Bailey, a 12-year-old Quarter Horse mare, presented to the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital with a severe fracture of her right front long pastern bone. Although the prognosis for saving her life was guarded, the owners elected to pursue treatment. Veterinarians started with a CT scan to assess blood supply around the fracture and better understand the complexity of the injury.

A lateral X ray showing that once the pins were removed the pastern joint partially dislocated. Tearing of the supporting ligaments by the sharp bone fragments when the fracture occurred caused this instability in the pastern joint, which complicated the overall recovery.

The fracture was repaired with bone screws, and surgeons placed two bone pins in the cannon bone above the fracture. They put her leg in a cast to help protect the fixation during the healing period