Why horses and barbed wire don't mix!!!

[jess]

This is Dolly my landlords horse, She's not out of the woods...And it'll be months healing if she makes it through the next few days as it's pretty much an open wound...To his credit this was a free horse he rescued from a bad situation, hence the crud all over her, he picked her up this morning and turned her out with the other horse he rescued with her and within minutes of getting off the trailer she ran through the fence, by the time he's done with vet bills his free horse is going to cost him about 2-3 thousand dollars...Thank god I was home or she would've been dead...I'm a vet tech and packed my shirt into the wound to stop the bleeding until we could get her to the vet..

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039948&id=1165284549&l=1938fc76ca

Thank you to those who've wished Dolly well...I have been cleaning her leg 3 times a day and removing necrotic tissue, She will be on SMZ tabs for at least another month and I'm slowly reducing the amount of bute she's on, after her wound is cleaned and debrided I apply silver sulfadiazine cream..The vet was out on Monday and is shocked at how well she is doing...The wound is ugly and her whole body fills with air because it's an open wound so she looks like a balloon but her spirit is good and her eyes are bright the chance she could get an infection and we could lose her is still there but the vet is cautiosly optimistic that she'll live through this ordeal...Dolly is a 4 yr old AQH the horse that came with her is a 6 year old Morgan(Scooter) neither horse has had ANY training or handling, so treating her can be fun at times. She is being very good and seems to trust me even though I'm the one who is constantly harassing her with meds and cleanings...I think after all this she might become mine as we've bonded..We moved her to my place today and we made a VERY small pasture for her, with the wound where it is the less she moves around the better, but at the same time she was stocking up in her other legs. I bought standing wraps but at this point she only lets me medicate her and wash her bad leg, Attempting to groom her or get near her feet is a death wish...She isn't afraid to try and bite or cow kick so I work on her manners and fears daily..I can halter and lead her and brush the top half of her body now and we're making slow progress..I've included one picture and a link to several more of her..

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/0903/jesschap/Dolly%2004-08-10/

 

[Miniv]

That is ugly! It's good your landlord rescued her........and VERY good you were close by to help!

I'm going to try posting another link to your pictures....... Often if you just put the "http:" in front of it, it makes it a direct link.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039...mp;l=1938fc76ca

 

[krissy3]

barbed wire ... letting a horse loose with other horses before you know what type of character it has... The situation is sad , but not suprising. Yes thank god you were there..I wish the new owner had a "check" done on his property before he could take the horse home . Horse in a bad situation going into a worse situation, the owner deserves the vet bill, the horse did not deserve to be cut up like that. Sorry but what was he thinking?

 

[miniwhinny74]

Poor girl! I wasn't prepared to see that--I knew horses & barbed wire don't mix, but I would never have thought that much damage could be done. I really hope for the best for Dolly, but thanks so much to Jess for posting this to help illustrate more clearly than anything the dangers of barbed wire.

Please don't be so harsh on the landlord who was trying to save this horse. We don't know his story and how much experience he has with horses--clearly, if he didn't have good intentions, he would never have taken in these horses to start with. Also, he's making the attempt to save her life in face of all of the current and future vet bills.

Unfortunately, even with good intentions, our horses are pretty much at the mercy of the enviroment we provide for them. At the first stable I boarded my minis at, the owner got on me all the time about turning my boys out with their halters off. I was (still am!) a novice (it's not quite been a year I've been a horse owner) but I had always heard to NEVER turn out a horse with a halter on unless it was a break-away. Apparently, he did it all the time with no trouble. But that was his choice.

Accidents happen even under the best of circumstances. As horse owners, it's our resposiblity to learn all we can to prevent accidents and provide our horses with a safe enviroment--but things still happen. Was the landlord inexperienced and just didn't know better? Was he experienced and thought things would be okay 'cause he'd had horse in barbed wire before with no injuries? I don't know. For Dolly, yesterday doen't matter...only today and tomorrow. Hindsight is 20/20.

I'm just hoping Dolly has many happy days ahead of her.

 

[Matt73]

I believe she said he, "...turned her out with the other horse he rescued with her". So I'm assuming she wasn't just turned out with strange horses.

 

[jess]

"Horse in a bad situation going into a worse situation, the owner deserves the vet bill, the horse did not deserve to be cut up like that. Sorry but what was he thinking? "

Krissy3 I'm sure you are perfect and have a perfect set up for your horses and have never had one become sick or injured....To make such a statement when you know nothing of the situation is just plain uncalled for and rude...As Matt stated she was turned out with the horse that came with her...These horses were in a 12x14 foot pen together that was filled 4ft high with manure, they have never been vaccinated or seen a ferrier...The man who rescued them is a 65 year old beef farmer who knows nothing of horses other then these were in a terrible situation and he has 50+ acres of pasture..He went to look at some cattle they had for sale and couldn't leave them there...The vet told him the least costly and the best option was to put her down...She will never be a "useable" horse just a pasture pet...Thankfully she is still alive and I believe she will make it...I put this up here as an educational tool to show the damage barbed wire can cause not to have the man who was trying to provide these horses a better home attacked, Yes if this was a perfect world things like this wouldn't happen but he was not being neglectful or intentionaly putting the horse in harms way, he just didn't know and trust me they are in a much better situation now then they were before...My landlord didn't have to give this horse a chance...Even the vet who treated her said a bullet would be a lot cheaper, but he feels bad enough about this that he is doing all he can to save her...If anyone is interested I'll post pictures as she heals.

 

[Minimor]

Please do post photos as she heals--I for one would be interested in hearing how she is doing. I've seen horses--or in some case photos if not the actual horse--of some horses who healed up amazingly well after some serious injury like this so there is always the chance that this horse will heal up better than anyone expects. That looks like one nasty wound though. I'll be hoping for the best for her!

It was kind of a non-horse person to rescue the two horses.

For krissy's information, there are still many, many horses who are kept in barb wire fences, and the majority of those horses are never injured by the wire--in some parts of the country barb wire fences are still the standard. I don't have any barbed wire any more, but I can say that I know many people who will tell you that field fence (or page wire) is the most evil fencing you can use to contain horses--they say it is a disaster waiting to happen and has been responsible for some of the worst injuries they've ever seen. I know horses who have hit high tensile fence & a couple have been badly cut by it, another broke her leg when she hit it....wooden plank or rail fences can break & a horse can impale itself on a jagged end of a broken rail/plank...I know of 3 horses who have become entangled in hot wire fencing & were stuck there for an extended time with the current still on--by the time they were found they were in pretty bad shape, in shock and not far from death...horses thread their legs through pipe fencing or gates & do themselves serious injury....a foot can strike a metal fence & just about have that foot severed by the blow (know a horse that happened to) -- so really nothing is truly safe for horses.

 

[chandab]

Its not cheap, but Schreiners herbal solution is some of the best I've found for healing wounds, I really like it. It can sting a little, but it sure seems to work on some awfully nasty looking wounds. here's their website: http://www.schreiners.com/ You can buy direct or go through other on-line supply companies. They also have testimonial pages on their website to read about the wounds people have used their product on.

I don't have any pictures, but my AQHA gelding nearly cut one of his heel bulbs off a few years ago, I was out of Schreiners at the time, so tried several other products in my first-aid over the course of several weeks, nothing seemed to be working, so I finally remembered Schreiners, ordered some, and saw improvement in about a weeks time. I love the stuff, and try not to be without it. [Then he reinjured the same heel the next summer, got him on the schreiners right away, and with good farrier work the problem area is nearly normal again (keeping him trimmed properly has really helped the area to grow out normally).]

 

[jess]

Updated on first post.

 

[crponies]

I'm glad it is healing up so well! That barbed wire can certainly do some major damage.

 

[ropenride]

The picture links wouldn't work for me, but I can imagine! A trainer I worked for once had a motorcycle spook a horse, who then threw it's rider and ran for home....and right thru a strand of barb wire another land owner had put up to keep the motorcycle riders off his property! Sadly, that horse didn't make it

You and your landlord are both to be applauded, IMO, for giving this horse a fighting chance! In addition to the Schreiners herbal solution, you might try Silver Sulfadiazine Cream, which is a natural antibacterial and also seems to have some pain killer properties. We used it on a filly that cut her hind leg to the bone, and she healed with only a very small scar...it also helped keep the proud flesh down.

Good luck with her!!!! You and she will be in my prayers!

 

[jess]

Dolly is healing better then expected. I'm still cleaning and debriding the wound twice a day and she is no longer on Bute or any pain meds. She's still getting SMZ twice a day but the wound is no longer open under her leg. She has no lasting nerve damage and should have no evidence of her trama other then a scar. I had just finished cleaning her leg and putting Silver Sulfadiazine Cream and Swat on the wound when I took the pictures. I've taken on both her and the Morgan she came with. I'd sold all my horses before moving here but apparently I'm meant to have them in my life. I also got pictures of Dolly's hooves(she had blown out abcesses on both fronts before she came here.) The farrier will be coming out next week as I feel they are now safe enough for him to work around. As I stated before these guys have had nothing at all done with them. They weren't even halter broke. I've adopted mustangs in the past and they had better manners then these two but I've grown attached and feel responsible for them, besides they will both make nice horses. I've included one picture here and a link to several more.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/0903/jesschap/Dolly%20%2005-06-10/

 

[Katiean]

When I was just getting out of High School this ranch in our area put up a few "T" posts and 1 strand of barbed wire. They didn't flag the wire. A neighbor kid went out to ride his dirt bike and never knew what hit him. I don't like barbed wire for animal or human.

 

[Mellis815]

Yes, this is VERY sad...but could have been avoided. Why did he turn a brand new horse out into an area that she was unfamiliar with? Hopefully she heals up well and chalk it up to a learning experience!