fitness plan after serious injury photos are not for the faint hearted

[starrthomas]

[image]http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=552850824&security=AYDuyP[/image]

help with a fitness plan for a mare after serious injury her injury has healed now it has been closed for about 3 monthes but i need to get her fit to travel to my new home at the end of october

 

[Super_Kat]

Link doesn't work

 

[starrthomas]

sorry try
http://community.webshots.com/album/552850824AYDuyP

 

[piebaldsparkle]

OMG how did she manage to do that?

 

[starrthomas]

a 12 hh yearling colt from the neighbours field broke in and attacked her the colt didn't have a mark on him my mare is 15hh so he really must of gone mad

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Yikes poor girl, glad shes on the mend. Can't help with the fitness though sorry, my mare only does fat!!! Good luck

 

[niashadow]

Lots of TLC, no doubt she is already having it. \\never have i seen such a dreadful injury and the horse surviving. Well done to you xxx

 

[guisbrogal]

What an appalling injury

The poor girl! I thin I would have took a shot gun to the colt!

As for fittening her I am afraid I am not really up on it but I would start really slowly by maybe walking out in hand, long reining and some very gentle lunge work on a long rein maybe.

Can she be ridden?

 

[GTs]

I personally think it looks worse then it is - 2 large cuts, and sliffed skin - it is not particularly deep. I would speak to the vet, but I would think once it has heeled, slowly bring her back as you would for a horse who has been turned out.

 

[PapaFrita]

Ouch!! Poor girl

It says she had an op. Do you mind me asking what the vets did? Because on one pic, it looks like the flap of skin has been cut away, and then on another it looks as if it's been stitched back.
Can't help with the fitness issue, I'm afraid but I hope you're able to ride her soon.

 

[majorpoops]

Hope shes ok they are awful. My gelding got attacked in the first two weeks of me owning him 3 years ago. He was cut to pieces and a nervous wreck with a huge 6 inch lump out of his crest. Hes ok now but still scarred its just so horrible when you see them so distressed. He had lots of rest and came back into work very slowly (as he is old).

 

[starrthomas]

she is able to be ridden now i am currently hacking for 20 mins 3 times a week she is quite stiff through that shoulder still and is on cortaflex
her wound was very deep as i could put my hand into the hole in her neck right passed my wrist the vet who treated her was brill it took her 8 hours to stich the wound first day then by day4 the skin and underlying flesh died which is when we decided to remove all the flap of dead tissue it was really bad she had 72 bite wounds on her body all of which scarred she had 12 drains to the wound to help with all the rubbish which came out of the holes the colts teeth had made
when i went into the field when we found her there was lumps of mucsle and flesh around her where the colt had contuine to attcked her he had pull hand size lumps out of her neck
thankfully she is ok now just needs to be got fit to travel to our new home i will post new pics of her later

 

[judymoon]

is she on cortflex HA or corta vet or just the standard cortflex?

 

[serena2005]

no access to a horse walker?

if you can hack then id say thats the best thing for now, im not surprised she is stiff, im surprised she wants to walk at all!!
set your self small goals to achieve, eg hacking out for 25 mins up a small hill... weeks 2 30 mins hacking more hill work, maybe even some pole work if she can manage it.

set yourself reasonable goals and the results will come quicker, so you dont get down hearten. take it slowly and good luck x

 

[Malibu]

hi, i am so sorry, your poor mare! If she can be ridden then thats great, i woudl take her to the beach specialy if you say she is stiff, walk her through water some trot as well and build up to canter, water will sting on wound but will clean it like nothing else! also do some stretch excersies with the front legs and neck by using a carrot or food what ever and just lots of tlc which im sure she gets! good luck and keep us updated! x

 

[Bossanova]

We had one with a similar injury on the yard not long ago- did they skin graft yours?
As for work, short periods of quiet walking for at least 4 weeks and then see how she's coping

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Thats truly awful i've never seen such an horrific injury in my entire life, made me quite sick!! Poor poor girl!! No idea how to help with the fitness but good luck, poor thing!

 

[allijudd]

good greif...thats apalling..well done you for keeping her going.....as for advice i would jkust take it slowly and use something like asheepskin under a sadlle so it doesnt rub.

 

[Rosyryan]

Gosh what an awful injury! my friend's polo mare was attacked like your girl,she thought that she may have had to retire her, however her mare had maggot treatment which sounds euch but there is now just a slight dent in her neck now, she trucked her to another yard and put her on their walker, which was brill she also used their salt-water spa for the wounds on her legs -all healed now. So beach ride with wading in sea-water as suggested by previous poster would be ideal.

 

[starrthomas]

thanks for all the advice and support
i have been collecting sea water to spray on the wound and it has worked brilliantly. she is gradualy gaining strength i was very worried for the first few months as she was stabled full time not allowed to roll or walk for long and it affected her respirate system and yet more antibiotics, i cannot believe what a wonderful patient she is never cross or upset just trusting in me to help her. as i bred her and have had her 25 years now she is my pride and joy my soul mate !
the wound itself has nearly closed all but one spot which keeps scabbing and breaking down. at the moment she is on normal cortaflex is there anything better i could give her ? i can take to the beach so i will definate try that thanks. what about long reining? and the saddle i have is a striaght cut show one do you think a gp would be better?

 

[BethH]

Hi my horse is returning to work after surgery. Spent 6 weeks long reining 4-5 times a week for 20 mins a couple of weeks walk, then some trot then some canter. Am now riding every other days for 20- 30 mins just gently hacking out - 3 weeks walk and 3 weeks walk and trot then introduce a bit of canter and gradually build up the length of rides. I am still long reining a couple of times a weeks to stretch muscles out - sometimes before riding and sometimes am just long reining if I don't want to overdo the ridden work.

Hope that helps but sounds to me like you are doing the right thing with a few short unstressful hacks to start off with.

 

[judymoon]

if stiffness is still a problem then you may want to consider a pure HA supplement t alongside the cortaflex, look at www.kinesishealth.com they can send you a load of info about HA if your interested.

 

[JAK]

OMG, your poor mare - what an evil little sh*t of a pony! (He would definitely have had a few marks on him if I'd've got hold of him!)

I would've thought keeping on with what you're doing fittening wise would be sufficient - if she is able to now hack out for 20 mins. at a time several times a week, she should be fit enough to travel by October!

How far will she have to travel though?

 

[Ariella]

Bleedin heck..... I would have SHOT the colt.... there is no way in heck I would leave something that could attack with such viciousness alive.... can you imagine what it could do to a kid???

Your mare is very lucky to have you..... glad to hear shes on the mend..... poor poor girl!

 

[starrthomas]

thanks for the help everyone i have post new pics of my mare looking slighlty better taken last month

 

[cariadssogreat]

I would agree with Serena2005. A horse walker would be of great help if you are able to get access to one.
I once had an accident prone weanling ( who is now still accident prone in his new home!) who did a very bad hind leg injury and had to have skin grafts etc. I found that (i'm so sorry I cant remember the name of it) there is a foreign made product which is in an upright toothpaste type tube - is that makes sense and the label is red and white. I will try an find out what it is called. It is almost a clear gel , smells funny , but works wonders. Its quite dear but you dont need to use much at all.

 

[frannieuk]

[ QUOTE ]
which is in an upright toothpaste type tube - is that makes sense and the label is red and white. I will try an find out what it is called. It is almost a clear gel , smells funny

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you mean Dermagel??

 

[Sparklet]

What an awful thing to happen - I never realised that horses could cause so much damage to each other.

I am so glad she is on the mend but at the age of 25 you are probably never going to get her back to where she was which is really sad.

Were you able to make a claim against the colts owners for vets fees etc?

 

[KJJ]

Ouchies poor girly... obv a lot of TLC has been given to her!! Well done you!!

As for fittening ... walking, walking and more walking and take each day as it comes to build her up slowly.. she'll tell you when she's ready for more!!

Good Luck

 

[Bertie1]

Poor thing, what a horrible thing to happen.

Have you thought about hydrotherapy? There are some yards around the country that will take in horses to help them recover from a serious injury, not just hydrotherapy but also phsyio as well.