Horse becoming difficult during wound treatment

Bellacat

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My new mare has what the vet thinks are old saddle sores on her back and withers. It looks like she’s had them for over 12 months. His advice is to clean them daily and apply Sudocrem to them. She will let me treat the ones on her left side but as soon as I move to her right side which is the worst she swings her rear end round at me. She’s a chunky cob and I don’t want to get kicked. Any advice on treating the wounds and how to deal with her being pushy would be appreciated.
 

Fanatical

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I assume you have her tied up? Can you cross tie her?
I have one very similar and have to be extremely careful with. Can someone hold up a foreleg for you to help keep her still?
 
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It will be incredibly painful for her so I don't blame her for trying to avoid treatment!

Holding a leg up isn't going to stop her swinging round if she is adamant. Personally I would get someone to hold her and twitch her. A good skin twitch is less stress and hassle than a nose twitch. I know a lot of people are against twitching but it's a short term evil to sort things out.
 

be positive

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It probably hurts and has done for a long time so go slowly and be gentle but firm, it may help if you use baby oil on them to loosen them up rather than washing then using sudocrem which tends to be sticky and may make her more sore if the hair sticks together, I tend to adapt treatment to the individual whereas vets tend to have a preferred method and stick to suggesting it, so don't be afraid to change things a little as long as you get the desired effect.

As for her swinging into you, if she wont bite instead I would slip the rope through the ring and hold her head towards you which will prevent her back end coming round, having a helper to keep her still will make it even easier.
 

Pinkvboots

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It will be incredibly painful for her so I don't blame her for trying to avoid treatment!

Holding a leg up isn't going to stop her swinging round if she is adamant. Personally I would get someone to hold her and twitch her. A good skin twitch is less stress and hassle than a nose twitch. I know a lot of people are against twitching but it's a short term evil to sort things out.

I agree with this sometimes holding feed in a bucket will help but sometimes it's not enough, twitching is not evil but you do need to know how to do it properly and I would recommend you get someone to help you when you are treating the horse regardless of what procedure you use, it will make the whole process so much easier and safer.
 
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