Horses are pros at injuring themselves
My riding horse is the cause of this blog post today. It’s always a great day, not really, when you go out to visit your horse (or in my case, let her out to pasture) and find they’ve injured themselves.
The first thought that usually goes through my head is, “Does this need my veterinarian?” Then immediately after, “Great, this is going to be costly.”
I’ve had horses long enough that unless it’s a puncture wound or a gaping hole that needs stitches, I can usually handle it myself. Horses heal extremely well with a little care. I’d like to tell you a fixed set of rules on when it’s time to call but that should be left up to the experts. Dr. Roberta Dwyer posted an article in The Horse that gives some sound advice as to when to involve your veterinarian. Her list includes:
- uncontrollable bleeding,
- foreign object protruding from the body,
- lacerations, injury to eye or eyelid,
- abdominal pain,
- unusual behavior,
- neurologic signs,
- multiple animals becoming sick, and
- severe or chronic lameness.
The best advice I can give is to follow your instincts. The more experience you have with horse injuries, the less you may need to call the experts. But waiting too long has its consequences.
First-Aid Kit is a Must With Horses
In my situation, the scraped-up skin had removed some hide but the swelling was minimal and stitches were not needed. Plus she’d just had her tetanus shot only a couple of weeks ago. I was also thankful to have what I needed in my equine first aid kit.
Here is some advice I can give you that doesn’t require a medical degree! Always have wound spray. Sprays with a gell-like consistency are even better. Yes, it would be great to slather that nice cream all over that wound but horses often become very defensive with you touching painful injuries. This is especially true on the legs. With a spray, you can reach the wound from a safe distance.
If you don’t already have an equine emergency kit check out our EMERGENCY page for a handy shopping list and other resources.
Bandaging
I didn’t need to bandage my mare’s leg at all. It was on the inside of the stifle so really it would have been near impossible! But it’s important to know how to bandage your horse if it’s needed. Improper bandaging can cause major injury to your horse.
One of the most important types of bandages to understand is the Figure-8 bandage used on both the knee and the hock. The video below is very detailed and Dr. Amanda Bergren does a fantastic job describing the full process.
You will see from this video, it’s a good idea to get your horse comfortable with bandaging before they require it! Practicing your standing wraps or even applying shipping boots will help your horse become comfortable with the process. This is definitely some advice I need to take with my mare that injured herself today. She was already cranky with people touching her back legs and adding an injury to the mix made it a little difficult to even assess the severity of the wound.
