Terrible day

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Mac1999

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This isn't strictly CR but this is the only place I lurk and I needed to get off my chest what a horrible day yesterday was, to people who would understand.

Quietly minding my own business at work, when I get a (surprisingly calm) call from my Mum saying there is blood all over the yard (the horses can get from their stables into the field, it is all enclosed). They were now up the field, and she was going to get them in, but is terrible with blood.....

Luckily i only work five minutes away, and by the time I got there she had bought them down. At first I couldn't see anything, then could see that the hood of my old 14.2's rug was drenched in blood (it's red anyway). I peeled it back and there was a huge, deep gash, with lots of proud flesh and blood all down his neck. Turns out I am not very good with blood either, as I nearly passed out on the spot....

The vet was brilliant and was there within 20 minutes. They cleaned it thoroughly, stitched him up (two layers of stitches as its so deep) and gave him sedatives, painkillers and antibiotics. They are coming again today to give him more painkillers and antibiotics, and to check on the wound. They said they were amazed he had carried on eating with such a big hole in his neck, but I did say if he ever wasn't eating he'd be dead, as he's such a greedy guts....!

I feel really guilty as I didn't go up to them yesterday morning (they thought it had happened between 4 and 6 hours before) as 3 days a week I go to the gym before work and Mum mucks out. I am trying to persuade myself that I may not have seen it anyway becuase its so dark (I have to leave by 7am) and I generally only muck out in the mornings. I feel a terrible Mummy though. He must have been in soo much pain.

It's really shaken me up, and I can't stop thinking about it....plus lots of what ifs...if he'd bled in the field rather than the yard where we wouldn't have seen it so easily...if it had been a centimetre deeper it would have got his main artery..... He is fine in himself now so I think he is coping much better than I am!!
My Mum has been brilliant but other people don't understand...I ask after my friend's babies / pets / boyfriend-of-two-weeks if they are ill or injured, but no one cares at all about my boy. He is 24 and semi retired, he doesn't need this! I have had him 10 years and we've done everything together, but when I text two of my friends last night saying i felt rubbish and explaining what happened, one just said 'he'll be fine' and the other didn't even bother to respond...... They just don't get it.

Sorry for the long post, I just needed to vent it all to people who would understand. Thank you for reading. xx
 
sounds awful but seems as though there's a good prognosis? Any idea how he did it?

You mustn't feel guilty, if he'd done it just after being fed in the evening he could have easily gone for that length of time before being checked overnight. You managed to get to him, and importantly get the vet out really quickly, and sounds as though it will be ok in the end. He's lucky to have someone keeping him into his golden years, rewarding him for all of the fun he's given you by the sounds of things!!
 
Hey don't torture yourself with 'ifs' and 'buts'! These things happen all the time to horses and luckily he seems to be recovering so that's the main thing. Now that the vet is on top of things with antibiotics he may surprise you with how quickly he makes a full recovery. Healing vibes!
 
big hugs (((())))

sorry to hear what happened to you horse - they are like our kids and some people just dont get it. When my mare had her accident last year and had to be PTS at the age of 10yo so so suddenly i was devastated and felt very very alone. No one wanted to speak about her with me and OH would listen but he said he felt useless as he couldnt help.

However thank goodness for HHO! i posted about what happened to her and the support i got on here was incredible. None of my family are horsey and my mum is particuarly anti-horse i.e why on earth do you waste your money on them! So it was lovely to speak to people that understand. We all need to feel listened to - PM me if you like.

Hope your horse makes a speedy recovery :)
 
sending u lots of love, understanding vibes and maybe a cup of tea, as you must be still in shock - I know I would be! It's strange how a forum can be such good support but it raelly is awesome.

I wonder how he did it? He is a very lucky pony not to have got that artery! I hope he makes a full recovery, he sounds like a cool chap
 
oh Heck, please don't beat yourself up with the what if's, it doesnt help. What matters is it was found & he's still with you.

Hope he recovers quickly ((((Hugs))))
 
Thank you :-)
He is doing so much better today...infact he's done really well the whole time. He was really good for the vet yesterday, stood as quiet as a lamb. I was much less good...it was just so gory and horrible.

I have no idea how he did it, two of us have had a really good look round the field and the yard and we can't see anything. The vet said it looked like a blunt trauma, so basically he has got himself semi-impalled on a gate post or similar. But I can't see where at all. Or how.

He is a real dude - loads of character and attitude. Although he is 24 he doesn't look it or think he is that old...I think it's just reminded me that he isn't immortal and that worries me!
I know I probably can't expect other people to understand but I just find I am a bit offended by the total lack of interest...they could at least try.......
 
Dont beat yourself up - these things happen :(

My old boy was stabbed in his field and had a similar sounding injury to your boy that required over 150 stitches plus staples. We had daily vet visits for 2 weeks but he got through it and afterwards you could bearly tell it was there. I used intrasite gel which I had to squeeze into the hole that was left and I really think that helped to keep the infection out (as the wound was effectively packed with gel) but also kept it moist enough to heal. Be aware that it will definately look alot worse in 2 weeks as the stiches might not hold the wound shut and the skin may start to die but dont worry, it should have healed more internally by that point.

It may also be worth you purchasing a snuggy turnout hood as well to keep the mud out of the wound so you can keep him turned out..

Good luck!
 
glad to hear he is doing better! Im really good with blood but not so good with my own horses blood! I had a accident with my mare the other day which shook me up its strange some people really care and others who should dont, i just remember and try and treat them the way they have treated me! Vibes for a quick recovery
 
You poor thing! These things happen. It comes with having horses, and they can't be under your watchful eye every minute of every 24 hours.

However, you found him and dealt with it very efficiently (if not calmly!) and it sounds as if he's on the mend.

Hope he continues to get better and is soon out and about again.

D xxx
 
Mac1999 said:
It's really shaken me up, and I can't stop thinking about it....plus lots of what ifs...if he'd bled in the field rather than the yard where we wouldn't have seen it so easily...if it had been a centimetre deeper it would have got his main artery..... He is fine in himself now so I think he is coping much better than I am!!
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Life is full of what if's. This is bound to have shaken you up so try not to be too hard on yourself with your criticisms. Sometimes its better to try and just move on and learn from the experience. Having lost four horses in succession in the space of under seven years, as a one horse owner it has been a total nightmare in terms of not only being able to move on easily but in also trusting people with my current horse. They don't understand when I see my horse galloping around like a maniac in the field why I am so worried but if they had seen my horse the day he shattered his hind leg and bone was sticking through his skin they would understand. They don't understand why I put loads of boots on him when I do a fun ride, but they didn't lose a horse as a result of a fun ride accident. They don't understand why I start panicking if my horse is sweating or trembling as they didn't see the body of my horse after his heart attack.

Sometimes people find it hard to see it from your perspective and I've learned over the years that its pretty pointless trying to make them see, as they will never get it, unless they have had a similiar experience themselves.

I hope you get this problem sorted, I am sure its just a temporary lack of confidence which you have encountered due to your horses accident. Look forward to the future and just put this behind you as an unfortunate accident which was nobodys fault. Good luck hun x;)
 
Leg_end, that reassures me that you've been through something similar. Thank you for the tips...he will be desperate to be out in the field soon and was wondering how to keep it clean without rubbing. I am not sure I want to see any pictures though....they were taking some yesterday too which I never want to see!

The vet has been this lunchtime and given him more antibiotics and painkillers. He's also shown me how to clean it and wants me to gently massage around the area tonight and tomorrow morning to stop too much fluid accumulating. Then they are back tomorrow for more antibiotics and to see how it is.

He did mention that they may have to open it up again in a few day which sounds horrendous....lets hope it doesn't come to that.

Thank you so much everyone, you've made me feel so much better that sometimes horses are just horses and accidents come with that....it's helping me get my head around it...I may even do some work this afternoon now!!!
 
I wouldn't get too upset with yourself, things like this happen with horses. my neighbour turned her horse out a couple of weeks ago and he slipped over, couldn't get back up for ages. Also the same horse fell in her river a year ago and it was only pure chance I was working from home and looked out of the window, that I saw him go down. Once down, he was out of sight, and with the river and the cold temp he would not have survived. It took 6 hours for him to recover and he was only in the water for 10 mins.

On another note, horses pain threshold is very different to ours. if he was caught in a fence say, he would be worried about predators rather than the pain. as he was loose and still eating, he probably has a good pain level and to him it was more than a skin scrape.

It sounds like you are doing everything right, working with your vet so hopefully he'll be back to normal in no time.

Big hugs
Cx
 
Don't beat yourself up. I fed my filly, went to check a horse in the next field, came back only 5 mins later to found she had badly hurt herself.
 
Don't torment yourself. Horses are accidents waiting to happen. He won't be the last horse to almost do himself in and he certainly isn't the first! My place is as damn near horse proof as it gets and STILL they gouge holes in themselves and get into any manner of scrapes. It keeps us on our toes and anti-depressants...
 
Many many (((vibes))) for your pony's quick and complete recovery! Don't blame yourself; an accident can happen at any time, as others have said, and at least you found out in time to get the vet!
 
ArcticFox said:
On another note, horses pain threshold is very different to ours. if he was caught in a fence say, he would be worried about predators rather than the pain. as he was loose and still eating, he probably has a good pain level and to him it was more than a skin scrape.



Big hugs
Cx
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I agree with Artic Fox. When my horse had a compound fracture of his tibia and was waiting for the vet to come to be pts in the field he whinnied when he saw me and lifted his head up and his ears were forward, and by all intents and purposes he looked fine other than his leg he was holding up. I am sure that the adrenalin kicks in and they don't feel the pain like we would so much,.
 
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