HOW TO KEEP A WOUND CLEAN WHEN HORSE IS TURNED OUT 24/7????

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copperlawwill

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Uggghhhhh. The mud. My horse has knocked herself on the inside of her cannon bone (self harming definitely) and being a thoroughbred, we now have a fat leg!!!
She is not lame, and the swelling goes down after I work her, but it would obviously heal a whole lot quicker, if I could find a way to cover the wound!!
Suggestions???? Could I use human elastoplast?
 
Friend of mine (human nurse) uses clingfilm and vetwrap, seemed to work even when the horse had dreadful cuts on its hinds after kicking through corrugated sheets.
 
I wouldn't use clingfilm for fear of making the area sweaty & Moist. Assuming (if the horse if working) that the wound is healing and not infected, I would use a simple antiseptic spray on the cleaned leg & then bandage normally. You could use a melolin(?) dressing or similar to keep wet off the wound and stop it sticking, just change it a couple of times a day & don't bandage too tightly/keep checking for inflammation.
 
my worry is then how to stop the bandage from getting wet and muddy...........she is out in the field 24/7 you see, and I can't stable her!!! At the moment i am hosing her leg once a day, drying it, and then spraying leucillin spray on it (meant to kill 99.999% of bacteria) but I am leaving it uncovered................
 
How big is the wound exactly?

To be honest, no amount of wrapping is going to prevent it from getting dirt inside if the horse has a play around in the mud.

My TB does this occasionally, with little nicks here and there and a method that has worked every time without fail has been to clean it, dry it and pack it with sudocrem for turnout. It acts as a barrier and does not come off when the horse goes in mud like vaseline and other creams can. It will get mud on top, but it will not get through. It will get wet, but it will not get through. I have these little wounds clear up in no time with this method. Just make sure when you have the horse in that you clean it all off, dry it all off and allow it to have the air get to it for as long as possible before creaming and turning out again.

Cling film is great to use on wounds, but I think it is best used as a way to lift scabs without the need to pick at them. So, if there are any scabs there, picking at them may open a wound underneath...whereas applying a cream and wrapping in cling film and then vetwrap will sweat the scab off. This is a short term thing though, A horse shouldn't really be left in a cling film wrap all day. I do it overnight if I need to and leave off during the day until the scab has come away.
 
Also, if she has a fat leg, I wouldn't want to apply a dressing that would encourage it to heal too quickly as you will want that fluid build up to have a way to escape.

I tend to go by the rule that less is best when dealing with minor wounds. Horses have their own defences for minor wounds, we just need to help in cases like this with excess mud, so creating a barrier for when in the field would be an easy and simple solution.
 
Sudocrem works well against mud, but if its only small what about Intrasite from the vets? Looks like thick glue but once applied sets to form a barrier that nothing can get through, but its breathable so no risk of infection brewing underneath it, fab stuff IME.
 
we had a cream from the vet called filtabac and its awsome!! it sticks to wet wounds and looks like sudocream but does not budge . you can wash it off with cotton wool and water and its antibacterial so does the healing bit also. truly fantastic stuff!
 
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