So depressing (warning, graphic horse injury photos)

[Amado]

Moved to far northern Maine (St John Valley) this summer. In the process of having a barn built, and putting in fencing (and it's going MUCH slower than they said it would and winter is coming!) I have had Rico boarded about 25 minutes away in a very large pasture with a run-in shed. Coming from the west, he is not used to the bugs in this area (frankly, neither am I, they are ferocious) and he gets irritated and kicks out at them. Well a week ago Sunday, he kicked out while standing next to the run in shed, and he got it caught on the metal siding and sliced a huge chunk of his heel bulb (medial, right rear foot) off. First day it was hard to stop the bleeding but by day three it had quit, and looked like this:





I got super lucky and have been allowed into the one private barn in the area that has a large clean and dry stall, but it's only available short term, the stall is needed once winter shows up. (And hopefully my little barn will be done by then). There is really nothing that I can do at this point other than keeping it clean (which unfortunately means keeping it wrapped - I have been airing it out at bandage changes, but if he goes anywhere with it uncovered, it immediately is packed with dirt, sand, shavings and manure. I am currently using Vetricyn on it (that's a new thing since I was in practice a million years ago) but I got some on my hands, and it smells like bleach and it STINGS. Some people swear by it. It was suggested by one of the local vets that I try raw honey. Have any of you used honey on wounds like this? I know that proud flesh may be an issue at some point. This is all so distressing! He is, so far fully weight bearing on it and walking sound. (Though he twists the foot funny, and every once in awhile takes a funny step). I can't believe I've gone from "hope I can make my awesome dressage horse a decent Maine trail horse, even though I can't ride in the winter" to "hope my awesome dressage horse doesn't end up as a pasture ornament". Anyway, I've been taking photos, and here is the progression. We are up to day 10. I have a feeling this is going to take forever.

[Chisamba]

Raw honey does work surprisingly well on injuries of that nature. I do think proud flesh could become a problem. I hope it heals fully, and quickly. it is a nasty looking chunk of flesh gone.

[DJR]

I second the raw honey attributes. I used it on my Percheron when he had a large open wound on the medial aspect of his front canon bone. It healed nicely, albeit with some proud flesh (but nothing too terribly bad, and he was sound throughout).

Poor horse! It looks like someone cut it with a scalpel it's so clean-edged. It looks awful but I have a feeling it will heal (heel? haha) well.

[Amado]

Bandage changes are not easy. Hind leg, not so happy horse. I will get some raw honey. I just can't believe this happened. My worst nightmare, I never should have brought him before the barn was done.

[Flight]

Its looking like it's healing really well, and that's great that he's not lame. My sister used honey on her horse that had a massive wound, the only thing was trying to stop her licking it off (horse, not sister!).

[Literiding]

Rather than just plain honey, you might want to consider "sugardine." If you search the web, you'll get a lot of hits on how to make sugardine and it's use. I have a long ago reprint of an American Farriers Journal's article by the famous Burney Chapman about the use of sugardine. In the article he shows injuries far more severe that healed very well. Here it is now available on the Internet:

http://www.soundhooves.com/PDF/_Sugar_dine.pdf

[silk]

Looks like he's missed any major internal structures, shouldn't hinder him in the future!

Get yourself some Manuka honey with a UMF (unique manuka factor) of at LEAST 15 (the higher, the better). It will be 'spency but it is DEFINITELY worth it.

Heel bulbs heal, I've seen several horses who have done similar things and while the heel is always going to be a bit funky, the capacity for healing is amazing.
Keep trimming his feet "the same" as you would if the heel was present. Keep him moving (movement = circulation = healing).

[Niki]

I think it looks good too. I had a horse do similar - but cut down to the cartilage. Vets weren't sure how much damage was done so opted to put a cast on her foot and box for 3 weeks. Pretty much totally healed in that 3 weeks period.

Id go with the honey- though it gets very messy. There is also a product called proud aid that i would recommend. Rather expensive but i found you need very little and its sticks and coats wounds well. Can't remember the main ingredient sorry as i had several friends just go buy that and have success too. Plus no idea if it can be bought out of Aus.
http://www.proud-aid.com.au/

[silk]

Some places do dressings with honey in the gauze - Comvita is one - they are expensive but way less messy.

When my mare had a leg wound I just made up the dressing on a flat surface (gamgee/padding, then gauze/non-stick, then whatever ointment/honey/cream I was using) then slapped it straight on her leg and bandaged it up!

[Anne]

Just want to send healing jingles to Rico and cyber hugs to you, don't beat yourself up, accidents do just happen (much as we wish they wouldn't). It does look like it is starting to heal nicely, but what a bummer. Really good idea to keep progress photos.

[Amado]

Will look into the proud aid, thank you for the suggestion!

I have these pads:


I ordered them right after it happened, but I haven't used them yet because it says on the package not for 3rd degree (completely through the skin) burns, and I figured I would wait to use them til there was a little more epithelium/scar tissue covering the wound. But maybe I should just use them now, I don't know. I used Biozide ointment the first week, but anything with iodine in it is great for killing bacteria, but it can also be toxic to the cells in the body that are trying to heal. I did a some reading when it first happened about honey, And about the Manuka tree honey, and honey from the leptospermum plants that are in those pads I bought - they have beneficial ingredients not found in other honeys). http://www.woundsresearch.com/article/h ... d-dressing.

Last night I went ahead and ordered some Manuka Honey from Amazon (love our prime account, it will be here on Friday). I have been cutting the end off of a Kotex thin pad (which does a good job of absorbing the wound exudate) putting whatever dressing I am using on it (Biozide that first week, now the Vetericyn hydro gel), then putting that on the wound, holding it in place with a light wrap of gauze, then putting cotton over the heel, then wrapping carefully with vet wrap (enough pressure to keep the bandage on and shavings out but not too tight. Then I reinforce the toe with some gorilla tape (that black duct tape that sticks to everything).

One thing I noticed was that the day old bandage smelled bad (like infection) when I was using the Biozide, with the Vetericyn it does not have that strong smell when I unwrap it - though the Vetricyn smells pretty strongly like bleach when you put it on. Yesterday the wound looked different that it had before - a little redder, and the skin around it was kind of white, like you get when you've been in the water too long. So after cleaning it out (I have to do a quick rinse with the hose to get any shavings that have worked there way into the bandage off), I dried the healthy tissues around the wound and put some A&D ointment on the skin and hair around the edges - hopefully that will protect those parts from getting irritated by the wound exudate.

Meanwhile, for the third day this week nobody has shown up to work on the barn, which in my head looks like this:




Designed from this photo I found online:


But at the moment just looks like this:

[KathyK]

What a nasty wound. I'm sorry it happened, but you're doing all the right things and it seems to be healing. I hope it continues to do so without incident, and the those slackers get back to work on your [what will be a] lovely barn.

[StraightForward]

Wow, that looks frightening, but it does seem like it's healing.

Another remedy you might try is Underwood's. It would probably be good for that in particular because you just spray it on multiple times per day, and put baking soda over it, and it forms a crust that protects the wound site from debris and flies. I used it when my mare got a 6" gash in her chest from a kick this spring, and I'm sold and will always keep it on hand. She just has a thin, barely noticeable scar now.

[Tuddy]

Lucas sliced his face open to the bone and I didn't realize it until it was too late to stitch up. I used a product called "Well Horse" on it everyday and left it open. You can not even tell he cut himself it healed so nice.

[khall]

I had a horse run a wood stake into his coronary band, lateral side and had to have it cut out by the vet. His foot looked like that, healed well with little scaring. He was never lame.

Jingles that your guy continues to heal well with no issues and jingles your barn gets built asap!

[KathyK]

Sometimes it seems they're not happy unless they're bleeding.

[Racetrackreject]

Basco had almost the exact same injury, but the flap was still attached and, well, flapping. I had the vet out and he cut off the flap, gave me antibiotics, and said to keep it wrapped for like a week (I think). He said the big worry was infection getting into that piece of cartilage sticking out, so he wanted some cover over it before I left it open.

Basco healed fine, but there is no hair over the wound, just a sort of crusty thick skin that will dry out and bleed sometimes if I don't pay attention to it.

[Moutaineer]

I had a mare do that years ago in a fence.

I fiddled around for ages trying to get it to heal right until the vet cam in and cut the flap off, then it healed fast and clean.

[Amado]

So he was turned out this morning, and when I went to get him, the bandage was up around his fetlock which means I need to do a better job with the duct tape on the bottom! It seems to be getting redder - maybe the blood supply is coming back, I don't know. (Or maybe irritation from all the dirt and sand that I had to wash out of it).



It also looks like some of the frog is going to eventually come off (that big dark space where frog used to be) hopefully it will grow back!



I did end up using one of those medical honey pads - looks like it's totally dissolvable, I was able to peel the square off and stick it to the bandaging material, will be interesting to see if things look any different tomorrow.

The guys did show up to finish a run in shed that I was having built (which was going to house Rico until the barn was done, but I can't use it for that now - it's not dry enough, and I have no place to change a bandage here. It is going to be a tractor/equipment shed now.

[Fatcat]

Panalog cream is great for preventing proud flesh. Your vet can give you some.

[Fatcat]

P.s. Your barn is so cute! Hope your contractors get on the stick.

[kande50]

The guys did show up to finish a run in shed that I was having built (which was going to house Rico until the barn was done, but I can't use it for that now - it's not dry enough, and I have no place to change a bandage here. It is going to be a tractor/equipment shed now.

Could you have a load of gravel put in to raise it up so it would be dry, then put mats on top of the gravel and cross ties in the doorway?

[Amado]

Yes, I could do that, and it might work for a few weeks - But the rest of the paddock, with the rain that we've been having, is a little wet and muddy, so the bandage would be destroyed. And once the weather turns the water is too far away, and no electricity - and everything would freeze. Barn needs to get finished, barn paddock area is going to be pea gravel and has drainage built in underneath.

[Suzon]

Yes, I could do that, and it might work for a few weeks - But the rest of the paddock, with the rain that we've been having, is a little wet and muddy, so the bandage would be destroyed. And once the weather turns the water is too far away, and no electricity - and everything would freeze. Barn needs to get finished, barn paddock area is going to be pea gravel and has drainage built in underneath.

You can try putting old carpet remnants over the fill to keep the mud under control. I'm assuming he's bandaged and stuck in a Davis boot (sorry didn't read the whole thread). The Davis boot would help keep the bandage intact and dry; the carpet would help manage the mud. Just a thought.

[kande50]

The Davis boot would help keep the bandage intact and dry; the carpet would help manage the mud. Just a thought.

The only problem with Davis boots is that they're slippery, even on dry gravel, so if the horse tends to get going in turnout they may set him up for slipping/falling injuries. That, and it looks to me like the boot might rub right where that injury is?

[Amado]

No boot at this point - mostly because of the pressure those boots put on the heel when they fit right. Also because they really don't breath, and because he moves really narrow behind and the one I bought is too round - he will certainly step on the inside edge and cause more problems than it solves. I've been mulling over trying to make a custom one - with leather and a cutout space to keep pressure off the wound. Right now it's a pad, some gauze, a little cotton padding over the heal, then vet wrap and duct tape around the bottom edge of his hoof to keep it from tearing.

Yesterday I put the medi honey on the wound - it didn't smell at all when I took the bandage off, and the wound looked healthier than the day before, however it also seems to have shrunk some of the granulation tissue, which would be a good thing EXCEPT it has now exposed that piece of cartilage to the point that it is sticking out!! Here is what it looked like today:




You can see how far it's sticking out in this photo, I have no idea what to do about that if it doesn't get covered back over. I did not use another medihoney pad again today, I just sprayed some vetericyn on the maxi pad, and rewrapped, and will wait til the Manuka honey in a jar arrives tomorrow and see how that goes. (But these medihoney pads are looking like they would be awesome on any other wound with proud flesh)



Here's what the run-in shed (12' X 16') looks like at this point, don't know when it will be done, nobody here today. I didn't realize how TALL it was going to look in front. (10' in front, 7' in back) But I wanted to make sure it had enough pitch to the roof to not hold onto the 95 inches of snow we are supposed to average up here each winter.

[Chisamba]

i think it looks good after the medi honey, and your shed looks good too, hope its up soon

[Moutaineer]

I had to have specific engineering on my run in sheds to cope with the snow load up here at 7000 feet--roofs have to be reinforced with extra joists, as well as the pitch being correct. Makes everything so darned expensive to build. And yes, mine feel very tall, too!

[Amado]

One more thing, on a happy (or proud) note - though I've worked at a million barns, we've never kept a horse at home, and we had to start from scratch here, we are on a hill - we've never put in fence (except for a little split rail in my garden) - we found a guy selling white cedar poles - the tops of trees, really - about 8 feet in length. $1.50 each! We bought a tractor, and an auger, and we learned to use it (we bent it twice!) anyway - it's not done, but we've put in about 95 posts so far, 9 feet apart, managed to get almost all of them sunk in 3 foot holes, (hit a few big rocks!) figured out how to brace the corners, and I am going with Horseguard electric fencing. Their little instruction manual is kind of confusing (I've never done electric fence before) but they have something called bipolar - which does not need to be grounded - important here, as the ground freezes to 5 or 6 feet in the winter, and regular electric fence won't work. Anyway, I got the first 1 1/2 sides strung that last couple of days, (but only one side with the posts cut to height) and I'm pretty pleased with how it is starting to look. It should look nice and rustic once the posts go grey, and the brown tape will show up well in the snow. Not that Rico will manage to go very far if we actually get a ton of snow.

[Fatcat]

Very nice! Were you previously from oregon? That's going to be quite a change in winter weather for you!

[Kyra's Mom]

Jingles for continued healing. What a bummer but it will heal. Give you an ulcer in the meantime ?

All I have to say is what an idyllic property and view. I'm jealous...and tired of dust.

Susan

[Amado]

Fatcat - we were in NE Oregon, then Montana for a couple of years. (Husband's Montana job didn't work out the way we had hoped, so his new job brought us to Maine). NE Oregon has real winters, like Montana. Below zero temps both places, but not as low as they go here in Maine, and winter lasts a long longer up here. When we moved here in June, the trees were just starting to bud out!

[Fatcat]

Fatcat - we were in NE Oregon, then Montana for a couple of years. (Husband's Montana job didn't work out the way we had hoped, so his new job brought us to Maine). NE Oregon has real winters, like Montana. Below zero temps both places, but not as low as they go here in Maine, and winter lasts a long longer up here. When we moved here in June, the trees were just starting to bud out!

Oh, then you're used to cold and snow. For some reason I thought you were from the valley of mud, I.e.the Willamette valley
I used to work in LaGrande one week a month, and loved it there. And my husbands family is from MT so we know that degree of cold. I love the colder dry climates.

[Amado]

That's where we were - La Grande! Such a beautiful spot. You are right - cold dry is way better than cold wet!

[redsoxluvr]

Funny thing - Vetricyn smells like bleach because that is the primary ingredient. I am not sure if you have seen it in your travels, but consider a human product called Calmoseptine. It was originally used on humans that had feeding tube sores, etc. My gelding was attacked by something 30 days ago today and sustained severe wounds to both his forelegs. He got many stitches and all things considered is lucky to be vertical. I had gone to the human pharmacy looking for wound care supplies and it turned out that the pharmacist is a horse person. She recommended this stuff and it is quite reasonable - less than $6 per tube. It's designed for wet, draining wounds and is excellent on proud flesh.

As an aside, having a wound equally as gory as yours, I recommend using BDM Specialist brand cast padding to cover the wound. It has a somewhat bumpy texture and works well to wick the drainage away from the wound. There are other types, but the Specialist works the best. I put the wound care pad down first, then the cast padding, then vetwrap, then elastikon. Works very well.

Good luck with your horse!

[Chisamba]

I love calmoseptine, but not on open wounds. It is designed to protect the skin from moisture, ie feeding tubes, urine, feces, draining. You do not put it on the wound, you put it on the skin around the wound.

I use it myself for saddle rubs on my bum. We use it at work on our human clients . Its really good stuff but its basucally a medicated moisture barrier.

[Amado]

Day 16, and there is definitely skin/scar/whatever tissue growing up and over the granulation tissue along the bottom and sides, but not so much from the top edge of the wound (not sure why). I've been alternating with the leptospermum honey alginate pads as a dressing, and just the Manuka honey straight out of the jar. Today for the first time I didn't do the quick hose to get the shavings (that manage to work themselves into the bandage no matter what I do) - I just spread some honey on a sterile pad and gently wiped the wound clean with it. (And cleaned the hair around with a paper towel. It is amazing - with the honey on the wound -it doesn't smell AT ALL when I undo the old bandage. (The flies sure like it though - I think one of the photos has a closeup of a fly. Luckily their season is almost over.

[Chisamba]

Definite improvement

[Suzon]

I agree.

[PaulaO]

Where did you get the medicinal honey pads?

[Amado]

Amazon

[Amado]

Day 20 - it really is healing from the bottom up. I lunged him both yesterday and today (he's getting turnout in the mornings on days the weather is good, but is used to being out almost all the time - so he's climbing the walls a bit. He was a total butt-head but he looked fantastic!! Sound!! Yay!! I'm thinking if the wound keeps looking good (I have to lunge with the bandage on to protect it, I do the bandage change after) I will keep working him lightly, and maybe ride a little at the walk. He is a horse that needs a job, or he gets too busy in his brain in a bad way!

This is the honey I am using:

[StraightForward]

Excellent granulation going on there, glad he's sound!

[Amado]

Day 27, definitely getting smaller. This once a day bandage change is starting to get tiresome! Wish he were home, wish my barn were done - it would be so much easier...

[Anne]

Huge improvement over a week ago - great! I'm sure some work is helping it heal - the movement must be good for circulation etc yes?

[wenlips]

I feel your pain Amado. My competition horse sliced his heel open in early July. He was never lame on it but boy did it look ugly. With his injury it was stitches, stall rest, some pretty nasty vet bills, a mysterious swollen tendon, and a wasted summer, but we're finally getting back to work! I wish your boy a speedy recovery!! I agree with everyone it looks great!

[Amado]

5 weeks today since Rico's accident - still wrapping it every day, though if I have time I've been leaving it open For a couple of hours in the afternoon while he is in his stall - then coming back and wrapping it up. Minimal wrap, just a thin kotex pad cut to the shape of the wound, with a thin layer of honey on the pad, a couple wraps of gauze and a couple wraps of vet wrap, then a bunch of gorilla tape on the bottom to keep him from wearing it through. It's really coming along - I can't tell what parts might be growing into hoof and what is just the covering of the bulb of the heel, but whatever t is, it's growing the fastest of everything - from the sides in and the bottom up - it's super thick and strong, almost feels like plastic!

[Chisamba]

Not trying to be worrisome but is that skin or hoof horn growing up? I have seen coronet band injuries where the hoof grows up and literally forms a thing like a goat hirn growing upward off the hoof.

I googled and found nothing so, it must have been a one time thing.

[Amado]

It's not skin coming up from the bottom. there is skin growing in from the top, but not as fast as what is coming up from the bottom and side. Not sure how this will turn out, but the granulation tissue needs to get covered, and that is what seems to be happening, so I'm not worried yet.

[StraightForward]

Thank you for continuing to post photos so we can all see the progression. Sounds like you're giving him wonderful care.