MPClinics,

Any updates on your injured horse. I hope everything is progressing.

Todd

Thanks for asking. Overall I guess you could say he is doing well. It has been 6 weeks since the injury. The first week was spent at home, but then infection blew out all the sutures. So he spent the next 2 weeks at the vet clinic, where the wound was left open for a week , and injected daily with antibiotics. The inflammation had gone down enough by the third week that they put him under general, and really got in there and cleaned up the wound, re-sutured and splinted the leg. A week later, the sutures blew again. Sadly, after 3weeks of total confinement, 2 away from his home surroundings and horse buddy, and the daily treatments by the vet and techs, he was turning into a crazy wild animal. The look in his eye was like he was totally going insane. It reached a point where, just to remove a bandage, the vet had to sedate, twitch, AND use stocks, and the horse would still find ways to toss the workers all over the room. So, the decision was made to bring him home and let nature take its course, with a little help from us. For the last 3weeks, he has been back home. Over time, we have expanded his area to his stall and a mid-sized pen outside the barn, so he can get fresh air, sunshine, and at least see the other horses at work and play. Twice a day, he gets to interact with the other horses when they come in to eat. This has helped his mental state tremendously. We have struggled with having to rebuild his trust in us---that we aren't trying to hurt that leg. He fought a simple hosing for the first week. He soon realized, though, that the hose wasn't bad, and he got some on-lead grazing time after, so he now stands well for that. Otherwise, we have left the wound open to heal from the inside. We have gradually progressed to treating with different topicals, depending on the situation each day. When it is mucky outside, he gets a spray of derma-gel sealant. When the edges get rough or over granulated, we spritz on some wonder-dust. He tends to bite chunks off if it itches, so we then smear on some antibiotic ointment. In between , we just love on him as much as possible. It's a tough road, but we are holding out hope that he will recover. The wound has really taken a turn for the better this last week, so we are excited to see progress. We still don't know for sure if he will work again, but the vet seems pretty convinced he will. At this point, I am working towards being able to wrap the knee again--as he still barely allows me to touch the leg, but we are making progress. I think if I can wrap, he will quit biting it and hindering healing on the outside.

In the mean time, we purchased a third horse to fill his spot on the team, and have been training him to our lead horse. They are doing well. We're taking it all a day at a time, and doing our best. I guess that's all that can be expected sometimes.

Mptclinics ------ thanks for the update, as I too was wondering how things were going. I hope you have continued progress with him.

I am glad to hear that the gelding is doing better and that you have him at home. That certainly is a reduction of stress for him.
As to the healing, we horse owners tend to be impatient when it comes to that because we are anxious to see things return to normal. But nature has to take its course. I , too, like the vet think that eventually you will be able to hitch him again. Congratulations on purchasing another horse. This way, even when he is okay again , you'll have a spare horse, which is a good thing.

When your horse get where you pack his wound try this. Go to the grocery store (or order online) and purchase some "Pickling Lime". Keep it packed with the lime but clean it out every other day and repack it. You will need to bandage it to get it to stay in the wound. A old "horse and cow doctor" told me this several years ago and it has always worked for me. Good luck.