[dustytrails]

Recently my horse got loose from my hand and after running 5 miles down a country road he ran into a iced over beaver pond and was stopped by a submerged 4 strand barbed wire fence.

In order to save him from the 20 degree F temp and the 32 degree water I had to swim out to him, cut the 4 strands and remove it from his legs. He is 15 hh and the water was up past his withers. That made for some really deep water, for I am only 5 foot 6 inches. He was in the water for approx 45 minutes and I was in the water for approx 20 minutes. It was very difficult to cut the wire with the freezing conditions, as I could NOT feel anything and my body was to the point of actually hurting from the conditions.

Long story short, he ended up with some open wounds on his hind legs. This happened 24 days ago, and I am finally seeing some progress. One thing I have going for me is the weather. It has been cold, no flys and bus to fester with the injury.

I wanted to post some pictures for educational purposes and to ask a question about the possibility of proud flesh, but am new to this forum and don't know if that graphic of a picture would be acceptable. If anyone could tell me if posting this picture would be okay, please let me know. I would like the opinions on the recovery process and if anyone believes that what I am seeing is proud flesh or not...

Thank you!

dustytrails

 

[Painted Ride]

post the pics away....someone posted a photo of a horse who sliced half of his cheat off and it was allowed. people are allowed to post graphci photos juts warn ppl that they will be graphic. i would love to see the photos.

 

[dustytrails]

These pictures could be considered graphic.....

They were taken last Thursday and since then all of the scab is removed. I have been treating it with wonder dust and sometimes furozone (SP??) I don't use the furozone anymore, since I want it to dry up (I think...)

I will post these pictures now, and add additional ones that will show a one week progression.

Thanks for any advice or comments...

This is only one of the legs, but the worst of the two.

 

[dustytrails]

I should add... I have been cleaning it every 2-3 days with antibacterial soap and warm water. Scrubbing it to remove any scabbing and buildup of wonder dust...

 

[iridehorses]

Welcome to the forum Dusty.

It's hard to tell if it will proud over but for severe cuts and even worse, I've used Underwoods Medicine very successfully. Underwood Horse Medicine - Wynnewood Oklahoma

 

[dustytrails]

ADDITIONAL GRAPHIC PHOTOS!!!

I made a mistake, the following photos were taken on 11/20, the previous were taken on 11/14. I do see progress, but was still wondering what other fellow horse people would think of it. (I see the wound everyday!):shock:

Thanks everyone and anyone whom may add any insite or info. I appreciate it!

dustytrails

 

[RusticWildFire]

Wow! Ouch!! I am not great at things like this as I have little experience but for wounds I have always used Corona ointment and wrapped them..but you may want to leave it open too..that may be better for it. I'm not sure! But the Corona has always worked for me until it starts to heal and then I leave it open.

 

[dustytrails]

I am leaving it open, so far, to let it stay clean plus it is on the joint. From my experience any open wound below the knee I use Wonder Dust. It works great (as far as my experiences go...) Corona is a great tool too, I just think since I am risking the proud flesh I need to use the dust???? It is really a guessing game! All I know is he is NOT getting any better MENTALLY with this. He is getting really "sore" even when he sees me coming toward him with the warm water and soap. The poor guy!!

 

[Peggysue]

I second the Underwoods it is AMAZING stuff and no water is needed!!! take a look at the pics on that website and I can give you the email of somebody who has some nasty pics of a wound she treated with it

 

[dustytrails]

I took your advice (both of your advice) and ordered some of their product. No cleaning??!! Are you kidding, I can't wait! YAHOO!! One less painful moment for the poor guy! THANKS!!

 

[RusticWildFire]

Wow! I just checked out that website and it's amazing what that stuff can do! Let us know how it goes with it! Good Luck.

 

[Peggysue]

you jsut keep spraying it on and let the scab it builds fall off that is when I wash ... then do it again
take pics everytime the scab falls off !!! DON"T pick at it

 

[JustUs]

ouch! That is a great thing you did for your horse, I'm sure she/he loves you to death for it!! I guess its a good thing to keep a multi tool handy if there is any water around you. Never thought of bringing tools with us, but this situation changed my mind. I live by a lot of open water with who knows what frozen into the ice when its cold. You are a very brave person to risk your own life for him/her.

I don't have much experiance with horse wounds but for cattle, they have this spray that is an anticeptic/fungacide and you spray it on, I think its called blu cote or something. It works well. I'm sure the horse people know better than I do about the other ointments.

They do look improved though! Could you take some pictures of the whole horse? like his legs not just a zoomed in photos I'd like to see please. TY

 

[kickshaw]

i couldn't not pick. I'm a picker :lol:

good luck with the Underwoods - sounds like amazing stuff!

 

[Peggysue]

i couldn't not pick. I'm a picker :lol:

good luck with the Underwoods - sounds like amazing stuff!

I have that problem as well... I do tend to wash mine after about three days when it actually takes 7 to 10 for the scan to fall off naturally

 

[sandystarstud]

i dont know bout the states... but here in Australia we have a product called white cream. I myself have used it on rescued horses and it has done a wonderful job on open wounds.

Cheers ,
Michael

 

[Micki O]

Dusty Thank God you and your horse survived the water and the wire. You are an incredible owner to save your boy like you did.
I've been on this forum almost a year and learn things everyday I don't have experience with big wounds. I have been lucky with my boys so far. Knock wood. From the pictures though you look like you have a handle on his care. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[FGRanch]

Okay that wound is actually pretty minor, PM me if you would like and I will send you my mares leg after she got into barbed wire. That was 3 months ago already and it's still an open wound. Dermagel works WONDERS on cuts like that. It will actually increase the speed that the new skin grows at and reduce scarring.

 

[dustytrails]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, concerns and comments! I love the fact that I found this forum and finally can communicate with other horse lovers!! It is great! Thank you!

This story has a lot more to it than I originally posted (don't they all!!:lol There are a lot of factors that went along with it. If it would not have been a calm 20 degree morning, I would not have found him. He ran 5 miles from camp (he was alone and looking for a buddy, I would assume, got scared and LOST HIS MIND!) I ran the entire 5 miles following his tracks. It reminded me of the scene in "The Black Stallion" when Alec was following the Black's footprints in the sand. ONLY, my sand was frozen class 5 dirt road and my weezing from the cold was louder than my own footsteps on the road!

I couldn't see or hear him...I was at the reality point of I was never going to see him again and he would NEVER make it through the winter, when all of a sudden I heard the sound of thrashing in water. The feeling of sickness that overcame my body at that time was horrible. I knew, right away, what was going on. I was at an abandonded dairy farm with miles of pasture surrounding it. Old barbed wire fencing, old rickety barns and grassed over tractors and equipment. I topped the knoll of the field and there he was, about 500 yards away, completely submerged in water. My ocean was not a beautiful picture perfect location in South America, it was a frozen beaver pond with 1/2 an inch of ice covering it. My horse was submerged entirely under water except his neck and head, not gracefully prancing through knee deep 60 degree water.

At this point all I wanted to do was get to him, survey the scene, access the damage and make a decision from there. As I walked toward him, at a very quick pace might I add, I saw that the fence went into the water from one end, disappeared for 200 yards, right in line with his submerged, motionless body and came out again just past him. I hiked up my sleves and headed into the 32 degree water. I crossed the fence to get in front of him incase he started thrashing, and went to him. He was shivering, and had a look of failure/quit in his eye. Once I realized that he was wrapped, with his back legs, in 4 strands of barbed wire and they were all under water I knew this was NOT going to be easy.

I had to get back out of the water, go get the truck down to where we (I have a GREAT NON-horse friend, thank GOD for him!!) were going to be getting out of the water, and round up some wire cutters. Luckily, my friend that was with me had 2 sets of wire cutters with him. I do at my truck, and I carry a multi-tool in my saddle bags, but we wern't even riding before this happened. We both prepared ourselves mentally to "dive" into the frigid water, left the truck running with the heat at full bore, and headed in. After 20 minutes, and approx 45 for him, we had all 4 strands cut, no idea what his legs looked like or where the strands were. We cleared an area where we thought it was safe for me to lead him out of the water. Mind you, after 20 minutes of 3/4 of my body being in that water I not only could not feel anything, but everything was "pins and needles" and the thought of him FLEEING once he knew he was loose was crossing my mind. I had no idea if he would or not. In pure exhaustion, he led out nicely as we broke ice to shore. I got to shore tied him to a tree and mostly undressed and got into the truck.

The rest was to be done once warm! I doctored him as best as I could, warmed him up and started the long journey that you now know.

My theory behind "picking" or should I saw scrubing it is that it heals from the inside out and if the scab is present it is trapping heat and bacteria under it. That is why I scrub it. I will wait until it has a "level" scab to the skin. So far it is so deep that I can't leave that scab on it. Once it heals more on the inside, I won't pick it. I could be wrong, but that is what has worked for me in the past. This injury happend on the 1st of November so you can see how slow/how bad it was.

Sorry if this story was too long, I just thought I would entertain some of you with it! I hope you enjoyed it! I also want to add that during our whole time in the water we were communicating with eachother's condition and if at any point we were at severe danger I would have made the decision, without hesitation, to leave him there. WE are much more important (selfish or not) then our horses and most importantly is our safety. Please always keep that in mind. It is hard to do so, but there are new horses around every corner, not new us! Don't get me wrong, I am deeply thankful that he is safe, but more thankful that we are safe.

Dusty Trails

(These are the best pictures I have of him so far....)

 

[Hrt4Dressage]

As far as if it does turn to proud flesh, I have used Baking powder and it worked well....

good luck