Janet L Jones, PhD

Equine injuries, drats! True came to me in pasture turnout the other day with two bleeding wounds—a double puncture and scrape to the front of his knee and a scrape up above that knee. If it ain’t one thing, it’s another—horses are so fragile. And turnout is a tradeoff: in return for exercise, fresh grass, and socialization, you have to accept increased risk of injury.

Enter Florence Nightingale, or should I say Nightinghorse? I washed the wounds with Betadine and cold-hosed the leg for 30 minutes. The wounds were fresh when True showed them to me—the blood was still wet—so there hadn’t been time for anything to swell. The knee wound was deep enough for a stitch or two, but being located smack on the center of the knee where it bends, I didn’t think stitches would hold very well. I don’t use Bute until after a veterinarian has inspected the horse—because she can’t see the problem once I mask it with anit-inflammatory drugs. I wrapped the wounds for cleanliness and put him in his stall with some good hay. Then left the barn with all fingers and toes crossed.

Next day, the wounds looked pretty good and there wasn’t much swelling. True also wasn’t limping at a walk. Whew. I hand-walked him for 30 minutes—actually, he hand-walked himself. It was an unusually quiet day at the ranch, so I removed his halter and rope inside the arena but kept walking. He followed me every step. Then another cold-hosing for 30 minutes. He loves that part, because we cold-hose on grass, so he gets to graze while I hose. Everything looked good.

But on Day Four, True nickered at me from his stall. I glanced in and saw a front leg swollen from about 8” above the knee all the way to his hoof. Uh-oh. I wondered about cellulitis because the swelling was delayed. Time to call the veterinarian! One thing I always recommend—be sure you have the best vet available to you, and be sure you are an established client. When things go wrong at midnight, you don’t want to scramble to find help.

My vet arrived and also suspected cellulitis. A blood serum test for infection came back inconclusive, so we decided to try a sweat wrap before adding antibiotics. Antibiotics are often overused in horses, leading to super-germs that don’t respond to treatment, so I prefer not to use them unless absolutely necessary. We covered True’s leg—hoof almost to elbow (except for the open wounds)—with a slimy glop of Furazone mixed with DMSO, then wrapped the whole thing with sheet cotton, gauze, vetwrap, and elasticon. It would stay on for 24 hours, and we would know more when it was removed.

Upon removal the next evening, True’s lower leg was back to normal size. The area around the knee was still enlarged, but I was pleased. I’ll keep treating it over the next couple weeks with Betadine scrub, cold-hosing or ice, and hand-walking as much as possible. We’ll add more 24-hour sweat wraps and/or Bute at the veterinarian’s determination.

I detail treatment of True’s injury here because it is so important for riders and trainers to understand the basics of veterinary first aid. Be sure you know when to call a vet and when to treat an injury on your own. Have the best possible provider available to you ahead of time. Work with your vet closely and be sure you understand instructions and techniques--write them down! Know exactly how to carry out critical practices like cold-hosing, wrapping, and hand-walking. If you aren't sure, ask a veterinarian or experienced trainer for instruction —this is no time to become shy or prideful; your horse needs you!

I’ll let you know how True is doing in a couple more weeks… and hopefully we can get back to our canter jumping.