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Injured horse (updated pictures)

T

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
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11,308
Location
South East Texas
Today, Lil Lilly's Summer job employer called her from Baton Rouge LA and asked if we could go out to his horse ranch here and check on a horse that the care taker said was cut. Wanted us to decide whether or not to put him down. This is the horse that Lil Lilly was gonna take to the WBR Finals in Oklahoma this month but decided against it because he had such issues goin in the alley way.
We loaded up with a few vet supplies and headed out there. What we found was horrible. The care taker of the place had told the man that owns them that the accident happened yesterday. No way was this YESTERDAY!!!!!

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this is what it looked like when we got there, after the makeshift bandage that the fella put on there was taken off......YUCK...and the smell was horrendous!!!
Lil Lilly set to work cleanin it up as best she could usin a water hose, a small brush, and a bottle of bedadine scrub. Got it fairly clean, and rewrapped it lightly just to keep dirt and stuff out of it while goin down the road in the trailer to the vets office. We called the owner and I just couldn't be the one to make the final decision as to put him down. I wanted an expert opinion on what could be done, or couldn't be done. So we loaded him up after callin in to the Equine Hospital that we used with her horse. Some awesome folks there for sure.
He banged the leg gettin into the trailer, and made it bleed, but that's a good sign that it's got good blood flow to the area.

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Lady Doc cleanin it up.....man she really scrubbed it...with a brush..after givin him some bute in the vein of course and puttin a twitch on him.
She said that the wound was at least 3 or 4 days old, because of all the dried tissue that she had to remove with scissors. And yes, there is a small amount of bone exposed, so bone infection will be a concern for the next few weeks.


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All clean and ready for a pressure bandage to try and get some of the swelling down so they can access just how much damage there really is.


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First, some guaze soaked with saline and nolvasan solution packed into the deepest part of the wound, wet dry pack they call it, which when taken off tomorrow will peel away the dead tissue. It will stick to the bandages, they said that's the easiest way to get it off, and is alot like they do burn patients. Then, some really thick guaze wraps, layered with what looked like panty hose wrap, then topped off with really tight vet wrap. We'll Know more tomorrow after noon when they take it off what all they will be able to do for him, but they are optomistic as to this horse returnin to riding. Not probably barrel racing, but pleasure riding, and trail riding they said would be his limit.

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The final wrap of Green vet wrap.

Ughhhh what a day.
 
And they call the guy in charge a "Caretaker"?
I'd run him off so fast!!!!!!his shirt-tail wouldn't hit his butt.

That's terrible. I hope he gets away without bone infection
which is more than terrible. I have seen horses that have been
caught in a cattle guard that look similar to this. The one thing
in his favor is that there aren't many real critical things on the
front of the hind leg from inside his hock to the ankle. Some of
the horses caught in cattle guards have terrible scars, but they
are useable and without pain.

Do you know what he cut it on? Does that so-called "caretaker"
have any other horses in his care?

A big pat on the back for you and Lil Lilly.
 
FH I'm almost certain he got hung up in barbwire. I wish I'd taken a farther out picture of his leg, there's one line angling up from the major cut place then up on his leg close to his flank there's another smaller cut thats at the same identical angle, perfectly spaced like barbedwire is on a fence. He must have either rolled and gotten himself in it, or kickin and playin with other horses on the other side of the fence, maybe backed up to it and kicked and got hung......While we came home to get the trailer, Lil Lilly stayed there with him tied in the washrack, and she walked around a lil bit lookin at fences...she found one place that the next to the top wire was broke.
He really did a number on himself that's for sure.

As for the "caregiver" yes there's another 13 horses out there that he feeds and waters. That's basically all he does. Supposed to keep an eye on things, but doesn't do too good a job. He shows up when he feels like it and gives them some grain, and throws some hay to them. I can't say that they are underfed, they are all in good shape in that respect. He's just not real competant when it comes to dealin with anything else to do with horses.

On the upside of this, sorta, in a way. A vet/professor at A&M told Lil Lilly this spring to start keeping a journal of any and all activities she is involved in that pertains to vet work. This will be one of them. Because she'll be responsible for this horse when he comes home from the hospital. The fella has asked her to bring him home to our house and take care of him.
 
Although girls I agree its a nasty cut,a horse can be the best looked after horse and get a bad cut.We've never had a cut like that but a nieghbor has,and trust me it wasn't apathy that caused the cut. Just be grateful we have the vets we do now and patience to heal the cut,in the older days a bullet would have solved this problem.
 
But at least 4 days later and say it was 'fresh'...no excuse for that
except ignorance.

Apparently this fellow doesn't know much and should not be in
charge of horses. I know, can't change the world, but this type
of thing makes me very upset.

Too many times horses are victims of people's ignorance.

I'm happy he is being cared for now, thanks to Jersey Lilly
and Li'l Lilly.
 
its a goodthing yall took the time to take the horse to the vet.that leg was tore up bad.hope that its able to heal without giving the horse a limp.its going tobe a long recovery process.lil lilly has her work cut out for her.an the work will be long an hard.heres hoping the horse heals up.
 
Only time will tell, talked to the vets office this mornin and they unwrapped and checked the leg. Alot of the swelling was down, and they were able to stitch some of it back together, that'll help alot in the healing process, just gettin the skin together. They said they'll keep him 3 or 4 days, then the rest will be up to us. I realize it'll be work taking care of him, had one a few years ago with a nasty chest wound that took 3 mo of dr'n him 3 times a day.....

If Lil Lilly (and ourselves) can learn anything while caring for this horse, I see that as a bonus. for her especially. She's like a sponge when it comes to this kinda stuff. Seems like tho, lately, everything we've been dealin with is worse case scenarios LOL Either this will cement the want/need for her to become a vet, or it will change her mind (which I highly doubt will happen) She's had her heart set on bein a large animal vet since she was about 4 years old and someone asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up. She's never strayed from that path in all this time, and she's almost 16 now.
I was real pleased with the vets talkin to her yesterday, and tellin her everything that she did before we got him there was exactly right, as to what should have been done. We pretty much let her do all the talkin to the vets, tellin them what she'd done, what it looked like when she unwrapped it.....they treated her just like an adult.
 
Been there done that and good luck. I had a neighbor who let a beeeautiful Arab mare into a lot with a mean ol "bithc" of a mare and the mean mare ran her thru a wire fence. Cut her from her throat down thru both front legs. She was lilke that for about a wk until I saw her in the pasture just standing with her head hanging. They had sewed her up with fishin' line.

I got out, trespassed and saw what a mess she was in. I told the neighbor that I'd either pay him for the horse steal her...take his pic. I gave him $100, put a rope on her loaded her ( she could hardly walk by then) and brought her home.

It took about 6 months and lordly how much vet $$$$ was spent, but I got her back to her old self, minus a few NASTY scars.

But a funny thing, it seems to REALLY affect/effect her spirit/mind. She was still super sweet...but just not the same horse so be on the look out for that with this one.


P.S. I'd have a few choice words for that " caretaker"
 
It probably has alot to do with the cleanin and dressin of a wound like that daily as to their attitude. Your the person causing them pain in their mind. But, I have one that had a nasty chest wound a few years ago, and he's great. Still has a real sweet disposition, but I used a whole different dr'n with him than this will be. His didnt hafta be wrapped. This one will hafta be changed daily, and keep pressure bandage on for a good while. Uhggg, I"m not lookin forward to this at all. But will do what we hafta do.
 
What I dont understand is this. When I worked at the auction mart I saw with my own eyes injured horses with terrible wounds waiting in pain for up to week with no medical attention to be auctioned off to Claude Bouvery<horse slaughter plant owner> where lord knows how long they had to wait to be put out of their missery.
Everybody for the most part seems to be against abuseing horses but yet everybody on this forum wants to give the horse slaughter industry a free pass.
Claude Bouvery is a multi millionare who wouldnt give any of you the time of day. I dont know why your worried about him.
 
This has nothing to do with horse slaughter. If we'd been told there was no way this horse could have been saved, or if the owner didn't want to spend the money to have him worked on, we'd have brought him back to that fella's place along with a shot from the vet, or vet in tow, to give him a shot and put him down, then buried right there on the place. If the owner hadn't wanted to take him to the vet at all when we called him, there was a gun in the truck and it would have been taken care of right then.

This is a horse that had a price tag of $12,000 barrel horse. I didnt want to be the one to make the choice of whether or not he was cut too bad to save without having a professional opinion from a vet first.
 
Lily,youall did right,no question about that--If the joint isn't affected,and no bone infection,he should be all right,qualified all right--you'de be supprised at what will heal on a horse ..Saw one(not mine-YEARS ago)cut front leg at the chest,muscle hanging to the knee,Owner did nothing!! Healed with no scar!!!! Saw the horse after the fact--full recovery..
 
I had a thoroughbred damage a hind leg much like that. At least 3 inches of bone was exposed. The difference was we treated it right away. It took a good 6 months of daily treatment. First you have to wait until the hole fills up with healthy granulation tissue that covers the bone. During that time its wrapped daily. Then its a matter of daily debriding and cleaning of the skin edges so they will grow together. If you don't debride, the granulation tissue grows out of control and skin won't cover the wound properly. Once the skin edges mesh, the formation of granulation tissue stops. Anyway our filly went on to be a race winner.... her leg was slightly enlarged but had no adverse affect on function.
 
Friday they called to let us know they'd went ahead and done some xrays and found slight bone infection, but they are on top of that. Nearly all the swelling is gone, Mr Lilly, Lil Lilly and the owner from Louisiana went over there today while I was at the sale barn to see the horse. Things are lookin real good so far for him.
 
I have a yrl. filly that got into a fight with a barbed wire fence this spring, layed her forarm open to the bone on her left side. I told mom had I found her I would have shot her. The vet cut almost all the muscle off(3lbs) had me clean it twice a day and put scarlet oil on it, I also put desitine around the edges it keeps it soft. After it crusted over he had me spray it with this stuff he had and then throw baking powder on it. She has a scar but healed up beautifully. I would have never beleived it if I hadn't done all the doctoring myself. I'm like little Lil, I love vet work, I wish I would have followed that road. Anyway, don't give up horses truely are amazing and like said before it isn't in the joint or bone so you should have a good heal. Post pictures as it goes along it will be cool to see.
 
HeelFly,
That stuff you sprayed on it, looked like red lead primer didnt it? That's Underwoods Horse Medicine, and I'm a firm believer in havin that stuff on hand at ALL TIMES if you have horses. That's the stuff I used on my own gelding when he cut his pectoral muscle in half. He has a slight scar, but healed up real nice.
 
Yeah Underwoods and I swear by it now too. That stuff is aaaamazing. I put the desitine around the edges of the wound while I was using that stuff also. My vet had never heard of doing that but it works. You get less of a scar when you keep that tissue soft.
 
On places where it's hard to get the bakin powder on.....I had a brain storm and thought about them old red (ketchup) and yellow (mustard) bottles that you buy at the dollar store......put the bakin powder in them and squeeze it out...it kinda poofs out.....but real handy. And they only cost somethin like .97 for the two bottles in a package.
 

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