Open leg wound question

[Terry Wrist]

Hello, I know nothing about horses. I went pony trekking at 13 for a weekend in the mid 70's around Brecon Beacons in Wales. That's as much as I know.

Can someone please tell me if the horse in the photo should be ridden with open wounds on both legs as a police horse riding through Blackpool ?
I think it's cruel.
Thanks in advance.
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[ycbm]

They look very fresh and I would guess that the horse did it while already on duty. They are very superficial and I would expect a working horse to finish its shift as long as it was sound and the wounds as shallow as they look, yes.

Did you ask the rider, they may not have known?
.

 

[Red-1]

An inexperienced traveller can do that sort of injury when getting off a big horsebox. Police horseboxes are very well made but, due to the size of the animals, frequently have a metal strip at the bottom of the ramp to stop the rubber snagging. Sometimes, with the passage of many hooves, the metal strip can become rough. An inexperienced horse can mis-step at the bottom of the ramp and catch itself.

I agree with YCBM, it is a working horse not a pet, and I would expect it to be able to finish its shift. It is a large animal, and likely expected to merely walk and stand. The animal would not need a wound dressing even if taken home. The wound would be there the same if it were standing in the stable or standing out of the stable.

I am curious as to what you think should happen with the injury? It appears to have been cleaned (no blood on the white sock) and it does not appear to need a dressing. The action of walking is actually beneficial to a horse with a superficial wound like that as it stops the leg from filling.

The wound also looks a lot deeper than it probably is, if you look, horses have a degree of what we call 'feather' at the back of the leg. You can see that this horse is due a trim to the feather. In this case, the feather has been cut, which is why the profile of the cut looks deep, but much of that depth would be hair.

 

[Terry Wrist]

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. The wounds weren't caused that day as confirmed by the rider. She said she had put the pink vaseline product on but blood was dripping from the right leg.
All good.