Wither rub

JavaJaneW

JavaJaneW

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Horse has a very sore weepy rub on his withers, caused by rug slipping back. Have changed the layers of rug so that one doesn't slip but what can I do meantime with the sore?

Very difficult to dress, we did have a dressing on it held by gaffa tape, but really needs air now, obviously can't undress him in this weather (he needs his rugs as had been poorly and needs warmth).

Put loads of sudocrem on last night, going to check him in a bit and re-do it, but thought I'd ask here for suggestions before I go
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could you use an old rug an cut out the wither area - use a roller to keep the rug in place? other wise i guess you will just have to open it to the fresh air during the day perhaps - try an exercise sheet with a roller?? i know they take months to heal. what about a half neck rug? there would be no pressure over the wither with one of those?
good luck x
 
It's hard when they live out, and brand new rugs all round :s

The pressure from the rug that caused it is off, as the first rug is more of a high neck. See if we can get some air to it today, I hate these rubs.
I did think about a riser pad underneath but not sure how to hold it in place!
Thanks DQ
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Or you could fold rugs back and leave his chest bare, hold in place with a surcingle.

For what it's worth too, I would not put any cream on it, leave it to dry out and it'll heal quicker.
 
I think the advice now iss that wounds heal quickest if kept moist, hence the use of intrasite gel? Watch the sudocrem though, I have had a couple that produced loads of serum whenever it was put on a wound. You don't want that!
 
one of the girls at the yard is having the same problem with her old mare, mare is 38 years old and had high withers and her rugs rub them raw. she puts a pillow over the area with flamazine cream on it and keeps it in place with a lycra hood.
 
Try what we used to do in the olden days when we only had jute rugs with surcingles. Undo the chest buckles, fold both sides back so they are against his shoulders and then put a surcingle round and over the top of the folded back bits with a sponge on the wither area.
 
I've currently got this with my very poor mare. She's having Flamazine on it and we were using a sanitary towel over the area but found nappies to be much better, as where they're shaped for little bums sit perfectly over withers. We were also using two carwashing sponges, one just infront of her withers and one just behind, to kind of 'tent' the area over the wound. Her heavier rug was folded back and held in place with a surcingle to try and alleviate a little of the weight, as even though the offending rug was no longer rubbing the weight was causing problems.

I would actually get it checked out, or at least some sort of antibiotic cream for it, as when I first got Boo she had a summer sheet practically stuck to her withers. I kept it clean, used intrasite gel etc and it seemed to have gone, it was literally like hairless skin, it was only when she colicked just before christmas and banged it throwing herself around that it literally opened up, and much, much bigger than before.

It's now a fortnight later and is looking much better, the infection seems to be gone and fingers crossed her rugs don't aggrevate it too much.
 
We had this and it took FOREVER to heal, about 7 months
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We actually took all his rugs off for a few weeks at first. We used Flamazine but no dressing. A roller kept his rug off it while it healed. The other thing we used with some success was the paint-on wound dressing Equiaide - we put a thick layer on and hair dried it (!!) but it worked the best out of all the things we tried and the hair grew back afterwards.
 
Another "tenting" option is to roll up two towels and put then on either side of the withers on the underside of the rug, sewing a piece of fabric over the top and down both sides and ends of each towel to hold the whole thing in place. A bit fiddly but works well. You could also get a bib (one of the lycra ones with a velcro girth band would likely work better than a slip on one) and pad that out to fit underneath the blanket.

Generally, wither rubs heal up okay although if there is scaring it's likely something you'll have to watch forever as the area has so much stress on it from rugs and saddle pads, even if they fit well. Keep an eye out though - a horse I knew got a nasty rub with healed up as mentioned by the poster above, but then "blew open" one day in a good old fashioned case of "fistulous withers". It was a mess and real trouble to heal up, leaving the horse with permanent muscle damage.
 
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oh dear TS, that doesn't sound good.
Thanks
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for all the ideas, we will try a few.

It's a pain during his really cold weather, as he is so fine, been under the weather and needs the rugs on
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He has his medical check up so will get it looked at to see if it needs antibio cream.
Roll on Spring...
 
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