HOW MUCH HORSEPOWER CAN YOU HANDLE ? BITES AND BREAKS FROM LEADING HORSES

Horse riding is a common pursuit and is more dangerous than believed. Most injuries of the hand and wrist are caused by falls, as in other sports. However, exclusive to riding are injuries sustained whilst leading a horse. Avulsion injuries are well recognised but little has been reported on phalangeal fractures in this situation. We report on seven cases that required hospitalisation in our hand unit, for injuries from horses over a two year period. Six of these patients sustained multi-fragmented spiral periarticular fractures involving the middle and proximal phalanx and one a horse bit. We will discuss in detail the mechanism of their injuries, the surgery undertaken, their post-operative rehabilitation and overall outcome. Furthermore we review the recommended horse handling technique and contrast it with the mechanism of injury in our cases. In our experience the fractures seen were unstable, comminuted and needed internal fixation. One patient developed a delayed union and three post-operative stiffness. Our results suggest that fractures whilst leading horses are more complex than recognised, usually need surgery and often have a relatively poor outcome. All of these cases were largely preventable and could be attributed to incorrect horse leading technique.