday a casual racing observer pondered the question of why couldn’t MAPLE LEAF MEL be saved, why did she have to be euthanized? Fair question.

While it may seem cruel to kill an animal when it breaks a leg, it is the most humane option for the horse. This is because broken legs are very difficult to heal, and even with treatment, the horse usually doesn’t fully recover.

In addition, broken legs are extremely painful, and horses are often put down to prevent suffering.

In most cases putting the horse down is the only viable option because even with the best veterinary care, they generally do not recover from this type of injury.

In addition, horses are typically euthanized because there are complications in the treatment and recovery process of a broken leg. For example:

A Horse Needs To Be Immobilized For A Broken Leg To Heal It’s difficult to restrict injured horses’ movements during recovery. They are biologically designed to run and love it. Keeping a horse still is a huge obstacle to recovery. The horse anatomy is designed for standing; they even sleep standing. If a horse lies down for too long, they develop sores. For a horse’s broken leg to heal requires little to no weight-bearing.

Also, immobilization adds an emotional strain on the horse; because it’s restricting a horse’s instincts to move around, so staying in one place is tough on a horse’s psyche. Many horses refuse to comply with treatment procedures and are unable to recover. There are numerous instances of racehorses thrashing about after surgery to repair a break resulting in a reinjury to their leg. When this happens, a horse must be euthanized.

Slings Are Not A Long Term Option Slings are sometimes used to bear weight for a horse with a leg injury. However, they can’t be used long-term because they cause bed sores and discomfort to the horse. Horses need to put some weight on their injured leg to ensure it recovers the necessary strength to support themselves. If a horse can’t move around and use its other legs, laminitis or abscesses may develop. When this occurs, the horse will have to be euthanized.

A horse’s hoof acts as a mechanical blood pump that works when a horse takes a step. Horses have no muscles in their lower leg or foot to aid the return of blood to the heart. Therefore the hoof must assist in moving blood. A broken bone or immobilization can disrupt blood flow.

The Weight Of A Horse Plays A Role In Its Recovery Horses are large animals; an average-sized thoroughbred racehorse weighs over 1200 pounds. Four spindly legs support this enormous amount of weight, and when one breaks, it’s challenging for a horse to balance on the remaining three.

The uninjured legs often develop conditions such as laminitis or abscesses caused by carrying the extra burden. Laminitis is a painful and debilitating disease that can be fatal.Laminitis is inflammation of the soft tissue structures attaching the coffin or pedal bone of the foot to the hoof wall. The damage to the soft tissue causes extreme pain and instability in the hoof. It can lead to complete separation and rotation of the pedal bone within the hoof wall.

A Horse With A Broken Bone Is At Risk Of Infection Bone infections caused by broken legs typically occur when bacteria are introduced into the horses’ bloodstream because of a compound(open) fracture. A horse’s skin is very thin and easily pierced by a broken bone. Compound fractures expose the horse to dirt, grass, or manure along with other environmental contaminates infected with microorganisms.

Horses with compound fractures are likely to develop a bone infection. Successful repair of compound fractures is complicated, and the prognosis is often poor. Long bone fractures without skin penetration are prone to infection during surgery because of the length of the operation, the area damaged, the material used to repair the break, and the presence of implants. Horses with compound fractures are often euthanized.

A Horse With A Broken Leg Suffers Severe Pain A horse that suffers a leg fracture is in extreme pain both immediately after the injury and post-surgery. Drugs can be administered to give some relief, but there are drawbacks. If you give too much, the horse will want to move around and run the risk of re-injure themselves.

Pain should be managed with proper pain relief medications, but it must be done carefully to reduce the risk of overmedicating the horse. How a horse can tolerate postoperative pain is a critical factor used to determine whether or not to euthanize.

We’ve listed just a few of many reasons why horses will be put down after a bad fall resulting in a broken limb. These rationales don’t make it any easier to grasp why it happens.

For the all the fans who were at the track or watched on television, you will never unsee what happened at the wire Saturday.

So all we can collectively do is breathe in, breathe out, move on.

R.I.P. MAPLE LEAF MEL.