I am normally just a lurker here...but I will
share this with you. Years ago, we did CTR. My husband's Arab, on a
training ride, somehow stepped into flattened out squares of an old wire
fence. He panicked and proceeded to work it clear up his leg where it
started to rip into the muscle. As the fence worked up there were more and
more squares that followed it scraping and cutting in every 4 inches or
so. I had to ride for help and big metal clippers. When I got back,
he was laying across my husband who was holding and soothing him not to panic
any more than he did. We cut him loose, and he was shooting blood from a
main artery.... We had to wrap a tourniquet and walk him to an area where we
could pick him up in a trailer, and then drive 1/2 hour or better and met the
vet at the barn. Hospitals weren't really heard of locally so he was
treated in his stall and she spent hours stitching and cleaning him
up. She came out daily for a couple weeks. He was hand walked for a
while soon after.....and I have to tell you...was not that long before he was
let out on his own....and maybe a few months before he could be
ridden. My husband was able to compete with him the following year (only
CTR though) although he was scarred up on the back leg. The leg never gave
him any obvious trouble.
Please keep up the
hope....Today's hospitals are
very clean and positive for good healing and treatment is amazing. These
guys surprise us with their ability to heal up in those areas. And I'll
bet you he won't be on stall rest for as long as predicted....He'll be
telling the doctor he's ready to go!! <smile>....
I had a horrible accident with
Jack yesterday. I?m fine but he is not. We were out riding by our old
house and came down off a slight hill with a dip along the side of the road
where the water runs when it rains. When we got to the bottom he
caught his hind leg in some loose ?under the grass and hidden ? barb
wire and went down on his knees. I always watch very carefully for wire and
never saw it. He struggled hard to get loose and finally ripped the barb
wire from whatever it was attached to and ran down the road dragging it.
I ran after him and finally got him. It was horrible. He was
spurting blood and about 3-4 inches of flesh were missing with the tendon gone
and the bone totally exposed. Fortunately I had my cell phone and
although I was hysterical I managed to call the vets office. I got a
tourniquet and held it onto him. Dr. Peters got there about ½ hour later
and managed to bandage and fashion a temporary splint. By that time a
nice man had driven to get my husband who was outside cutting the grass and
never heard the phone. I also called a neighbor, Donna, who had been a large
animal vet tech. She came and helped before the vet arrived. She
also went to get my car and horse trailer ? which of course were in different
locations. After much effort we managed to get him to the clinic where
he was cleaned, ragged flesh removed, given antibiotics etc. and had a cast
put on. We still don?t know what will happen. The barb wire also
scraped the bone and got into part of the joint. The only good thing was
that it was the front of his leg and that the joint it got into is not a real
necessary joint ? if that is possible. We will be watching for infection
? especially in the bone and joint. He is going to be at the vets for at
least 10 days and if he makes it, he will need complete stall rest for 6
months. No riding for at least 1 year. If he makes it he deserves
to be a pasture pet for the rest of his life. It has been a horrible
day.
Has anyone?s horse experienced an
injury like this? I know he will never be my endurance horse again, but
what are his chances of living a comfortable life. Is it cruel or in his
best interests to do this stall rest? I don?t want to prolong any
suffering for him but if this is a curable injury, he deserves a good
life.
BTW ? I trained him to give to
pressure and if this had been an ordinary barbed wire incident I think he
would have been fine. The problem was that he fell into a ditch and was so off
balance - at one point he was actually laying on his side - that there was
nothing he could do but move and then when it kept digging in he really
panicked.
