Resources - horse legs and breaks · 7:34pm Feb 21st, 2016
I'll update this blog post as I find more resources.
Why do horses need to be put down when they break a leg while most other animals don't?
Reddit explains why
A veterinary student elaborates
Depending on the realism you want, sapient ponies may consider a simple leg break to be worth amputation. A veterinary student posted why on the second Reddit link above: "Horses are pretty weird anatomically - they have no muscles below the knee. Part of their ability to run super fast is this really incredible tendon/ligament system - muscles higher on the body load the tendons and ligaments with huge amounts of power (picture a spring). ... this massive power makes it more likely that the horse will basically shatter the bone rather than just a simple break or fracture. ... if the horse can't move his legs around, he can't circulate blood through properly and it somewhat pools in the hoof and the attachments of the hoof to the bottom of the leg weaken. Compare this to a human or dog, where we can wiggle our toes and whatnot to help move circulation through."
Making this the most realistic outcome on realistic ponies:
This is most interesting, I had no idea. :)