One of them freak accidents.

Fools Motto

Fools Motto

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Just a little story!

We all know horses will get injured, often in a freakish, see it to believe it way. Sometimes, they get injured because of our doing, like barbed wire, or rusty nails laying about. Sometimes, even if rusty nails or barbed wire is about, they don't get hurt, always lucky owners!
Picture this, post and rail paddock, hedge behind. Very secure, and very horse friendly. No poisonous plants, no stones, no rabbit holes, rest of the herd total non-kickers, (to the best of our ability to judge them), no horse wears shoes.
Go to feed, 4 horses, happy and sound and in usual pecking order. The 5th horse, seemingly normal, and always polite waiting for me by her feed bowl. The only one who doesn't wear a leather head collar (owner insists that they all do, but hers snapped a few weeks ago- worn out). As I get closer, I assume I can see a twig caught in her mane, doesn't concern me. I then put feed in the bowl, and mare stands, not putting head down. I really look now, and that 'twig' is a stick, size of your middle finger roughly, embedded into, the area just behind and just below her NS ear. Christ alive!
A few phone calls later, and it is confirmed that the mare has stabbed herself with a stick - turns out about 2 inches were in her, the 'finger' size sticking out for me to see.
Vet came, and sorts it out. Got 5 day AB to give her, and to keep an eye.
Fingers firmly crossed she will be fine. Now eating and moving normally.

One of those accidents you can't predict.
 
When they do these things to us...... I do wonder why we own them, a snooker cue would never give use this much trouble nor cost as much (hell if a few of us were good enough we may be millionaires!)

You had better start de- twigging that hedge! Good luck with recovery
 
Oddly, a similar thing happened to a horse in the riding school where my horse is in livery. An outdoor class doing a bit of xc jumping over some small logs. The horse ducked out and ran/jumped through a small bush and managed to have a bit of a branch stuck in the inside of his near back leg when he got to the other side of the bush. It looked absolutely horrendous but the horse made a full recovery.
 
You see, almost a reason to have barbed wire and nails lying around, at least then you know what you're looking for and the horses don't have to do it the hard way and really think about how to injure themselves and get out of doing any work :p
 
I know a horse that charged head first into aTree branch in the field. Went three inches into his forehead - none of the vet hospital vets knew how he hadn't either taken his eye or his brain out!! Healed fully, but left with a Harry potter scar!!
 
Ouch. Hope she makes a full and quick recovery. It never ceases to amaze me how horses can do so much damage to themselves on the most random of things. I swear down they should come ready packaged in cotton wool wearing a 'danger hazardous to health sticker'.

Just thinking if you need to keep it clean in all this muddy stuff (although appreciate you haven't mentioned needing to) nappies are really good for heads, attached and held in place with a head collar :) it's highly amusing to watch them wandering around in them mind.
 
Yese - had similar experience some years ago. Went down in the evening to feed 2 yeaerling colts to find one of them with a 4 inch twig sticking out of his eye! It had obviously been there some hours as there was green goo coming out of the eye. He'd been fine in the morning, but it was a day with heavy showers and we reckon he'd run under a tree for shelter and forgotten to duck. Amazingly the vet was able to pull out the stick, clean the hole and after 2 weeks of box rest in the dark with eye drops 3 times a day he made a complete recovery. I however took longer to recover from the sight. I spent hours cutting off every branch or twig lower than ear hight!
 
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