1. Recognizing the wound
As I was bringing Phoenix into his paddock the other morning, I noticed a piece of brown hanging on his lower leg, right above his hoof. With more inspection, I saw that he must have cut himself and that a piece of flesh was dangling on. My horse’s have definitely had cuts before, but not one like this. As I pondered what I should do. I realised I didn’t really know how to dress a horse wound. Looking back now, I see that I had already completed the first step: recognizing the wound.
2. Assess the wound & stop bleeding
My dad is a doctor so naturally I came to him for help. He assessed the wound, which was shallow and not bleeding. Then he removed the piece of flesh, this caused some bleeding. Pressure wasn’t working to stop the bleeding, so we had to cauterize the wound.
Step two was complete, we had assessed the wound. Especially note it’s location and maybe even taken a picture for documentation purposes or to send to your vet. We had also stopped the bleeding.
How to stop the bleeding: Apply pressure to the wound using a lint free cloth, paper towel, or gauze. Hold the pressure for several minutes. If the bleeding doesn’t stop, call your veterinarian.
3. Clean wound & bandage if necessary
Once that was done, there was the question of whether to bandage it or not? We decided that because the wound had been cauterized that bandaging it was necessary to keep the cut arteries from opening back up. We had to go to the store to get horse wrap. *I know we had some in the house, the question was where?* With the help of my father I flushed out the wound using wound care spray and then put some gauze on it and wrapped it in blue camo horse wrap. *Tip: use bright colored wrap so you can see the bandage when the horse is out in the pasture.*
Before you bandage the cut, clean the wound. I used wound care spray to flush out any debris and kill any bacteria. You could use a Betadine or Iodine solution, but make sure to clean the wound with cold water *do not spray water, putting pressure on the wound* before you apply these solutions.
After the wound is clean, you can bandage it if you choose. You will need gauze and horse wrap. Holding the gauze in place, begin wrapping the bandage around the wound. After several wraps, use scissors to cut the wrap and press it down to secure it into place.
To bandage or not to bandage? Whether you bandage the wound or not depends entirely on the wound. Bandages help to keep the wound clean and unirritated, however; in some cases a bandage can put pressure and friction on the wound, drawing out the healing process. In general, bandage wounds below or at the knee/hock. These wounds can get easily irritated by grass and dirt, while higher up wounds stay clearer and tend to heal well on their own thus they don’t need to be bandaged. Also consider the depth of the wound. Shallow wounds will scab over and don’t need bandaging. Deep wounds that penetrate all skin layers do not scab over and are easily infected, so bandage deep wounds.
4. Do I need to call the vet?
The farrier was coming the next day, so we waited to get his opinion. Because of the wound’s location, my farrier didn’t shoe him and recommended that Phoenix not be ridden for awhile. He also suggested removing the bandage in a few days to allow the wound to get oxygen and heal. To keep it clean and healing nicely, I was told to daily: clean it out with wound care spray, apply Vaseline to keep the wound moist & clean, and to apply roll on fly spray around the cut to keep the flies away.
Whether you call the vet or not is entirely up to you. When a joint, ligament, or bone is involved it might be best to call the vet to prevent further damage. Second opinions are always nice; shoot your vet, farrier, or trusted horse friend a pic to see what they think. If you think your horse might need antibiotics or a tetanus shot, call your vet and ask. For me, having a professional opinion and knowing that I am doing the right thing for my horse is comforting.
5. Follow up care
Don’t stop at dressing the wound. Keep an eye on the wound and clean it daily to help promote good healing. Re-bandage the wound as necessary if needed, cleaning the wound out each time before re-wrapping. If you didn’t bandage the wound, clean it out daily and put fly spray around it to keep the flies off it in the summer. Consider putting Vaseline or bag balm on the wound periodically to keep it clean and moist.
Every horse owner will at some point need to know how to dress a wound. Being prepared and knowing what to do when injury does come is important. Remember that each wound is different and that these steps are not all inclusive for every situation. But hopefully this post helped to better prepare you! *Ever had to dress a horse wound? Any wound care tips you would like to share? Let me know in the comments!*
Tails & trails,
Reese