Berle's Journey - OTTB Barn Fire Survivor

[poniesrule]

Ok, I've been trying to decide if I should make any posts on my new guy or not, mostly because he's not a mini. BUT I know there are a lot of experienced horse owners, so it would be great to hear some suggestions! This horse is not legally mine, but the legal owner is leasing him to me with an option to buy. I have been working with him for about 3 weeks now, and am still discovering more of his "story" each day. He was home raised & raced on small town tracks, won his first race as a 5 year old, then shortly after that a barn at the track caught fire & he and another horse owned by that same person were badly burned. The other horse didn't survive. This would be about 2 years ago, he has been turned out on pasture to heal and be a horse, with an old time burn remedy you would laugh at. I have access to pictures of what he looked like after the fire, but I haven't brought myself to look at them yet. He's a sweet guy, super smart & willing to learn, also very clumsy haha.

The first picture is a bad shot of him in general but you get the drift (we're modifying our diet), and the second is what his back looked like the day I took him on as a project. The third photo shows where the hair has grown back from the fire - I know it looks like a serious case of worms, but trust me it's not. You'll see this pattern on a lot of his body, I really need to look at the original photos to understand what happened to him, but again ugh... Ok, moving on. I am taking pictures every week so I can see how he's come along. Photo #4 was after 3 days of Aloe massages and the beginning of a homemade salve. I've always had great luck with it & it seems to keep flies away as well as sunburn. This would be Week 1. Photo #5 is last Thursday week 2.

We're doing some groundwork every day. He's learning about personal space mostly. He likes to be on top of the handler, not aggressively thankfully. He also got his feet done yesterday for the first time in a year or so. Every day I massage his back and apply salve, and every other day I wash the wound with soap and re-apply the salve after he's dry. I think it's making a bit of a difference, but I really hope to get some hair growing before winter sets in. Where the wound is black is healed skin (for the most part) and believe it or not, there is actually some hair struggling to grow! The spots that are pink/yellowish is still healing and there is no hair there at all. Hopefully it will fill in some in a couple years, but no guarantees.

So why take this guy on? Because he has a lot of potential for something, what that is, I don't know yet. Maybe he'll be able to be ridden, maybe not. Maybe a driving horse? Time will tell. I have been researching several other horses that are burn survivors to see what kind of treatments are available, unfortunately most of what I am seeing is a little out of my budget. He seems to be responding well to what I am doing so far, so we'll see. I'm surprised he enjoys the massage, I would have thought there would be a lot of tenderness or nerve damage. He twitches with light touches & closes his eyes with firm rubs. He really loves the scratches the kids give him, he doesn't care about treats, and adores having his poll & ears scratched.

Is anyone interested in hearing more/monthly updates?

 

[MindyLee]

How awesome you are.

I made sure I read the story before looking at pics and he looks WAY better then I was picturing.

I think it will heal up good and his hair will eventually regrow in. Otherwise I think he looks pretty good and I agree... He dose have potential. Good luck and def keep us informed on his progress.

 

[lucky seven]

Yes keep us informed. Although this is a mini site, a lot of us have had or have larger horses. I would love to hear more of his story and your journey together.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Best of luck to you poniesrule I also have 2 OTT horses . Hats off to you for giving this horse a second chance . With time , I'm sure he will excel with you in what ever road you take him down

 

[paintponylvr]

Great of you to take him on. The burns appear to be healing well. I for one, would love to know the home remedy you are using in your salve!

An acquaintance of ours had a boyfriend who was a "lineman" (repaired power lines from a bucket truck way up high off the ground). One day there was much miscommunication and he was electrocuted and badly burned over major portions of his body. I'm not sure how many months (anymore) that he spent in the burn center here in NC, but it was a very long time! He had skin grafts, multiple surgeries and a leg amputation below the knee. When sent home, finally, his back wasn't healing right and she was finally able (with his permission) to use what we used at the vet clinic(she was the vet clinic operations' manager) on horse's legs to prevent proud flesh and promote faster healing and granulation w/ skin closure over wounds.

I was never present when the treatment applied and was never told if it was very painful. I don't know. I DO KNOW that some horses respond like it's terribly painful - I think it depends on the nerves and pain response in each individual.

The treatment - on the open center of the wound is "packed" or layered with meat tenderizer and the outer edges of the wounds were rubbed with Preparation H. His burns were then covered again with bandages, just as previously done. It seemed to work - the doctors, I understand, were amazed until they found out what they were doing - at which point they freaked out and stated they needed to stop! He was re-admitted to the hospital (against her wishes but they weren't yet married and it didn't "count"). The treatment the drs did again - it quit healing and the drs didn't seem to know what to do... He was released again - and they went back to doing what they'd been doing. In the meantime, he had several more surgeries on his leg (problems with bone infection) which was now shortened to his upper thigh and he was on his 2nd or 3rd prosthetic leg.

His back did grow in and heal (not without scarring) and the new doctors were impressed with the speedy growth/healing once he was released from the hospital again...

I've often used this treatment and had really terrific results with a mare that opened her leg from hock to fetlock - on the front of the leg. The vet (same one who taught me about the treatment originally) was amazed at how well the mare had healed when she'd recommended euthanasia and I'd refused in this case.

Another home remedy - on open wounds - would be sugar. On the black skin areas - MTG (maybe? but not while outside) - to grow the hair back.

The only other recommendation I'd give would be to make sure he's getting all the minerals and vitamins he needs - to do repairs starting from the inside. You might even have your vet do a hair/skin workup to check to see if there's anything specifically he's deficient in. You might even check into the products where he picks his own vitamin/mineral supplements (can get pricey, but I've heard they are worth it)... I haven't switched to them yet, myself so have no direct recommendations.

Other than that - he looks pretty awesome and YES, I'd love to hear how he does for you.