not sure what to do now - advice needed

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treacle_beastie

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Ok sorry if this turns out to be a long one...

My horse has been on box rest for 3 weeks following a collision with a tree and suffering from some very deep gashes to her chest and belly. The staples have been removed and that cut as good as healed. One of the other deeper wounds has filled in and I assume will scab over in the next few days. However, the third one is in her armpit and is now about an inch long and keeps filling in but she keeps re-opening it everytime she rolls or has a silly moment when I hand graze her.

I graze her twice a day for 30 mins unless - heres the problem-its remotely windy as she doesnt like the wind and rears,bucks and trys to run away which is a bit of an issue when I cant hold her. So now I have become quite nervous of grazing her in hand which she picks up on and she also keeps rolling and getting mud everywhere.
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This weekend and for the next week its going to be windy as far as I can tell so what should i do?
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1) Leave her in completely and deal with the freshness when shes healed? I would like to think that not going out would mean only one more week in!

2) Lunge her - at least she can let of steam in enlcosed area though I am worried this will stop wound from healing

3) sedate her and hand graze/lunge?

4) something else?

I was hpoing that this weekend she would be able to back out into the field but the wound hasnt healed yet.

Also how much longer do you think it would take to heal? Its about 3mm deep and 1cm wide and inch long? Neither of us can cope with too much more box rest!

She is fairly settled in the stable except when I am around as she associates me with going out to graze!
 
If you decide on sedation you will need to talk to the vet .Maybe a chat with him would be best.I know how you are feeling re grazing in hand Ive had to do this on numerous occassions bear in mind if she injures you you cant look after her so safety first.You know her best so its a tricky one to respond to.I hate windy days when they are ok it makes them really scatty.Good luck
 
If possible I would go for 'something else' by turning her out for as long as possible.

My reasoning would be that because you are limiting her movement, that cut is healing only to re open again if she has a frilly moment. If she is out more, she will settle better and increased movement will aid the healing. You could put some cream on the edges to keep it soft while it heals so it doesn't get a chance to crack open again. This would also help with the dangerous moments you're having to put up with now and as someone else said, your safety is paramount.
 
I think I am going to lunge her just so she gets out at least once a day and maybe just walk her up and down the track a few times to keep her moving. Hand grazing is really out of the question when its windy as the nearest grass is up a hill out of the sheltered area!

the vet told me not to turn her out until the wounds have healed and to sedate her the first few times to stop her hooning around the field and risk the wounds tearing open - if this happens it could take ages to heal as it would be weaker scar tissue.

She moves a lot around the stable as she spends her day foraging after the nut ball so I am not worried about the wound healing due to lack of movement! I am just worried she is delaying healing because of her silly antics letting off steam!
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Basically a ditto message about talking to the vet. Personally I would use a litttle sedaline from vet and hand walk, I would be warey about lunging as if windy etc she is likely to have a mad 5 minutes and could easily re-open the wounds. Would also avoid leaving in if possible. hope that helps
 
i would leave her in until is is completely heal.then when she is due to go out get the vet out to give her an iv sedation followed by a few days of sedilin. at least the you will know it has healed propperly and less worry about it opening and you won't be at risk of her hurting you. i know its an nightmare when they are on box rest (mine had 4 months box rest) but it is in the best intrest of all involved
 
Has the vet told you to graze her in hand? If not, I would just leave her in full time until it's healed.

Is Angie still on the yard? See if you can get her to give you a couple of sessions with the dually and maybe get the lady I had out for a session if you're having trouble with her manners on the ground. Worked a treat for M and you saw how he was! Doing something like that might help with her respect and then she won't try to take off - plus if you try grazing in hand with the dually, she can't tank off.

When it's time to turn out, ask the vet for ACP/Sedalin to give her. Ask for a few tubes, and I would only TO for short periods, fence off a small area with the electric ON so she can't get out.
 
Totally agree with MFH here. I had a mare who rolled into the side of a field shelter. She became cast and smashed out a part of the shelter which ended up with a screw sticking out. Well as expected she caught her armpit on the screw and split it open. The wound was actually very deep. I packed it with Furicin and gauze for about a week and then it was sealing over nicely so stopped packing it and just applied Furicin to the outer round of it and put some inside the hole. This mare lived out 24/7 and the wound totally sealed over within a couple of weeks. Can't even see the scar now.

What are you putting on it if you don't mind me asking? You've probably said, but I tend to skim read so sometimes miss these things
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Thanks for all your replies - heres the update...

I took her into the school and lunged her in walk for 15 mins and she was fine and then put her back to bed.

Today it wasnt windy (not sure where it went!) so she has been out to graze in hand and all is well. I am going to continue to lunge her this week and graze her if its good weather as hopefully by the weekend it will be practically healed.

I am following vets advice to hand graze her twice daily and once they have healed i can sedate her for a few days and turn her out as normal but to make sure they are healed enough before i attempt this so as not to increase chance of ripping open scar tissue.

Chestnut cob - I am using dually halter and have been using one for last 2 months! I did some groundwork with her last weekend after I decided enough was enough but she managed to bolt off from me in the school with the dually! Its just the wind thats the problem - when its not windy she is fine! I dread to think what she would be like without the dually though - it definitely helps and does stop her from rearing if I apply the pressure quick enough!

Tia - i am not putting anything on them - i was just flushing them out with hibbiscrub but now just wiping them clean with hibbiscrub and applying vaseline around the edges to keep the straw off! They look good today and have started to scab up so fingers crossed...
 
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