Laceration just above the coronary

[xoethecat]

My horse got a gash about 3/4" deep just above the coronary band on his right fore about two days ago, which I didn't see until today because I haven't fed them in daylight since Monday morning. There isn't any infection and the vet came and cleaned the wound and did a tetanus booster and gave me some antibiotics to administer, and he bandaged the leg. It's a nasty looking cut but it seems ok. He suggested I keep him stalled for about a week (he's usually in a two acre pasture with run-in), to keep him from using the leg too much and also to help keep him dry (it's mud season around here). I know Gene and others encourage movement for foot injuries, would the same hold for a wound on the leg? He's done fine with free movement for two days, he's the dominant horse in a two horse herd, and stalling him would likely irritate him at least at first, since he hasn't been stalled for three years at least. What do people think?

[calshoer]

Gene does encourage movement for general hoof health and in helping recovery from things like lamninitis, navicular syndrome ,and such because it helps circulation , but that does not mean to let them out when there is an acute injury severe enough that movement may exacerbate the problem. (like a broken bone or really bad laceration). Use common sense. If the laceration is bad enough that the vet feels it needs to be still for a while, then by all means follow the vets instrucions. He is the one who actually saw the wound and made the determinaion.
Common sense says of course You would not keep a horse in for a simple little cut or s****e, but if this thing is deep enough that it needs to be still to close together, then follow the vets advise. Patty

[xoethecat]

Well, it isn't that deep a cut according to the vet. I thought it was over an inch deep but he said it was a little less than half an inch, it was just difficult to tell because of the location and the swelling. He wrapped the leg up almost to the knee to discourage him from using it as much (every time he flexes the pastern the wound gapes a little, it's above the joint but it can't be sewn because it's too close to the hoof), but my horse "customized" the bandage by biting a neat semi circle in the front of it to loosen it up there so there was no limitation on his movement. He also would not be terribly happy in a stall with his buddy outside, and he'll paw if he's irritated, which would be exactly the wrong thing to do in this case. It's moot in any case as he's had the week to move around as he wants to and he chooses not to overstress that wound even though he is not only not lame but he doesn't seem to feel any pain regarding it and holds his foot up in the air for bandaging and even when the vet cleaned it out, which made it bleed all over again. He even helps you wrap it faster by keeping the proper tension in the bandage as you wind it, and moving his leg in small circles so you can wind more easily. It's very handy, and you know he's comfortable in it if he's the one dictating the pressure on it. I change the bandage again today and I'll let you know how it goes, but I also wanted to add this: he was wild until the age of two, and pasture kept in forty acres after that until he came to me. He didn't have a single scar on his body until I started taking care of him, and know he's got some knobby spots until his skin of scar tissue, and a few bare lines where he's gotten scratches I treated, that I don't think would have happened if I hadn't slathered on the antibiotic cream or whatever. I can't imagine that he didn't get worse scratches and bites in the wild, much worse terrain than a grass pasture, and wild horses don't have Swat, which must make any wound in fly season (which is year round where he was from) really nasty. But it's an odd thing, don't you think? I don't mean not listen to the vet, he didn't say it was neccesary for healing to keep him in a stall, just that it would help reduce scarring and speed up the total healing time, but I do wonder what would have happened had the same thing happened in central Nevada this time of year. They had 19 feet of snow on the ground (!) there this winter. I wouldn't not treat him with medications and bandages and stuff, without plentiful proof positive it was ok, and even then I'd be slow to adopt new things, but how do they do it on their own?

[calshoer]

I have seen plently of bad horse wounds left completely unattended in pasture horses. They do heal, but sometimes with uglier larger scars. A really big scar can dimninish the flexion of a joint if it is right at a joint. That is probaly what your vet is concerned about. A huge scar on the back of a pastern could possibly inhibit flexion of the pastern.
Heck though, if the horse is going to kill himself or colic or something by being locked in a stall, then the likelyhood of a big scar is less worrisome I suppose. Just use common sense. Patty

[xoethecat]

The darn thing healed bald. No trouble with it, but bald. All that worry - will it come in white? Will it come in black? Nope. You can't really tell unless you are looking for it. The really ironic thing is this horse didn't have a lump or scar on him from his two years as a wild horse, and he goes into captivity and he can't do whatever it is they do and he gets all sorts of lumps and bumps and s****es. Speaks well of my nursing skills.