When Your Horse or Dog Needs Leg Braces


 

A number of animal species have a close relationship with humanity, offering anything from manual labor to wool to transport or even simple companionship, and that’s excluding livestock such as chickens and pigs. Common species such as horses, dogs, and oxen have proven useful to humanity for many thousands of years, and this relationship is symbiotic. Wolves who integrated into human society gained protection and food in exchange for lending their hunting and tracking skills, and they evolved to become today’s wide variety of dog breeds. Cats became domesticated to serve as rat and mouse catchers, and horses are used for everything from transport and labor to sports and even war mounts. By now, using horses on farm fields or on the battlefield is largely a thing of the past, but horses are highly prized animals and there are veterinarians who specialize in their care. Dogs, meanwhile, are popular pets around the world and are still useful as herders and hunting companions. Some dog breeds get their names from this work, such as border collie, German shepherd, or golden retriever. When is it time for a dog’s own medical care, such as a calf brace, dog leg wraps, or ankle brace socks?

Horse Care

Over 400 breeds of domestic horses exist today, all of them classified as grazers. Horses used to serve as early tractors, or war mounts from the Mongol armies to the American Civil War in times past. Today’s horses, meanwhile, are prized for racing, showing off at horse shows, and the simple hobby of raising and breeding them. A horse owner will be responsible for his or her equine charges, and they may consult a horse doctor if a problem is suspected. For example, horses may suffer trauma to their legs or back, and some symptoms may soon make themselves clear. A horse with a bad back or a fractured bone or bad joint may start shifting its weight repeatedly, or it may refuse to bear weight or run, either. In this case, and others like it, a horse doctor may be called over to examine the animal and diagnose the problem properly.

Horses may suffer from arthritis as human beings do, or they may have strained back muscles or a fractured bone. Calf braces, for example, may be fitted onto a horse’s bad leg, and calf braces can help the horse walk and trot without putting further stress on the affected area. This gives the horse time to heal naturally over time, and it will not suffer a major loss of performance while the calf brace is on. Horses may also have fleece blankets fitted on, and such blankets or coats are specially designed for an adult horse to wear. A fleece blanket for a horse may be found online or wherever a horse doctor knows to find them, and equine shoulder guards may be used as well to soothe stressed muscles or joints on the horse.

Treatment for Dogs

A dog may have similar medical supplies available if it suffers injuries to its legs or back, or its joints. Today’s dogs may be taken to a veterinarian if they have suffered trauma, and a dog may get injuries to its legs from a number of sources. A dog may run and get its paw caught in a hole or snagged on something, and this can strain its hock joint (equivalent to a person’s ankle joint). Or, a dog may suffer arthritis as people and horses do, or a dog may sprain a joint or stress a muscle.

Like horses, dogs may have calf braces or ankle wraps put on so that they can walk, stand, and job without further distressing the damaged body part. This means that a dog is not rendered immobile while healing naturally. A dog may limp, refuse to move, or make other obvious signs of distress of its bones, leg joints, or muscles are compromised. On top of that, an owner may get a therapeutic dog bed for their pet, a soft and warm bed that can accommodate the dog’s body comfortably. This allows an injured dog to lay down without stressing its compromised leg or joint, making recovery easier. Such beds can be placed in kennels, too.

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