Horse has pulled end of tail off - any experiences of this, treatment/outcome?

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Arkmiido

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Came home from competing yesterday to find a large chunk of tail near one of the gates. It had the end of my 3 year old's tail ie the end section of spine, attached to it. I checked her tail, and the was a bloody, dripping stump of bone hanging there. On-call vet came out pronto (I may be a nurse but these things gross me out on animals!!) and she is now on antibiotics for the next month, plus in during the day cos of risk of flies/maggots, bathed in hibiscrib twice a day and dermasol cream.

He then told me stories about other injuries like this where horses have lost more tail after the injury, where it effectively dies off like a a lamb's tail with a ring on. He also had his small children with him, and proceeded to give them an in-depth commentary on what had happened, and asked if they wanted to take the tail end home with them.... Odd chap!
Possibly the most distressing part was having to cut her tail (hair) off above the point of the injury so she now looks like she has been docked!! Vet thinks she did it cos she's in season and was trying to seduce the gate, or was rubbing on it.. He tail wasn't excessively long, just thick, black and beautiful :(

So, has anyone had any experience of this kind of thing? Good or bad? Any thoughts on whether the treatment will be adequate? Worried that she may have put her back out too in doing this... Other than rename her "Stumpy", I'm a bit bewildered!
 
Oh no how awful for her (and you) Could another horse bitten it off? (obviously not I guess) I have no experience but hope she is ok and the tail grows back fine with time. :)

Oh and agree the vet is a little odd :D
 
Just wanted to say thanks for your kind messages - she's ok today - seems to quite like it being dipped in hibiscrub and creamed, but I'm still a bit squeamish!! Its really odd cos it doesn't appear to be tender or hurt her at all, but when I watched her canter down the field, she looked really crooked, so she's probably hurt her back in the amount of force it must have taken to break her own tail... Poor Stumpy!
 
Oh no! Bless her! I hope she gets better soon and tail heals. Hope it doesn't drop off!!!! :eek: Can only imagine how hard she must have pulled...

No experience except for a friend who transported her horse abroad and they bandaged the tail too tightly and it fell off like a lambs tail. He recovered and goes on to lead a normal life using the herds tail as a flyswatter instead. The owner however was raving mad and sued the transport company.
 
Horses, like most animals, use their tails to balance. It would probably be useful to have a physio look at your mare when she has healed.
I do hope she continues to make a good recovery.
 
Ouch, poor girl. Thats sounds really nasty.
I'd probably be inclined to have a physio check her over, she must have used some force to damage the bony aspect of her tail.
I hope it heals well and her tail grows back, stumpy may need a tail wig if not!
 
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