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[RC] [RC] Mary -bad accident - Christy Hawes

Hi Mary- So sorry- wanted to give you hope with these two experiences I have witnessed:

My sister's TB cut a tendon 3/4 of the way through. Vet put on a cast and said stall rest. Vet not sure if horse would ever be sound. Horse freaked out being left alone in the stall, broke down the stall door and off he went. He caused more damage tearing down stalls than to just let him out in the pasture with his buddies, so she let him stay out. He miraculously healed when the horse cam to live with me a year later, my boyfriend trail rode him for over a year. never lame. I was fascinated at the healing ability.

This winter my friend's horse that I just love and have ridden extensively who is an older appendix QH cut up his back leg and tendon horribly when he jumped the fence and got caught. Very bad. Vet said stall rest and may never be sound again. He had bandages galore and Deb used sugar on the wound. Well, I went to visit her (in Montana) 3 weeks ago and actually RODE THIS HORSE DOWN THE TRAIL. I'm no light weight and it we were out there about 5 hours. I hand walked him back the last 40 minutes just to be cautious and ran cold water on his leg. Of course, She had spent time legging him back up with arena work, little trotting sessions, etc. and watched very close. No lameness, no swelling. Just took awhile to build back up his muscles after all the stall rest. AMAZING this horse is not lame. Horrible scars. But totally amazing healing ability! The horse never even showed heat or swelling after our trail ride!

So, there's two good stories with positive outcomes.
Cheers,
Christy in Colorado
brattyblond@xxxxxxxxxxx
circle.of.mares@xxxxxxxxx

From: "Adele H" <amh78833@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Fw: [RC]   Mary -bad accident
Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 19:04:07 -0400



Mary,

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>....

Good luck,

Adele
in CT
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: mary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 12:16 PM
  Subject: [RC] bad accident


Hi all,



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.





Thanks - Mary





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Fw: [RC] Mary -bad accident, Adele H