Anyone's horse had similar injury?

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SarahF

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Just wondering if anyone's experiences an injury like this.
Was a very deep looking wound, going in a downward, slanted inward direction but the vet who stitched it up said it didnt damage any ligaments,tendons etc.
Baring in mind it's not my horse and I didn't get chance to chat with said vet much (who I'm not even sure has equine vet training)
An English vet working with GHDT has since seen it and says he should recover - maybe it wasn't as horrific as it looked to me before the stitching.

Anyone had any experience of similar? Did it cause any lasting problems?
Thanks

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It is difficult to tell from the photos, all I can see is bloody hair!
I have seen horses recover from far worse looking injuries (gaping wounds), but I guess you have to rely on the vet. If the leg swells hugely, or the horse becomes more lame, or if there is smelly discharge and you are not happy then I would call your normal equine vet.
I guess you are keeping it clean and covered? Possibly bute and antibiotics? Stabled and walking in hand somewhere on hardstanding?
If none of the structures are affected then I would hope for a simple recovery.
 
Yes it was a gaping wound - the bald patch and black line is where it's stitched (I know the pics aren't great, just wanted to show location)
He's not my horse, I ride him. And here we don't have a normal equine vet - we don't have equine anything really apart from the horses! (I was lucky that a charity equine vet was in the area the next day so I could her to check it too)
He's on antibiotics and is being monitored for infection or tetanus symptoms.
The ground isn't great, it's not too soft but very dusty so they are cleaning it regularly (pics were taken just as he'd got up after sedation & stitching)

It happened wed night/thu morn.
I haven't seen him since Saturday but thankfully he was looking ok.
I'm gonna go again tomorrow - The Gambia is a challenging place to keep healthy horses that's for sure!
 
My horse has a large scar in exactly the same place so I assume it was a similar injury and also stitched. He has white hair though so scar isn't actually visible. It happened when he was a young horse (1-3years) as I bought him as a 4 year old and it was well healed then!

I have no idea what happened him but I suspect he was rearing/playing and spun and his back foot caught the outside of his fore and effectively sliced it. It causes him no issues and he events etc.

I wouldn't worry too much, billy came in the other day and I was checking his legs and saw a bloody mass around outside heel which looked horrendous but when i hosed it clean and was able to see it better he had actually just skinned a small patch (a light over-reach) which bled into his white hair. White hair always makes things look worse!

Problem is that is quite a hard area to bandage and keep clean, I would probably either just do a pastern bandage or leave uncovered in as clean an area as possible. I would keep on hardstanding as much as possible! Is the horse sound?
 
Yes he's sound otherwise. The equine vet said no bandage due to the heat and the fact that people tend to wrap them too tight and restrict the circulation! :/

The first vet suggested someone may have done this to him
Deliberately while he was grazing at night - it was a very long, deep, clean cut and there was talk of a possible machete attack! (don't even get me started on that possibility I have only just calmed down!) but I guess he could have done it himself - it did seem rather large for that though.

Because the wound was slanted down and inwards I was worried it might cause soundness issues - but he can stand on it and although he wasn't walking much when I last saw him he was taking seemingly painless steps on it.

They use antibiotics for everything here as there are plenty of germs and difficult to keep clean 24/7 where he is.
It's uber basic here - people just make do with what they have and pray for the best!
 
Oooh I may actually be able to help with this one.

My horse had a very similar injury, except it went right round the pastern, it was caused by loose electric tape wrapping around his pastern and tightening.

By the time the vet arrived, stitching wasn't an option as some of the flesh had come off completely and the area that could be stitched was too swollen. So they just bandaged him up- heavily and then put a cast on 3 days later, which was on for 2 weeks.

Elvis had severed an artery and nerves but there was no damage to the tendons or ligaments so we were very lucky.

The cast was to create pressure to prevent the new skin from granulating. He was then bandaged for about another month- so about 2 months box rest in total and then limited turnout with a bandage and an over reach boot.

The wound healed perfectly, the nerves may repair themselves over time- but it doesn't matter if they don't, I just need to check that foot carefully as Elvis won't feel anything in a quarter of that foot.

He returned to full work with no further implications.

Only advice is keep up the bandaging- there need to be lots of layers to create enough pressure. We had the vet out every week, sometimes more often to change the bandages as they are far better at judging pressure etc.

Also buy Manuka honey or ask the vet to provide some and apply it with every bandage change- it's a fantastic natural healer.

Elvis was on bute and antibiotics for 2 weeks. The cost came close to £1500, but we had insurance and Elvis trying to remove his bandages didn't help.

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Unfortunately I didn't take any photos when it first happened but here's one towards the end of his recovery. You can see the new skin growth so can guess how big the wound was initially.
 
Oooh I may actually be able to help with this one.

My horse had a very similar injury, except it went right round the pastern, it was caused by loose electric tape wrapping around his pastern and tightening.

By the time the vet arrived, stitching wasn't an option as some of the flesh had come off completely and the area that could be stitched was too swollen. So they just bandaged him up- heavily and then put a cast on 3 days later, which was on for 2 weeks.

Elvis had severed an artery and nerves but there was no damage to the tendons or ligaments so we were very lucky.

The cast was to create pressure to prevent the new skin from granulating. He was then bandaged for about another month- so about 2 months box rest in total and then limited turnout with a bandage and an over reach boot.

The wound healed perfectly, the nerves may repair themselves over time- but it doesn't matter if they don't, I just need to check that foot carefully as Elvis won't feel anything in a quarter of that foot.

He returned to full work with no further implications.

Only advice is keep up the bandaging- there need to be lots of layers to create enough pressure. We had the vet out every week, sometimes more often to change the bandages as they are far better at judging pressure etc.

Also buy Manuka honey or ask the vet to provide some and apply it with every bandage change- it's a fantastic natural healer.

Elvis was on bute and antibiotics for 2 weeks. The cost came close to £1500, but we had insurance and Elvis trying to remove his bandages didn't help.

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Unfortunately I didn't take any photos when it first happened but here's one towards the end of his recovery. You can see the new skin growth so can guess how big the wound was initially.

Edited to say- just seen your in Gambia so will be much trickier, if you can get Manuka honey it is a brilliant product, although you don't have the worry of skin growth.
 
Thanks. I may check the supermarket for Manuka - although we can get raw honey locally but I don't know the type. Prob is that may mean his leg is eaten by ants lol - so not sure if it'd work!
I think he may have cut an artery too - the blood was spurting at one point (usually I'd have passed out but I was just so worried about him and trying to keep him calm while he was half sedated on the floor) :(

Thanks so much for sharing.
It definately gives me hope - if your boy revovered so well without even stitching thats great (tho no plaster casts for animals here I don't think)

Luckily my friend from Germany was here on holiday and she payed the vet bill for the owner (foreign money goes much further here - plus most people cant even afford the doctor for their own families let alone their animals!)

I'm glad Elvis recovered so well bless him! :)
 
Of course- I hadn't thought about ants! Maybe you could put a small amount of the honey on (if you can buy some) and then put some vet wrap over it, just a short bandage up to the fetlock, and over the foot? Like a bandage for an abscess. I'd be a little worried about leaving the wound exposed. Do you have an over reach boot you could put over it?

And yes sounds like an artery, Elvis was spurting blood everywhere, every time he put his foot down he'd spray blood. Although like your friends horse he was 100% sound.

Your friends horse has likely also severed nerves so keep an eye on that hoof, as the horse won't feel if it stands on a nail for example.
 
I was dubious about it not being covered too - but apparently with the heat here, bacteria are more likely to flourish under a sweaty bandage apparently.
No they don't have boots here either :/
I didn't et chance to see him yesterday but going down there shortly to visit him so will update later :)
 
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