# Turbo learned a valuable lesson yesterday



## amysue

So...Turbo, my Shetland pinto colt attempted to climb out of his corral yesterday morning, to no avail. Luckily he attempted this stupid feat while I was in the yard, otherwise I fear he may have done irreversible damage to his leg. He got his front left hoof over the top of the corral panel and then got his back legs through the bottom rungs. Because he was pushing on the fence, he managed to create a gap between the two panels and wedge his hoof inbetween, sliding up to his knee. He pinched his leg pretty good, the chain connecting the panels tore his leg open in two places. I was able to get him freed by cutting the chain with bolt cutters. After hosing the wounds out (had to sedate him to let me touch it) we determined that there wasn't much we could do to stitch it, and it looks like it will heal better from the inside out if allowed to drain. I can see his bone on the inside and the fluid swelling up on the top of his leg was disgusting. The swelling has gone down immensely this morning and surprisingly he isn't limping any more. I boosted his tetanus vaccine and have him on antibiotics as a precaution. If only stud colts would use the brain between their ears, instead of the one between their legs! Hopefully, he will make a full recovery, as he has such talent for jumping. I guess only time will tell.


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## Marsha Cassada

Thank goodness you were there. And had bolt cutters handy! Hope he heals well and has learned he can't climb fences. What was on the other side? Mares, or just greener grass?

My dil used to run an electric fence inside her paddock's welded pipe fencing where she kept her stallion.


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## amysue

There are a few mares in the paddock across the yard that I thought he was going after, but my husband says that he and the stallion next to his pen were mouthing each other earlier and I assume that's what riled him up. I am trying to devise electric fence insulators that will attach to the pipe rail without charging the metal fence. A few years ago I reconfigured my stallion pens, instead of setting each round pen up seperate, I pinned them together, sharing fence lines allowed me enough panels to make a whole nother pen in the same space (of course an empty pen leads to purchasing another horse ) so along came Turbo. They all respect each other and have not ever hurt each other because we wired the panels in between horses with wire mesh so they cannot get at one another. I do not know what posessed Turbo to try jumping over at the highest spot and I do not know if hot wiring it will stop him but I am certainly going to try.


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## Mona

Sorry to hear about Turbo's injury. I have read quite often about these accidents...many times they either die trying to get out, or have to be euthanized due to their severe injuries, so yes, you and Turbo are VERY fortunate that you were right there when it happened. Many say those panels are very dangerous due to that. You can buy (or maybe even construct if you are handy) "caps" for the joints. http://www.infohorse.com/ShowAd.asp?id=3084 

*EDITED TO ADD:* Here is an old post from here on L'il Beginnings about another such incident. http://www.miniaturehorsetalk.com/index.php?/topic/131771-round-pen-owners-beware-injured-horse/


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## amysue

Thank you for posting those links Mona, I really appreciate it. I think that I can close the gaps by bolting boards over them. I have pounded pvc into the ground in between the pinned panels to block the space, but figured the ones that chained were safe, but I was wrong. Just wrinsed off his legs again. Looking better, swelling still has to go down more. I covered it in aluminum shield aerosol bandage to let it breathe and I figured leaving it unwrappwd would help the swelling recede. Thank you for your help.


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## chandab

Don't know if they make them for the size of your panels, but I know I've seen insulators that are in two pieces the go around small posts.


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## Marsha Cassada

That aluminum spray is good stuff. Hope to hear that he recovers fully.


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## Mona

You're welcome. I think a person can get quite creative when needed, and I am sure you'll come up with something.


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## Rocklone Miniature Horses

Jesus!!! Glad he is ok and you were there. Studs are something else eh. Ive only had one issue, he climed a wire fence, literaly just climed it.


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## paintponylvr

The wonders of ponies! What AAARRRREEEE they thinking? Oh, yea - "Situation normal - time to think of new suicide game..."

Glad you were there and that he is OK. Those wounds can take a while to heal...

Ours weren't so much puncture type but a ripped opening down the whole leg from knee to fetlock - colt standing on gate, hooves slipped off and he caught an "edge" (on a round, steel pipe, heavy duty gate) on the way down - literally looked just like a letter opener opening his leg in front of our eyes. It was December and the daily scrubbing and hosing/soaking was miserable even here in NC. You could see his cannon, splint bones and tendons as we worked on that injury. He was never stitched shut - but was kept wrapped as it healed from inside out. He healed and was started in ground work/harness. Less than 6 months after the 1st injury - he did almost the same exact injury on his other foreleg. We weren't there and didn't see it happen and never did find any hair, bent panels, new dents that indicated where he'd done it. The care was pretty much identical except we were now dealing with flies and gnats. Again, he healed. To this day, he still has very faint scars on his white legs (he's a dark bay tobiano - 1/2 arab-1/2 shet) and the first time his legs were clipped by his new owners, I got a call asking what kind of surgery he'd had! I sent them back to the "book" w/ pics and notes that went with him, his registration papers, coggins, health records etc and told them to re-read what I'd already told them about when I sold him to them... They were in shock, but OK after that ...



With both injuries, he never took a lame step (I would have!!) and he went right into jumping (soundly) at maturity!!

I've tried some different ideas for panel type pens - always go back to the plain old panels. Personally, the way those panels were tightly chained together, you'd never think what did happen, could. Those pvc/plastic type panel covers can be just as dangerous themselves as leaving the panels open between - some extreme weather causes them to degrade, sometimes in less than a year. They shatter with jagged edges - just like a pvc board fence can/will. We created wood in a similar bridge and had a full size (1200 lbs) horse get injured on that in the 70s - while being worked on a lounge line in the round pen...

Over the years, dealing with livestock and horses in many fence configurations, riding along with vets to many different farms and going to breed open houses in different states/breeds of horses, I've seen some interesting (and graphically nasty) injuries. Some never were figured out as to how/what the horse actually did to create his injury - w/ little to no discernible damage to fencing, barn or wall(s). Others were felt they were very minor injuries - should have healed quickly and easily - only to walk out 48 hours after an injury to a dead/dying horse. I have had vets tell me there was NO WAY to treat an injured horse - expense, time for us to clean/care for injury, healing ability of horse - only to put my own foot down, say we'll deal & w/i 4 months have a horse right back into either riding or production that the vet swore wouldn't live thru the first night or absolutely needed to be euthanized.

I read thru all the other posts on that 2012 thread with interest. Sure wish some folks had taken pics of the different ways they used to protect their fencing and horses. I can't quite visualize some of what the posters did - though sure sounds good!

Amysue - let us know how Turbo is doing!!


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## amysue

Thank you Paula, after reading about your ordeal I do feel more optimistic about Turbo's chances of recovering. He has such talent for jumping and he has a working student who is just absolutely smitten with him so it would break my heart if he could not jump anymore. He is getting more tolerant of me washing the wounds out. I left them open with aerosol bandage to try to get the fluid above his knee to drain and it is just running out down his leg. He is going stair crazy in the barn, so I am thinking about wrapping it up and turning him out. I duck taped the tops of the chain panels so he cannot push them apart again.


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## paintponylvr

We boosted Blizzard's tetanus, too. Twice - since the 2nd injury happened in the same year! We ended up having him on Naquazone and TMZs. I think the vet also had us flushing the leg with a mix of 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and iodine... But can't really remember and no longer have the notes from that time frame. Later, as it healed, we used meat tenderizer (after the innards<bones & tendons> more covered by actual scabbing/skin) directly in the "wound" and Preparation H around the outside. The scar is an almost completely vertical, narrow line w/ hair growing thru/around it - on both legs.

What are you using on Turbo?


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## paintponylvr

I'm fairly certain this pic taken 12 months after initial injury and about 6 months after the 2nd. No close ups and no actual pics of the wounds (I wouldn't start doing that for years! Digital cameras & phones sure are nice now for that type of documentation). Bliz is just short of his real, 3rd Bday (born 25 Jan 2000) and yes, Skye is riding him bareback and bridleless (& no helmet



). He actually hasn't been officially started in riding yet, but he did respond to weight, leg and leaning forward to push on either his neck or his jaw to point him where she wanted to go.






with our backyard training and showing -






at home but with a pro-trainer and higher caliber rider trying him out (this is "Teddy's" original breeder/owner/trainer - Teddy as in the part Shetland gelding that Karen O'Connor had pointed at the Olympics when a freak accident caused him to be euthanized - a BAD leg injury similar to your Turbo's, Bliz's and Bliz's dam's - she had a major leg injury that almost ended her life about 1.5 yrs before I bought her - fell/slid into a barn wall and leg went thru the wall).






and me riding our pony. While the exposure was fantastic - selling him left a HUGE hole for me. Little did I know...






2.5 yrs after going to the girl who bought him. Practicing at home Sept 2009 -






and showing in 2010 - he was 10 years old. He DID qualify for the Pony Nationals - held every year at the Kentucky Horse Park. But don't think he ended up going and I never quite learned why... I think she was in a quandary as she had started riding a big hunter as well and believe that may have been the same year that she also qualified for the MacClay Finals ? ... yikes, been out of the h/j world long enough can't remember all the names! She couldn't do both and chose to go with the big horse (she did earn a substantial amount towards a college scholarship, so don't blame her)... Last I heard, they still owned Bliz and her little sister is riding him - but that would have been 2 years ago now and I haven't rcvd any updated pics in that time... He's 16 yrs old now.






Blizzard was out of our 14 hh Arab mare (double Khemosabi & Bask bred) and sired by our 11.1 1/4" hh Shetland stallion. Bliz matured at 14 & 3/4" hh- officially, permanently carded as a large pony!! Bliz was our only Arab/Shet X to get this large - most were in the 13 hh range - but for some reason I never rebred Chaunter to AJ...

I want to X Chaunter's daughter (purebred but currently unregistered Arab - by ML Mostly Padron) to AJ's last son (Shetland) eventually. Guaranteed to be a "painted" devil in disguise!! could be black, bay or chestnut base coat.


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## amysue

Paula, I always love looking at your pictures and am so grateful that you share them. Your horses are beautiful. I am always in such a hurry that I rarely photograph things, even with this stupid smart phone always in my pocket. Turbo is still slightly off, but not in his front, on his right hind, I suspect that's the leg that he had thru the bottom of the panel. He is still full of his bad self and spent the afternoon strutting his stuff while the girls took their lessons on Beauty and Rock. So, obviously he is not in tremendous pain, as my mom says..."no brain, no pain." I am moving the broodmare band to the lower pasture tomorrow as I keep everyone close to home during the winter (makes watering easy) so once the ladies are out of the picture I may wrap Turbo up good and turn him out before he kills himself trying to jump out of the stall. It's not "stall rest" if he cannot rest. He is actually a very mild mannered guy, respectful on the lead and crossties and in work, he's all business as I don't tolerate that crap, period. But he is a stud colt and sometimes cannot help himself and I figure there is not much I can do about it but try to eliminate any temptations and dangers and do ny best to keep him safe. One day at a time I guess.


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## paintponylvr

THANK YOU



for the compliments on our ponies and horses. We tried and still do!

Poor Turbo! I LOVED the comment you made on brain positioning in the first post. So true.

I'd love to come visit you some day, actually. As I get older, I really appreciate the "new" up and comers in the horse industry along with the others older than me who are still able and doing all things horse/livestock/farming. I think I've been into CT - but it was before 2004 - and I will have to do some digging. I might be thinking of the wrong state... Would love another visit.

Lately, my smart phone takes blurry pics and no one seems to be able to figure out why. It wasn't me shaking! Girls had problem w/ it too.


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## Ryan Johnson

Glad he is starting to feel better Amysue, You have had a "Crappy" time of late with the cattle, your little mare and now this. Hoping its is the last of it and good things start coming your way





And regarding your comments on Paula's Pics and Info, Im hoping we get to see a "book" one day. I'm another that loves to see Paula's posts and pictures. I think they are wonderfully informative and I love "all that colour" in her ponies





Ryan


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## amysue

Thank you Ryan, I appreciate your kind words. Life has been very tough lately and it has been hard on me and my husband, if it isn't money troubles it's farming setbacks, but I have to remember to think positive. I am expecting a few foals this year and some are already spoken for. The way that I see it, I have had a good couple of years and now, the universe is balancing it out...probably to remind me to be grateful for the good times. I figure that I cannot breed this many horses this many times without experiencing some sort of tradgedy. Lollipop is doing well and is VERY happy to be back with the broodmare band. She enjoyed being groomed by a student today. As for the farm business, I have acquired a few new boarding and lesson clients, it feels real good to have people want to work with me as I doubt myself an awful lot, just because it is taking longer than I'd like to finish renovating the barn and cleaning this place up. I am hesitant to advertise and take on clients with the place looking like it does because I do not want people thinking I am unprofessional. My mother keeps reminding me of how far we've come in 3 short years and how much we've accomplished and to stop undermining myself.

As for the cattle, my main source of income, I swear these cows take up most of my day (but I love them), I have a few gorgeous steers ready to sell and a lot of people locally who want to buy halves and quarters, so I can eliminate the dealer all together. I was thrilled to find out that my absolute favorite cow, Violet is expecting a calf very soon. She was given to me by a local dairy, she was twin to another heifer who died, as they were a month premature and was so tiny/sickly they figured she'd die. Well, I nursed her through last summer, even brought her in my house, and now she's gorgeous and their herdsman tells me she's out of top lines and some how, in a yard full of steers, ended up bred. I'm sure that it's because someone botched a castration rather than immaculate conception lol. Either way, I'm psyched to start milking cows again and even more psyched that I get to keep her as she is my baby. My mom broke out the old cream seperator and butter maker, so I can't wait.

Paula, I wish you lived close to me, from your posts, it sounds like you and I would get along real well. If you're ever in CT, stop in, I am always here, lol.


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## paintponylvr

I just checked and you'd be a whole lot closer than going to TX!! 12 hours is not too bad - though I would need to do any overnight on the way. Will be keeping that in mind...

Unfortunately I'm currently looking for the best prices to fly to IA tomorrow, as my mom's twin sister (my aunt) passed away yesterday. I plan on being at the funeral (wish that I could have had one more visit, sigh, before) on Friday morning...

Just out of curiosity - are there places to drive around you? That could be a plan, maybe to plan out, for next year (2017). Could look at bringing my wagon and a pair or even 4 ponies up there to spend a weekend driving or so (or a few days during the week).


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## amysue

So sorry to hear about your aunt. I know some airlines offer reduced rates if you are flying to attend a funeral. We have open fields and trails to drive and many places around here let us truck in to drive, we would love to have you.

I put Turbo out today and he seemed to enjoy being back out next to his friends. His wounds are beginning to scab over. I trimmed some of the dead skin away today. He does still have a small hole in one cut that is draining. I have been syringing an iodine peroxide solution into it to flush. He is on penicillin 2x day and hosings 3x day. The alushield seems to be keeping it protected while letting it drain.


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## paintponylvr

Im back, the past two weeks have not been so easy.

No foals for us.

How is Turbo doing now?


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## amysue

Thank you for asking Paula. His leg is closing up nicely, I keep washing and debrieding it daily and now it is nice and pink on the inside and I can no longer see through his leg! All of the swelling has gone away and he is back to his mischievois self. He is finished with antibiotics and lasix. It wasn't wanting to close on the edges until I scrubbed at the scab a little rougher than Turbo would have liked, but now it can heal faster. I am just glad we kept it from getting infected. I lost a cow to a similar injury last summer, her joints got so infected she couldn't be saved. It will definitely take a while longer to heal completely, but atleast he can go back outside.


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## Marsha Cassada

Thanks for the update.


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## merlin100

That looks hellishly sore, poor mite.


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## Mona

OMG, what a terrible injury! It looks like you are doig a FABULOUS job on it though, so pat yourself on the back! (Many wouldn't be as dedicated as you have been!)


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## amysue

His leg is almost all closed, there is just one stubborn spot that is still open. This is last weeks pic, looks even better now, hair is starting to grow back.


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## Marsha Cassada

Looking much better, thank goodness.


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## Reignmaker Miniatures

Wow! You've done an amazing job with it. Well done!


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## paintponylvr

That is looking great.

How is he moving (or did I miss that?)?


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## amysue

Almost closed completely, he is moving sound now, luckily he has been able to be turn3d out in a small paddock, as stall rest drove him nuts. The more he keeps moving the better he feels. He got the okay to get back into work. My husband put him in with his mare, Janey and he seems to be enjoying the company. Thank you everyone for asking about his progress.


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## Marsha Cassada

He is one lucky pony.

Your reference library looks interesting and convenient there.


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## amysue

Yes, I keep a bookshelf full of reference books in the office/grooming bay. Everything from the Merek Veterinary manual to the Horseman's Bible. It's proven very handy during riding lessons, horse camp and late night emergencies. I keep an ond vanity in there and use it as a desk for paperwork, my white boards to organize feed, work and turnout schedules and all of the grooming supplies. Since the main part of the barn is still under renovation, my stalls are all on the outside row of the barn, I wanted an "all season" place to crosstie horses.


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