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Severely injured 2 year old

3K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  TheRidersreinsblog 
#1 ·
Today while I was outside moving horses around, I heard kicking, my 6 y/o gelding had my 2 y/o filly pinned in the lean too and kicking the daylights out of her. Ended up her hind right leg broke through the bottom part of the barn tin which was embedded in cement, she came running out on 3 legs blood pouring out of the leg she was holding up. Aa emergency farm call to the vet (since I couldn't haul her in n her condition) a severed artery, 33 stitches and $600 later she's bandaged up and on stall arrest until the vet says otherwise. It's been years since we've had something this bad happen, she's also got a cut on her upper right front from last week that I thought was a fence but upon vet inspection today has turned out to be caused by a kick from the same gelding. She's alert and seemed to be doing well on my last check a few hours ago but I know too much pressure for too long will cause laminitis in her good leg, my question... How do I prevent that from happening? Thank you ahead of time for your help!!!

P.s. The vet assistant that came with the vet today is buying the gelding knowing he caused the injury to keep this from happening again and help with the blow of the vet bills. I'm grateful to her for it, he leaves this coming Friday.
 
#3 ·
I would get your farrier to work with your vet on support for her good hind leg. It does help that it's a rear and not a front leg. Sometimes they will pad the hoof. You'll also want to cushion her stall well, maybe rubber mats with a lot of bedding.

Hoping for the absolute best outcome and a speedy healing.

P.S. It's never too late to cover all that metal up to kicking height with wood.
 
#4 ·
I can't really alter the shed but I plan to put up the rest of the kick wall tomorrow. i have a cattle panel across the front to keep her in with minimal movement and to keep her bandage dry. Stall is well padded, it has a dirt floor but tons of shavings on top of that. I didn't think about getting a farrier involved, I'm taking her to my regular vet Thursday for her checkup, I had to call the closest one today. The 20cc shot of penicillin he gave her knotted up really badly so I really don't want her seeing that guy again, I know it happens but there's a few bad things in the past dealing with that vet and she and I both trust our regular vet. I'm going to run out and check her again, I'm a nervous wreck after seeing all that blood and him saying had I not been outside when it happened she would've bled to death. I'll keep everyone updated on her. Thank you!
 
#6 ·
If the gelding is gone then you should be safe in the future, fear of being trapped with no easy exit is the reason many horses won't use certain designs in field shelters and why I hate them
I hope your horse makes a full and fast recovery.
 
#9 ·
I don't use field shelters either for this very reason but they can easily be made safer by removing one side wall so there is always an escape route.
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The best way to avoid laminitis in the good leg is to keep enough pain medication on board so the horse will weight bear on the bad leg.

20 cc seems like to much for one injection site. I'd do 2 shots of 10 cc each.
 
#10 ·
I agree with Foxhunter, it's traps the lower pecking order horses inside to get beat up. Last spring, my friend's mare had her shoulder broken on the corner of a field shelter, trying to get away from another pasturemate. Unfortunately, the mare had to be put down. After that happened, I won't take chances with fighting and chasing, I separate horses that don't get along relatively peacefully.
 
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#11 ·
hi! i just joined this form. I have been helping a vet who specializes in catastrophic wound care. if you need any advice on bandaging or what to expect in the healing process doc can help. Since he pretty much sees wounds of a certain kind (ie catastrophic) he has loads of experience. Doc is always around to answer questions. How have you been bandaging the leg? I am passing along this information because I have seen some awful wounds the past few months and my view on how wounds heal has totally changed.

Hope your horse is doing okay. Keep up the good work.
 
#12 ·
Update:::: Gracie wouldn't let me anywhere near her wound which made bandaging impossible. We finally managed to remove the bandage that was put olback on during her post-op checkup only to find even more bad news. She's ripped all of the outer stitches completely out... It looks to be starting an infection, all she will tolerate is spraying vetricyn on the open wound. (not very well, moves and tries to kick me but has to be done) she's not favoring the leg at all anymore which is amazing progress, she hasn't been limping since 2 days after the checkup. It's seeping a clear fluid which I'm not sure if it's normal draining of the wound or if it's infected. Local swelling directly on the wound which I expected, the ankle and around her hoof is all appearing normal, I can get my hand down about halfway between her hock and the wound (approx 6-8" above the wound) before she kicks out, there's no heat where I can touch but as I said before she won't allow me any closer to the wound itself. I know I stopped the injections too soon but I think her neck knotting up made her think it's going to hurt every time that badly so now she won't allow shots either. This is one huge mess and since I'm pregnant I cannot risk getting kicked or trampled, I'm the only one here who knows how to give shots etc. Right now I'm relying on alot of prayer and a miracle from God that my filly will be alright, my funds are gone after hitting the $1000 mark on vet bills and everything else she had to have which I don't mind at all putting the money into her, she's worth the world to my 2 1/2 year old son and I, she's supposed to be his show horse later on, he is just 3 1/2 months older than her (his bday is Oct 2nd, 2013 hers is Feb 16th, 2014) I'm not sure what else to do for Grace... I feel horrible that I cannot afford to get her back to the vet again. I'll try to get some photos of the wound today, I have her pastures again due to all the rain and storms her stall flooded and she was better off with the injury being back in the lot (it's around 1- 1 1/2 acres) where she can stay on mostly dry ground. It's hard given we are in a flash flood zone. Anyways, thank you all for your input. The gelding that caused this is now gone and she is with the mare that helped raise her and a 30" mini mare. They all seem to be getting along well and the big mare (Baby) and the mini (Princess) both are still in protect mode over Grace.
 
#13 ·
Stitches on legs often don't hold depending on where the wound is but often they held long enough for some healing to start.
Clear fluid draining isn't a big concern as long as it's not smelly. You'd know if it was infected.
Can you send pictures to the vet? There are oral antibiotics that can be given if needed.

The shelter where this happened should have kick boards put in.
 
#14 ·
It has kick boards on both sides, I had been trying to get help with the back wall but have now done it myself. Normally only 1 horse at a time has access to this particular shelter, I opened the gate due to severe storms with hail that were due to hit that night.
 
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#16 ·
She's knocked what scab it did have off sometime last night or early this morning. Looks horrible but at least it is nice and pink with new flesh growing in. No smell, got some vetricyn on it, that was a fight but I've seen that stuff work wonders on severe wounds alot worse than hers so hopefully it'll work for her too. Some of the stitches didn't come all the way out, they are still attached to the upper part of the wound not doing any good so I'll be calling the vet tomorrow to have those taken out, she will have to be sedated again so we don't get hurt and she won't reinjure herself.
 
#17 ·
If you have a second person you can have them hold up either her other rear leg (if she's completely sound standing on her injured leg) or her front hoof on the same side in order to allow you to doctor the wound. This will keep her from being able to kick at you.
 
#18 ·
Update::: Grace's leg is looking amazing! The swelling is nearly gone, she's getting hair back all around the wound and it seems to look smaller every day. She is still so paranoid about people around her rear end that now if I even touch her hip she kicks out. I'll be working with her to regain her trust, I think it's just after all the vets and sedation she's associating people near her rear with pain, discomfort and the "drunk" feeling. I don't blame her, when I got hurt I didn't want anyone near my back (I broke it 9years ago due to a different horse) and would swing at anyone who tried without ever realizing it, pretty sure it's about the same feeling with her, a "kiss my a** stay away" type thing. Either way, we will conquer this as well! I have help from a trainer friend since I'm pregnant and cannot safely re-train her to know she won't hurt or be scared every time someone gets back there. I'll try and post progress pictures soon! Oh other good news, we found out my son is going to have a baby SISTER!! 😀
 
#20 ·
Congrats on the expected baby girl, that is so exciting! Something to consider while doctoring fidgety horses is a humane twitch, gives you about 15 minutes to get what you need done. Saved me $75 on a tranq when the vet came out this winter to check on my gelding's eye, the vet is a short lady, she stood on a stool, I applied the twitch and she put the liquid in his eye to check on the cornea, then applied the antibiotic drops, worked like a charm.
 
#21 ·
Although I've not tried it, I've gotten many reports that duct tape on the nose works better than a twitch to subdue the horse for treatment. Glad Grace is healing nicely. Congratulations on having a baby girl on the way, but please be careful around Grace and let the trainer work with her so she learns she really is safe and no harm or pain will happen now.
 
#25 ·
05/22/2016 last picture. She is doing really well. My trainer is in the process of moving here so she can't work with her just yet, I started by working her by our big gate (rounded pipe so both of us are safe from injury) we are now where I can go in with her and take my hand nearly to her hock without her kicking. Taking it really slow so I can regain her trust of people. I did ask 4 other to try first just to make sure if it was just me or everyone, she did kick every time so everyone else who knows her I've asked to rub her upper hind legs so she will see nobody, regardless of who, will hurt her. So far so good!
 

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#26 ·
It is healing great, I doubt you will even see a scar once it's all said and done. I would put some Wonder Dust on it now to make sure there is no proud flesh.
 
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