To Pick or Not to Pick

[Tierra]

Hey guys,

Looking for some opinions on the following please

My horse had an accident in a horse box about 3 months ago and bashed one of his hind legs quite badly. Thankfully all the injuries were superficial and he's all ok. However! He got a cut on his back leg along the front of the cannon bone. It wasnt deep and I didnt feel any need to do much with it. He had it cleaned and wound cream put on it but that was about all we did. He DID however, have stable bandages on for about a week post accident as he'd banged his fetlock quite badly and there was quite a lot of bruising and swelling (no lameness at all)

Now, everything has healed ok, but this particular cut has healed slightly oddly. There was nothing to ever suggest any infection and it was literally only a "skin off" kind of wound. However, the fur has grown back but the scab hasnt dropped off. You cant actually see anything at all, but when you run your hand down his leg, you can feel the scab still on his leg. I'd guess its about the size of a 5p piece but quite a crusty feeling scab.

It doesnt bother him a great deal although I'd say its a weeny bit tender as prodding it does make him twitch slightly.

My guess is that there is a tiny bit of gooey stuff in this scab and thats why it's not dropped off. I had the YO look at it earlier and she said in her opinion, to leave it alone. I do use stable wraps (magnetic) and we've taken these off his back legs as of today. My hunch was to try and pick this scab off and see if there is some gooey stuff inside that needs clearing out.

Now, the horse isnt lame at all and the cut was VERY superficial. The scab is stood off the leg and we certainly dont suspect any deep infection (if we did we would have whipped off the scab and got a vet out for antibiotics). I do think, however, that if i start picking at it, its going to bleed and be quite tender as it does feel rather chunky!

So... anyone have any thoughts? Would you pick or would you leave it alone? Would you leave the wraps off and see if it somehow drops off? (YO was wondering whether the warmth of the leg wraps was over stimulating it and preventing it from really clearing up).

Thanks in advance!

 

[k9h]

Tough one!. I'm a sod for picking LOL! Scabs mudfever etc...
Though I would prob leave his well alone though knowing me every day I checked it I would "play" with it to see if it would come away (But Im not saying to do this)
How about washing the area in hibiscrub to see if that helps to soften it & see if it will encourage it to come away??? I doubt there is infection or there would be heat & swelling & it would probably be weeping?
Sorry not been much help!

 

[spaniel]

Much as I love it....dont pick! The scab will come off on its own once it has done the job of protecting the new skin thats forming underneath.

If nothing else you will risk making that area sore and the last thing you need is a horse who gets funny about having its legs handled.

 

[Tierra]

Ok I think i'll follow both of your suggestions and leave it alone.

Do you think its odd though that the fur has grown back over the top but this damn scab doesnt seem to want to let go?

As i said, you cant really see it so its not unsightly, its just sat there like a nasty little sucky thing!

Would you leave the leg wraps off also?

 

[annie02]

I think if you leave the bandages off and allow some air to get at the scab you will find that it dries up and comes off on its on.

However if you find this isnt making a difference and you want to remove it dont pick at it dry, you will only irritate it more. Use warm water and a wash, try to loosen it that way daily until it decides it needs to come off. This way you may also open up part of it and you will at least be able to tell if there is any puss inside.

 

[spaniel]

I think Id be tempted to leave the legs bare as long as the horse is in a clean environment. I am not one for bandaging legs unless there is a good reason and from what you say there is no inflammation and the horse is sound. Why make work for yourself!

I suspect the scab will come away with the hair or some of it once they start to moult again just after Christmas.

 

[Tierra]

Ok, will leave the little sucker alone and hope it vacates at some point

It's a good point about moulting, perhaps it will drop off then

I'll leave his leg wraps off too because I certainly see the point that it may not be able to dry out while ever im keeping it warm (no wonder the damn thing wont leave, its probably settled in for the winter)

I only use leg wraps as my boy is 13 and i like to keep his joints warm. Theres nothing wrong with him at all Im just a bit of a "wrap him up in cotton wool" type

 

[wanderersmelody]

You sure its not a bit of bandage burn? My horse got a nasty cut in the summer and I had to keep it covered to keep the flies and dust out of it. I also used stable bandages and gamgee but where it was so warm, he must've sweated. Anyway. The cut healed really well but about 3 weeks later, he got this really odd scab under his fur. I got the vet to have a look and he said it was bandage burn. He said the fur would fall off and the 'scab' would eventually pop off. It took about 3 weeks in all and now you wouldn't even know it was there exc for the white fur (which I dye for shows!)
If you think there is something still in the cut, the skin usually heals over but a scaly scab appears which just grows. Its a bit like a corn on a human......

 

[Tierra]

Hmm Im not sure. I suspect I have brought it on myself for sure as he had magnetic stable wraps back on about a week after the accident. So other than the odd day when ive been washing them, he basically always has his legs covered. Looking at it that way, I can see why its not really been able to dry out properly. (See, it still feels quite attached but you can also just tell that if it was picked, it would bleed a fair bit so this is why I can see you guys saying it may not have had a chance to dry out)

Also, Im aware that you shouldnt really use magnetic wraps on wounds since they can overstimulate them (which would explain maybe why its not healed quite right?

Im pretty sure had the cut just been dealt with on its own.. i.e. cleaned and had cream put on.. it would have been fine. But because he bashed the leg so hard and we were dealing with bruising (he had his leg caught under a full partition of a horsebox and banged it pretty well) - we kinda chose to slap bandages straight on it and then magnetic wraps after a few days.

To the lady who mentioned I could make it sore - dont worry, my plan was to bathe it in hibiscrub and try and get it to detach that way but given the advice here, I think im just going to leave it alone - at least until he starts to shed his coat. Perhaps if it hasnt vacated by then I will reconsider

Thanks again to you all - you're as fabulous as usual

 

[Fiona]

Would there be any harm in just rubbing some gentle cream into the scab every day, in the hope that this would loosen it enough to start to detach. Not picking as such, but I think you mentioned before you are a bit of a 'grooming freak' so a couple of minutes rubbing some protocon or something into it once a day might pay off. Agree with leaving the wraps off for a while though.

FIona

 

[Maesfen]

Fiona beat me to it!!

I was going to suggest smothering it with either Protocon, udder cream or zinc and castor oil cream, especially around the edges and repeat the next day too and don't try to clean it off, leave it. This will soften it up a lot and you should find after a couple of days it should just fall off but because it's been softened it won't pull as much on his skin so will be relatively painless to him. It's what I do to most of mine if they get anything like that. It also helps if their skin is in good condition too as it should heal from the inside out, not the other way around and this comes down to diet in the main.

 

[Tempi]

Bloss got burnt just above her hoof on her fur by the farrier when he was hot shoeing her once, it didnt make her lame or anything but the scab was there for months. it was bumpy like the sound of your horses one. I just left it and it eventually came off on its own. I did admitedly pick at a little bit of it once and it started bleeding (nasty mummy) so i just left it to its own accord. Now you wouldnt even know anything had been there.

 

[Tierra]

Been up today and checked on it and Im taking everyone's advice and leaving it alone. I might get some cream to put on it but for the next couple of weeks, I really want to see if drying it out will make it drop off. Ive decided it cant really be bothering him since I did have to brush over the top of it after riding (was gentle but still) and he never noticed.

Im rather glad I posted this before I went into mass extermination mode (which I was planning tbh) otherwise my poor boy would have undoubtedly had a sore leg today.

Thanks again for the advice