Came in sound went out lame? confused :(

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horses17

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My horse got a cut on his leg on Monday, its about 2mm deep so nothing too bad. As he was sound, i cleaned it and put wound cream on it and turned him out and he was fine up until today ( Wednesday ) , i brought him in {sound} cleaned out his cut and cold hosed as it was a bit dirty and was more swollen than the previous days, he had his feed then when it came to turn out time he walked away quite lame. After standing around for a while i led him up and down and he seemed much better but still a bit sore, i decided to turn him out tonight as no other horse in the same field as him stay in at night and i know he would just get stressed and possibly make the soreness worse. He also gets stiff very easily from standing in over a long period.

It may seem minor on the grand scheme of things but I'm a worrier and don't want to be doing anything wrong.
He wasn't exercised in the duration of time he had cut himself and i haven't felt like it needed the vets attention (hence why I'm asking here)

A few things are going through my mind -

Should i poultice it and keep him in just incase? (or is it too late to do that now)
Was it just the cold water making him a bit numb and cold?
is he just being a drama king?
or should i just keep doing what I'm doing and if he's still sore tomorrow poultice him?

as you can probably tell I'm a tad worried over a small cut as he's my pride and joy lol , any help/advice would be amazing!!

Thanks in advance x
 
Is your horse normally a wimp? first question. Were abouts is the cut on your horse?

You cant really poultice unless its his hoof really.
To be fair, as long as the cut isnt near a joint or where the skin is pulled a lot I would keep an eye on it. keep it clean, either by purple spray/ cream. It could be that he is sore on it. However I would expect it more from when they have stood on something rather then a cut. The fact it was more swollen would worry me slightly and now he is lame. Personally I would keep my eye on it for a few more days, again keep it clean but turn him out. I am a big believer depending on the cause / injury it regards to lameness ' Unless its on 3 legs, turn him out'. So turn out as much as poss keep it clean, if still no better in 48 hours I would chat to the vet and see if I visit is needed, that is if the lameness hasn't cleared up.
 
Thanks so much for the advice , it's on the inner forearm on his front left, so its a fairly fatty place.

He's not usually bothered about things like this but then again he's not had a cut for a good 3-4 years so I'm unsure there. I have checked his hooves and there's not warmth from anywhere and is completely happy to lean on that leg so its just a bit odd and has made it a bit awkward for me to asses.

Thanks again, your advice is appreciated :)
 
Okay, its good there is no heat in his foot and happy to bare weight. He may just by a bit tender, I guess sometimes that small paper cut can hurt a lot more then we think!
 
My rule of thumb is if in doubt and things are not healing progressively, call the vet.
I assume tetanus is up to date, if not you need to use a serum rather than a vaccine.
I am not sure why the wound is getting dirty if it is so high up.
I would take the temperature and examine horse for signs of infection.
 
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His tetanus is up to date, if he is still lame by tonight i shall get the vet out. It was dirty because he's a typical grey and finds the best muddy part of the field to submerge in lol

It's not infected either , thank you for your advice :)
 
Where on his inner forearm? In relation to the chestnut or knee where is the wound. Did it appear likely to be a kick wound? Has there been much swelling or tenderness? If it is a kick and the discomfort persists or worsens then get it x rayed - they don't have to be very lame to have a hairline fx of the radius and can suddenly become a catastrophic fracture.
 
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