(9/2019)
It seems that horses are always injuring themselves. Go
into almost any barn and you will see a collection of
various wound ointments and bandaging supplies that the
owners have acquired due to their accident-prone animals.
If I look in my personal, human, medicine cabinet, I don't
even keep Neosporin ointment for myself. However in my
barn I have a shelf of multiple different wound ointments
with different purposes. Some of the ointments are
antibacterial, some have fly repellent, and some just
stick really well so I don't have to reapply them
constantly.
The majority of the time when horses cut themselves,
it's a superficial wound that just needs to be washed and
a little ointment applied. The horse will be fine.
However, sometimes the owner and horse are unlucky and a
visit with the veterinarian is required. Basically if a
wound involves the eye, is close to a tendon, is near a
joint, is a puncture that could be deep, or has foreign
material such as pieces of a fence board, embedded in it,
it is best to have the vet out.
Wounds in those locations can look inconsequential but
have catastrophic or even fatal outcomes. Wounds on the
head or body can sometimes be harder to examine and
determine if vet care is needed. Obviously large flaps of
skin hanging off need to be seen by a vet but what about
the smaller cuts that are only an inch or so long and not
very deep? If it's something where you can pull the edges
together with your fingers then likely it will heal faster
with stitches. If in doubt, take some pictures with your
phone, and call the vet. Also, think about the date of
your horse’s last tetanus vaccine. If he is not up to
date, even a superficial cut may require a vet visit and
vaccine booster.
One of my clients grew up with horses but took a break
from them while she was in school. Now that she had
graduated and had a job, she could afford to have horses
again and get back into showing.
She bought a young horse, Nugget, a year ago and the
two of them were training together. Nugget had progressed
nicely in his training and was ready to go to his first
show. A few other people from the boarding barn were going
with her so Nugget would have friends on the trailer with
him.
When the group got to the show, as Nugget was backing
out of the trailer he threw his head up and into the top
of the trailer door. It left an upside down "v" shaped cut
on the front of his face. Typically at
shows, the site of blood panics everybody and people
start frantically screaming to call the vet. In this case
everyone was calm and told Nugget's owner that she did not
need the vet and that if she put a little ointment on the
wound, the judge probably wouldn't notice and she could
still compete. Nugget's owner wasn't convinced and decided
to scratch him from the competition but took her fellow
boarders advice that the vet was not needed.
After the show was over and everyone arrived back at
the barn, Nugget's owner was still worried that the cut
should be seen by a vet. Because she didn't want to be
ridiculed by her friends, she waited until everyone had
left the barn to call me and tell me what was going on.
She explained on the phone that the other boarders had
more horse experience than she did so they were probably
correct that it didn't
need stitches but that she would feel better if I came
out because she wasn't sure.
When I got to the barn, at a quick glance I could see
why the barn boarders thought it didn't need stitches. The
edges were pretty close together and not that deep. When I
started to examine the wound more closely and start
cleaning it, I noticed that the upside down "v" actually
folded back off the skull to reveal a bigger wound that
went down to the bone. I showed that to the owner and told
her that she definitely did the right thing by having me
out. While Nugget's wound would have healed without
stitches, it would have been at a greater risk for getting
infected or having a permanent scar.
I sedated Nugget and put local block anesthetic
injections around the wound. I finished cleaning out the
wound and then sewed it back together. The edges came
together beautifully and I told the owner to expect
minimal scarring as long as Nugget was good and didn't rub
out any of the sutures. I dispensed antibiotic and
anti-inflammatory medicines for her to give to Nugget. Of
course she already had numerous wound ointments so I told
her which one to use until the stitches would ready to
come out.
One of steps that helps owners decide if you should
call the vet includes looking closely at the wound and
trying to wash it out. Sometime you discover that what
looks superficial, is actually much deeper. If the owner
and her friends had looked closely at the wound, they
would have realized that it was deep. Wounds that have a
triangle/ upside down "v" appearance are usually flaps
that lift up to reveal a much larger wound than originally
expected. Other wounds can look small and unimpressive
from a distance, but are much larger when you get a good
look at them. Conversely, wounds that bleed can look huge
until they are cleaned, and the bleeding stops. If you
aren’t sure if you need the vet, it is better to just
call, and then text the photos of the wound to the vet.