Using a rope system to assist horses as they recover from anesthesia postoperatively, is a “valuable and safe way of controlling recovery,” reported Hans Wilderjans DVM, Dipl. ECVS, from the Equine Hospital De Bosdreef in Belgium, during the 10th International Congress of World Equine Veterinary Association.

According to Wilderjans, few hospitals have the money, personnel, or time to devote to maintaining and expertly utilizing a pool recovery system; however, an indoor assisted recovery rope system can easily and economically be installed in any recovery stall. In addition, Wilderjans’ system requires only one handler.

Wilderjans emphasizes that assisted recovery in high-risk cases necessitates an experienced handler and recommends not “trying” this technique on fracture cases, but instead to practice on routine recoveries first.

To date, this device has been used to assist the recovery of more than 7,000 horses at the Equine Hospital De Bosdreef, including 58 fracture repairs. Four horses required euthanasia following recovery due to either implant failures or long bone fracture