Forgetting to take tail bandages off dire consequences!

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Lill

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Sorry just reading the other post and a few people mentioned they'd left tail bandages on for periods of time, now we personally do not use tail bandages any more, not since the people over the back from us managed to forget and leave one on their horse for too long, the horse ended up with maggets in its tail and had to have its tail amputated. It now just has two tufts of hair where the tail should. Just a bit of a warning, thought i'd share. Am not sure exactly how long the tail bandage was left on though i suspect it was longer than a few hours!
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That must have been on for weeks!!!
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It was me that had said I have done it before, and it was only for a few hours and I never to the tail bandage that tight anyway, just tight enough to stay on and with even pressure
 
That can't have just been a few hours though! It must have been on for weeks - long enough for a bluebottle to land, lay eggs and the eggs hatch out!

I once had a panic that I hadn't taken my horse's tail bandage off after a show. Kept waking up in a cold sweat all night because I just couldn't remember taking it off. Went down the next day at the crack of dawn and not only had I taken it off but I'd re-rolled it and put it away!
 
I think it was a couple of people i wasn't singling anyone out, it just made me think of that. Yeh poor pony has no tail now
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Thats odd are you sure its not just a story... It would have to be on seriously tight and for a very very long time. When me old mare split her quarters open her tail was banaged (on vets advice) for about 4 weeks. I was at college at the time so she was left on full livery. It rubbed her tail raw as it was rarely removed but nothing as dire as that!

Are you sure horses can even have there tails amputated? The dock is the coccygeal vertebrea... Surely thats like a human having there coccyx renoved?
 
No its not, seriously the pony is over the back of our fields and it has no tail! Just a few tufts of hair at the top. Looks quite odd.

Am not sure photo evidence for on here would be a good idea as not sure exactly who the owners are.
 
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Are you sure horses can even have there tails amputated? The dock is the coccygeal vertebrea... Surely thats like a human having there coccyx renoved?

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Good point actually. *goes off to search the net for answers*
 
Um....
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doubt it? If memory serves me correctly (last time i saw it was the summer) its a mare.

ETA mare's only about 3 or 4yo ish i think
 
Lol no of course not sorry i didn't mean 'doubt it' as in being short with you!
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Really? That is a little strange! Wonder if there are any more around here!!
 
There's an elderly grey Section A type mare in our Pony Club with no tail as well - just the little tufts. I understand hers was amputated due to getting caught up in the breeching of the trailer though.
 
It has happened to me and the bandage wasn't on for weeks. I left it on overnight, one night only and somehow a tiny speck of mud or sand rubbed under Peps tail and got under the skin with the bandages help. She very quickly developed a huge ulcer under her tail and we were very lucky not to lose her tail. But it doesn't take weeks as someone above suggested. This was once, over night.
 
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i heard of a horse travelling over from the continent with a tail bandage on... it's tail came off with the bandage.
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Take a look at the HAPPA website in their News section:

http://www.happa.org.uk/newsview.asp?id=26

It's funny but some people really don't realise the consequences of leaving a tail bandage on too long - a teenager at my old yard turned her horse out after a show wearing one to keep her tail plait tidy - tail bandage was on for a day before I spotted it and took it off. When I mentioned it to her she advised she had left it on on purpose not realising the consequences.

As for me this summer showing my class was very late starting, my boy in all honesty had his tail bandage on 2-3 hours. When we took it off he was not at all a happy boy - think it must have been numb - and his tail was literally clamped to his body
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I now only use my tail guard and that includes tidying up his pulled tail when waiting for showing classes.
 
lillie and Stacieandjed - I don;t see why a horse's tail can't be amputated- doesn't one breed of heavy horse have a docked tail? and dogs' tails can be docked??
 
I left a tail bandage on all night on the eve of my very 1st BE event. At the time I was a livery at an International Event Yard that's based in my village & I felt VERY ASHAMED when it was pointed out to me that I didn't know that you shouldn't.

I must admit though, I did think that they were taking the mick when they said the consequence would be the tail falling off! - I still took heed though & never did it again
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One of my mares had to have her tail amputated. she now has a few tufts of hair.
She must have been itching her backside on perimeter fencing ( only bit of barbed wire ) and I can only assume her tail hair got caught and she pulled away, thus dislocating her tail ! Typically it was a friday evening and the vet came out, all her back side was swollen , I remember the vet saying " Oh worse case scenario is its broken and we will have to remove it !" Anyway it went on for a week or so and we took her for xrays to find yep it was dislocated, so she went into the stocks and had an epidural to have it cut off... It was awful I felt so guilty. The vet said had it happened in the wild the maggots would have eaten through the skin and it would have dropped off. That was about 6 years ago and as long as we fly rug her to the hilt she is absolutely fine.
Then would you believe it about 3 years ago another of my horses, a very flirty mare got bitten on her tail in a few places by a randy gelding. She fractured it in several places , we took her to possibly have it removed, when we were relieved to discover it was fusing back together . Alot of the hair fell out but is thankfully growing back now.
I personally never use tail bandages as I have heard of horses losing their tails through them.
 
I have heard of this happening - I believe that it was a brand new and very stretchy tail bandage. If you think of all the times you have pulled an old and not very elasticated tail bandage as tight as it will go, you can imagine the damage that can be done with a brand new one being pulled to maximum stretch.
 
i no a young horse with a owner thats not very bright last summer she thought the filly had sweetitch so put on a tailbandage left it on for a few weeks the filly had to have major surgery to remove her tail now she cant be turned out with other horses as she gets attacked even her mum chases her off not a very nice life to look forward to
 
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