Full livery injury

[cobzjigg]

Hi
I have a 12 month old gypsy cob on full livery. I had been tied up with other things Defoe a week so didn’t see her for this length of time.
When I went to see her I was greeted with a big cut to the top of her face and a lovely wire cut to her back leg. These cuts were healing they looked a couple of days old.
Really annoyed that I was not told. Cream had supposedly been applied but she has not had tetanus injection. If I’d have know she would have had the vet ASAP.
She apparently followed another horse down a bank, through fence wire to get to the second field. I’m not happy at the moment really worried she will be scarred for life and she was a lot of money
Surely full livery should have notified me straight away when she cut herself?

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I do part and diy and always tell the owners straight away if I see an injury, I would not be happy on full livery and not be told. This is out of order, they have a duty of care to report any injury.

 

[spotty_pony]

I would be annoyed too - I’d expect to be told straight away if my horse has injured himself if I was on livery.

 

[TheMule]

I would also expect to be told and offered the choice to get the vet out. I would move her.

 

[Lucky Snowball]

I think you should get the vet out to review the injuries and check for any scar tissue which could form. The vet could start a tetanus vaccination course at the same visit. Hopefully there will not be any lasting scars.

 

[cobzjigg]

I would also expect to be told and offered the choice to get the vet out. I would move her.

Thanks my thoughts exactly. I am currently looking at other yards. I just don’t understand why I wasn’t told x

 

[cobzjigg]

I think you should get the vet out to review the injuries and check for any scar tissue which could form. The vet could start a tetanus vaccination course at the same visit. Hopefully there will not be any lasting scars.

Thanks. Aw that’s good to know. I was hoping to use her for showing as she has good breeding I will get vet out and will hopefully get her moved to a better place x

 

[ycbm]

Yes you should have been notified but why oh why were you taking the terrible risk of her not having tetanus cover?
.

 

[SEL]

I'm not sure whether I'm misunderstanding your point about tetanus. If she's up to date with her jabs then the vet is unlikely to give another shot - if she isn't then you're playing with fire with a youngster. My older horses have probably had enough tetanus jabs to have background immunity but I'm always on top of jabs for younger horses. Vaccinations are much safer than the emergency stuff they give too.

I think because we don't hear much about tetanus any longer people forget it's high risk.

 

[ycbm]

I'm not sure how many people understand that the stuff they give an unvaccinated horse when it gets a wound isn't vaccine, it's an anti toxin in the hope of neutralising the toxin in time, and not guaranteed to succeed. Then if the horse is OK it needs the vaccination started.
.

 

[SEL]

I'm not sure how many people understand that the stuff they give an unvaccinated horse when it gets a wound isn't vaccine, it's an anti toxin in the hope of neutralising the toxin in time, and not guaranteed to succeed. Then if the horse is OK it needs the vaccination started.
.

My anti vaccination friend found that out the hard way. Pony didn't get tetanus but developed uveitis as a result of the anti tox. She then tried the "I told you all vaccinations were bad" line until 101 people pointed out if the pony had been up to date with her vaccination then the anti tox would have been unnecessary.

 

[Poingsettia]

Did livery owner / manager give a reason for not telling you? Did you express your concerns?

 

[cobzjigg]

Yes you should have been notified but why oh why were you taking the terrible risk of her not having tetanus cover?
.

I’ve just bought her

 

[Red-1]

I am on the fence.

I think even if you just bought her, a week with no tet jab is a long time. I would not have turned out with others until it was done, TBH. BH came with no injections and the vet was here first available visit, and he was carefully supervised until not only he had the jab, but that it had time to take effect. He would not have been out with others, in a field with a wire fence at the bottom of a bank, with no protection.

Also, is this your first horse? I ask as minor dinks are to be expected with a new horse, and I would be a bit miffed myself if a YO was on the phone to me in a panic every time the horse got a scratch. One person's 'big cut' and wire cut are another person's minor scratch. You say they look a couple of days old, yet are already healing? Quite possibly they are just everyday dinks that don't require treatment and they yard has attended to what they did need.

That said, if the yard does not please you, then you should look for another. Or, tell the YO that you wish to be informed of every scratch from now on. Also, if a small scar would upset you, maybe the horse needs different turnout arrangements. Many show horses live in protected environments.

 

[cobzjigg]

I am on the fence.

I think even if you just bought her, a week with no tet jab is a long time. I would not have turned out with others until it was done, TBH. BH came with no injections and the vet was here first available visit, and he was carefully supervised until not only he had the jab, but that it had time to take effect. He would not have been out with others, in a field with a wire fence at the bottom of a bank, with no protection.

Also, is this your first horse? I ask as minor dinks are to be expected with a new horse, and I would be a bit miffed myself if a YO was on the phone to me in a panic every time the horse got a scratch. One person's 'big cut' and wire cut are another person's minor scratch. You say they look a couple of days old, yet are already healing? Quite possibly they are just everyday dinks that don't require treatment and they yard has attended to what they did need.

That said, if the yard does not please you, then you should look for another. Or, tell the YO that you wish to be informed of every scratch from now on. Also, if a small scar would upset you, maybe the horse needs different turnout arrangements. Many show horses live in protected environments.

No it’s not a minor dink as you say and no it’s not my first horse.
You come across a bit aggressive tbh. We can’t all be perfect like you I suppose. Humans make mistakes but when you are paying for a service then you should get what you pay for.
No one knows all the answers and that’s why I put it on here because I’m not someone who overreacts but just couldn’t believe what happened in this situation

 

[throwawayaccount]

I think communication is important so yes, you should have been told.

I’ve only ever had one horse on a full livery package & im wary doing it again. I never got told /anything/, ever and whenever I asked would get told different things.

Also re the jabs, whenever I’ve moved onto a yard the rule has always been to ensure the horse has tet/flu & wormed before being turned out

 

[AmyMay]

No it’s not a minor dink as you say and no it’s not my first horse.
You come across a bit aggressive tbh. We can’t all be perfect like you I suppose. Humans make mistakes but when you are paying for a service then you should get what you pay for.
No one knows all the answers and that’s why I put it on here because I’m not someone who overreacts but just couldn’t believe what happened in this situation

Um, just wind it in a tad. @Red-1 speaks from years of professional experience - and doesn’t have an aggressive bone in her body.

Presumably now you’ve had time to fully discuss the situation with your YO and made it clear that you’re not happy with the level of care or communication. I’m also assuming that your pony has also now seen a vet, been fully vaccinated and given a clean bill of health - so no long term damage done.

 

[skint.spotty]

I would expect YO to tell me if my horse got injured whilst I wasn't there if they saw it, regardless of whether or not I was DIY, part, or full tbh - though of course for DIY owners, you're up there twice a day every day so more likely to see things yourself - whereas if on full and they have sole care of your horse they will be the one to notice things amiss first. If this is the first time something like this has happened, I would give them a second chance rather than move straight away. Though all yards I've been on have required horses to be up to date with vaccinations before being turned out and some didn't allow unvaccinated animals on at all, so you might struggle to find somewhere whilst she's not UTD on jabs.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

If it isn't serious (no treatment required) I get a picture and a message showing what my the self harming idiot has done this time.

If the staff think they would like the vet to have a look they'll call me and send pictures.

Any new turnout situation can lead to minor injuries and I try not to look but have the hibiscrub on hand just in case.

 

[cobzjigg]

Um, just wind it in a tad. @Red-1 speaks from years of professional experience - and doesn’t have an aggressive bone in her body.

Presumably now you’ve had time to fully discuss the situation with your YO and made it clear that you’re not happy with the level of care or communication. I’m also assuming that your pony has also now seen a vet, been fully vaccinated and given a clean bill of health - so no long term damage done.

Another know it all

 

[Tiddlypom]

Clip clop

 

[Red-1]

No it’s not a minor dink as you say and no it’s not my first horse.
You come across a bit aggressive tbh. We can’t all be perfect like you I suppose. Humans make mistakes but when you are paying for a service then you should get what you pay for.
No one knows all the answers and that’s why I put it on here because I’m not someone who overreacts but just couldn’t believe what happened in this situation

Um, just wind it in a tad. @Red-1 speaks from years of professional experience - and doesn’t have an aggressive bone in her body.

Presumably now you’ve had time to fully discuss the situation with your YO and made it clear that you’re not happy with the level of care or communication. I’m also assuming that your pony has also now seen a vet, been fully vaccinated and given a clean bill of health - so no long term damage done.

Thank you Amymay, as you thought, I was not trying to be aggressive but was merely trying to ascertain if it were a first time owner panicking and possibly about to upset a YO who had done a reasonable job with a minor scrape. I know that sometimes, with my own horse, I can panic and think things are worse than they are and need someone to get me to see things objectively. An injury that had had cream on and is healing up after just a couple of days certainly sounded like it could be one of those injuries where your fears make it seem worse than it is. It is tricky to comment any other way without photos.

As you say, the pony has now presumably seen a vet, for vaccination if nothing else and has a clean bill of health. I would hope there is also now a written contract of livery with everyone's expectations in writing so there is no upset. It may seem like faff but in the long run can save a lot of aggro.

When one of mine goes to a yard (has happened a couple of times) I would expect to be informed immediately about anything serious but would not want to be told about a little scrape until I arrived. I do trust the YO completely though, she is more experienced than I am. She would be the one I would (and have!) call if I had a worry where I keep my horses at home.

The suggestion for different turnout if it is important for no scars was a serious one.

 

[Red-1]

Clip clop

Is it? I'm not always good at spotting them.

 

[conniegirl]

Thank you Amymay, as you thought, I was not trying to be aggressive but was merely trying to ascertain if it were a first time owner panicking and possibly about to upset a YO who had done a reasonable job with a minor scrape.

Sorry but i also read it and thought it came across as very passive aggressive and the sort of thing that gives horse people a bad name.

 

[Barton Bounty]

@cobzjigg how serious are the injuries? Will there be any lasting damage? Will they scar?

I would not be happy somewhere on full
Livery if this had happened to me. I also know a lot of people that do not vaccinate their horses as they rarely leave the yards. The main thing is if there is any kind of object involved and the horse hasn’t had a tetanus, it should have one, just to be safe, you just never know what could have been in contact with the object. The next thing is to keep the wound clean and bacteria free and most of the times in these circumstances the horse would be given antibiotics as a precaution unless the injuries were superficial. That doesn’t take away from the fact you should have been told immediately.

I would most definitely have a word with the yard owner as even if you were DIY you would need to be told especially for their yard insurance purposes(if that’s applicable)

At lot of us on here have had decade of experience with horses and are happy to help and advise

 

[Red-1]

Sorry but i also read it and thought it came across as very passive aggressive and the sort of thing that gives horse people a bad name.

Gosh, I don't think there was anything in my post to give horse people a bad name.

I find that part of your comment passive aggressive too.

Funny how the written word can be interpreted.

I have re-read my post and think it fair, in the circumstances.

 

[AmyMay]

Another know it all

Oh for goodness sake …..

 

[View]

Another know it all

OP, while I understand your concerns about the lack of communication from you YM, brushing off the sensible comments from others is not doing you any favours.

if your horse was not vaccinated, I’m astonished that you didn’t have a course started on day 2 of ownership.

if blemishes are such a concern, I would have discussed this with the YM prior to turnout and walked the field myself to ensure it was as low risk as possible.

I hope that you find a yard better suited to your needs, and are able to enjoy many years with your equine partner.

 

[ycbm]

I also know a lot of people that do not vaccinate their horses as they rarely leave the yards

For tetanus it doesn't matter if the horse never leaves its field, it's in the soil.

It's a vile disease, totally preventable and anything I take on without it gets it at the first moment a vet is free to do it.

 

[PeterNatt]

Yes! The yard should have immediately contacted you and suggested that the vet is called.
It is important to have all horses vacinated against Flu and Tetanus and I have mine vaccinated against Flu every 6 months as the vaccine looses significant effect after 6 months.