horse kicked in the shoulder....swelling

Major got kicked in the shoulder. The kick made a small laceration and a lot of swelling. This happened Friday. The vet was out on Saturday and said put cold water on it and it should be better in a few days. The laceration is draining...but she said that is what it's supposed to do. For the first few days he received bute. Today he did not. I noticed he is stiff in that shoulder and there is still swelling. He may have been stiff in that shoulder all along...just feeling better from the bute...IDK. My question is how long is considered normal for the shoulder to be stiff, swollen? Should it still be draining? Also, I put him back out because I felt like moving around some might help it....should I put him back in his stall?

Sorry for stupid question, but why is it draining? Is it open cut?

Swelling takes FOREVER to go away. My horse got hit between her legs, had HUGE hematoma, and now after almost 4 weeks she still has bump there.

If he's not obviously in pain I wouldn't put him in stall: moving actually helps the hematoma to dissolve more quickly.

Next one is applicable only if you have closed hematoma (no open wounds, cuts, etc.):

HOT compresses together with massage do help a lot. I knew it before and my vet (as well as another vet I talked on the phone) recommended me to do that right on spot (usually you start it 2 days after the incident).

I also used the liniment from Horseman Dream with camphora and that seemed to help a lot too (it keeps the area warm and again speeds up the dissolving of hematoma).

I use hot/cold compress on them and I did not stall my horse I also stretched his leg. The vet said its good to keep the muscles moving a little so that it does not get to stiff.

Kitten_val, yes he has an open wound at the place where he got kicked. I am putting medicine on it but I don't wanna clog it up if it needs to drain. I can take some pics when I'm at the barn today if necessary. I'm glad that it's normal for the swelling to be there. I was worried that it was worse than the vet originally thought. It is sore, he is limping around and when you press on it, it is obvious that it hurts. I'm glad to hear that it isn't necessary to keep him stalled up. At least out in the pasture with his friends he will walk around. Thank you very much for posting kitten_val and bloodhoundmom...I have been worried sick about my boy.

Sandy, is he getting any better at all? My vet said wait for week (I called him next day it happened) and call him if nothing changes, but he also said it'll take really long time (so you are too impatient! ). Can you take some pics to show us too? Swelling on my horse was really huge for the first 2 weeks, only then we noticed it started to diminish in size. From what read the worst possible thing is abscess if the wound gets dirty, so just keep a close eye on it.

Hope he'll be back to normal in no times. Horse's and pet's health problems are always a nightmare!

As far as the open wound goes:

Draining = good
Not draining (if it needs to) = bad

Make sure that the wound heals from the inside out. If it closes too soon, infection could develop due to the bacteria that is trapped inside. We usually just make sure a wound is clean (a dishwashing liquid bottle with some antibacterial soap and warm water work beautifully) and free of flies. We have occasionally had to resort to Granulex to keep a wound open, and there are other wound sprays that repel flies on the market.

Don't worry overmuch - horses do this to each other more than you realize - but sometimes they get hurt more than usual.

My horse kicked another in the shoulder a few months ago. He really landed it hard. The poor horse had such a big lump on his shoulder and he was limping so badly that we thought he'd never be able to be ridden again. We did cold water and cold compresses on it for the first few days. After that it was heat and massaging the lump gently to help the blood start dissolving. The lump worked it's way downward to where it was eventually under his chest between his legs. I think it took about 2 weeks to completely work itself out. He was sore for an additional week and now he's back to work good as new. Just keep it clean and keep him moving around to help it dissolve.

Here's the pics. The white circle around the wound is just sidewalk chalk...I thought it would help you to be able to see it. The white stuff inside the wound is just backing powder.

Kitten_val- I worry about mine too. I don't know if it's better or not really. The first day it was like a baseball sticking out....now it doesn't stick out as far but it's much broader. I hope that makes sense.
Dee- all I've really been doing to it is rinsing it with water everyday and putting underwoods and baking powder on it. The fly's are really drawn to it though because it's draining. The area is very sore. Maybe I'm not getting it clean enough.
MyBoyBuck- that sounds like exactly what is going on with Major. Did your horses wound drain?

Thank you all very much for posting. It has made me feel a little better about the situation.

Actually it doesn't look all that bad. You should of seen mine! (like baseball size bump). The fact that it getting wider and more flat is something you could expect (since you have draining). Just keep eye on him!