Horse injury question?

Question

My horse was driven into a barbed-wire fence yesterday and was tangled in it. He has a severe laceration to the top of his left front leg, just below the chest. The muscle doesn't APPEAR to have been ripped, and it is not bleeding really. I used hydrogen peroxide to clean it out and then vaseline to cover the wound last night, then this morning I covered the wound with a large bandage. He is limping severely and can hardly lift his leg, but when he was first freed from the fence he ran off with no apparent limp, so I think he's just sore. Should I sew him up? If so, what should I do to clean the wound before closing it up? Or, should I take him to a vet to have it done? Any thoughts? Thanks.

Answer 1

call a vet, he needs a tetanus shot.

Answer 2

First take him to the vet.
When He ran off after he was was freed, he was scared, in pain, and full of adrenaline. He wasn't about to show any pain if he could help it, horses are prey animals, and in the wild prey animals that are hurt are DINNER.

Don't sew him up, its to late. If you called the vet right away, he could have gotten stitches, but because you waited, you missed your chance. Don't use Hydrogen peroxide. It kills the bad stuff, yes, but it also kills the good stuff. Vaseline is not good for anything still in danger of infection.

For the time being, confine the horse in a clean stall or paddock if at ALL possible and get the vet out ASAP. If the vet can't come out right away s/he will at least be able to offer you sound medical advice.

In the future, keep your horses away from barbed wire, they always seem to get hurt on it. Use electric wire or tape or almost anything else. If you can't afford to replace all you fencing right now, work on replacing it bit by bit as you can afford it.

I hope your horse is okay, but its going to be awhile, if he can barely move his leg, then its a pretty bad injury. Don't skimp here, if it getts infected or doesn't heal properly you'll be in more trouble than if you just get the vet out now.

Answer 3

Ohmigosh you better call your vet but QUICK! When a horse has a leg injury, he ends up putting his weigh on the other legs which can lead to a fatal condition called laminitis. This is how Barbaro's veterinarian explained laminitis in layman's terms. It's really, really serious, so get your horse medical attention A.S.A.P.

A horse walks on the tip of its middle digit. Evolutionary speaking, they adapted to walk on the tip of their middle digit. So, they’re essentially walking on the nail of their middle finger. And really what you’re talking about is the bone inside of the hoof has to be attached to that nail, what’s called the keratinized tissue, the hard tissue of the hoof. The bone is attached to that by tissue called lamina. They are inter-digitating pieces of tissue where the hard tissue goes to the—basically inanimate tissue goes to the animate tissue, if you want to look at it that way. That tissue, if it becomes damaged, which is what happens in laminitis, separates, and then you lose the connection between the bone and the hoof. And if the horse loses the connection between the bone and the hoof, it’s exquisitely painful to the horse because the horse needs that connection to walk around. So, the only way you can cure it once it’s at this point is many, many months of the horse actually growing a new hoof wall that extends down from the top, just the way you would re-grow a nail if you had your nail essentially pulled out, which I think everyone recognizes to be very painful. So, it’s a painful condition. It’s a serious condition. And it’s a very difficult, long-standing problem to deal with.

Answer 4

I would DEFINATELY have the vet look at him. You did the right thing by cleaning it with peroxide. But the fact that it didnt bleed much means that it DEFINATELY DID go into muscle, alot of muscle, possibly even ligaments. I think you should have your vet look at the horse a soon as possible, because if the muscle and ligaments dont heal properly it could affect the horses movement. one thing my vet laways taught me, is in an injury (depending on severity of course) but if there ISNT alot of blood then the injury is possibly quite severe. Superficial wounds bleed alot more because of all the blood vessels on the surface of the skin.
REALLY, please take your horse to the vet, if nothing else the horse should go on a course of antibiotics.

Answer 5

Leg injuries are very serious for horses because they have poor circulation in their legs. It doesn't sound like the horse "needs" stitches but it would minimize the scarring later. Also, it would be good for him to get an antibiotic just in case of infection. If the wound does get infection then there is a VERY good chance he will need to be put down.

BTW Barbwire and horses is a very bad combination. I suggest you hang an electric wire with ribbons inside the barbwire fence. Most hoses will stay away from the ribbons even if the fence isn't hot.

Answer 6

#1 CALL A VET!!!! if you can not afford a vet that means you shouldn't even have a horse in the 1st place. Hydrogen proxide and vasaloine are NOT things you should be using to treat lacarations on a horse. You can flush out the woun with bedadine solution but it's probably too late for that if a day or so has passed. If you care for you horse at all you will get a vet out immeadiatley before infection starts, if it hasn't already.

Answer 7

Since leg injuries are so serious and may result in permanent lameness, you should definitely take the horse to a vet, unless you know how to properly stitch him up, but you should still take him to a vet for a check-up to make sure no real damage was done to the muscle. Also, try to make sure he doesn't walk around more than necessary if you choose to get him stitched up, as this may reopen the wound. Also, make sure it doesn't get infected, so keep applying Vaseline, because infected wounds are dangerous and require immediate medical attention.

Answer 8

have your vet come out and look at it. My mare rubbed on a pine tree and sliced open her tendon that runs across their hock. We thought it was infection and we gave her bute so that she could walk a little to get food and water. We called the vet about three days later because it looked like it was getting more infected. The vet looked at it and said that she had sliced her tendon and couldnt be ridden ever again and that it would be very hard to get to heal, if we could get it to heal at all. We had to have her put to sleep. ( She was 23 so it wasnt like she was young.) Call your vet to have him assess the situation. You have taken all of the precautionary steps following an injury and your vet will thank you for it.

Since it seems that everyone here is anti-Vaseline I do have a better suggestion. A product called Furazone. It is like Neosporin. For horses. This stuff is incredible. It will prmote growth of cell tissues as well as prevent infection.

Answer 9

Call a vet!!...but in the meantime be sure to keep the wound clean. The horse could be muscle-sore from struggling in the wire...but could benefit from antibiotics and a vet's experience.

Answer 10

You have received many wonderful, well informed answers to your question. Always have a vet when purchasing a horse. Leg injuries can be very serious, even if they don't seem it in the beginning. And may I suggest that you do some extensive research on horses? Many owners buy them because they are pretty without realizing how high-need they are. You need information on how to spot certain leg ailments, also, such as foundering and frog care.

I also suggest you "walk your field" with a horse nutritionist, since there can be certain vegetation growing in your field that can be harmful when ingested by a horse.

Good luck!

Answer 11

Take him to the vet asap! It may be too late to stitch the wound up but the vet will know the best way to get it healed up with minimum scaring.