Nicked an Artery!

[Srhorselady]

I’m just coming down from an adrenaline rush! I went out around 6am to throw hay and discovered my 25 year old warmblood had a two foot geyser of blood flying out of a rear leg midway between fetlock and hock! I called Sue my barn help knowing she had diapers in stock and my vet as I rushed to the house for pressure bandage supplies. I had to leave a message for vet. Sue who lives down the street arrived as I got back to the barn. Mariano was calmly munching his hay as Sue and I applied the pressure bandage wondering how tight was too tight. Very messy! Lots of blood! I called vet again and texted too. This time got a quick call back. Vet told us not to worry about tightness since a diaper and it wouldn’t be too long. She questioned me and explained what to do if it bled through. Also told us that not much could be done until clot formed in an hour or two. She would make arrangements for her children and be there. She had her Tech stop by (she lives close by) on her way in to work to check heart rate, blood refill, gums, and bandage tightness. Although I could have done this I felt better having someone else check it. All was good. I finally remembered to halter Mariano so he wouldn’t move around too much. He was still calmly eating his breakfast hay. He is such a good boy! When Vet got here she said he had nicked the artery. Since we had been able to stop bleeding with one pressure bandage it was obviously not severed. A delicate clot had formed and vet was able to clean him up and rebandage. There is a small gash maybe 1 1/2 inch. We couldn’t find anything he had done it on. It was also very recent since there wasn’t an enormous amount of blood. Mariano is now on R and R with antibiotics and inflammatories. There will be swelling and a hematoma to be watched. Also the possibility of infection. I moved him to a smaller stall and cleaned up the one he had been in. Blood soaked bedding and flies. Ugh!! Horses!! I’m lucky it happened when it did so I found him quickly.

[Flight]

Wow, glad you found it in time!

[heddylamar]

Scary!! That's quick thinking. Mariano is a seriously lucky guy.

An incident like that caused my uncle to start carrying a gun when trail riding. He and my aunt ride in very remote areas, so help wasn't coming anytime soon.

[khall]

Wow! Scary! Glad it was not worse and jingles Mariano heals fully and quickly. Makes my heart race just thinking about it!

Srhorselady yeah I could see the need for gun in those circumstances.

[Srhorselady]

Well I’m happy to report that Mariano is doing fine (knock on wood) in his recovery program. Mr sometimes finicky is actually eating the SMZs in his supplements and is cooperating with the banamine. The latter is important since he is tall and I’m short! His leg is thoroughly bandaged and he is confined to a 12 x 24 stall with his fan. No sign of a fever. So far so good. The Vet comes back to check him tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for your well wishes! Good Luck to all of you whose horses are trying to kill themselves! They like to keep us on our toes.

[StraightForward]

What a scary ordeal, glad he made it and is recovering!

[Quelah]

Yikes how scary, glad you kept your head and had good help!

[Srhorselady]

Vet was back out today for Mariano’s recheck. I asked her if he would have bled out if this had happened in the middle of the night. Reassuring answer...unless artery was totally severed it would have eventually clotted. Just messy and LOTS of blood. I found this reassuring. Mariano started being a Bad Boy last night. He spit out two doses of banamine. Luckily I’m good at catching and stuffing back in mouth and smearing on lips. However he got back at me overnight. He lifted a 12 foot metal gate between his stall and turnout off its hinges and left it hanging by its latch and chain. He prefers his 24/7 turnout. So he was waiting in the turnout this morning. At least I was able to confirm that he’s not lame. So I moved him back to his own double stall which has a sturdier gate. The vet is pleased with his leg. There is swelling and a relatively small hematoma as expected. Pressure bandage can come off Sunday and start icing twice daily (water in our hoses is too warm...it’s been 104 degrees F this week). Heat will make reabsorption take longer. Since it’s so warm and he’s not a Day time napper he will only need standing wraps at night. When swelling goes down she wants to X-ray splint bone to make sure it’s not damaged. That will probably be late next week. So all in all it’s good! He can also be turned out now since he’s a lazy warmblood who only strolls around.

[demi]

What a character! Wouldn’t you have loved to watch him lift the gate and turn himself out! He knows his rights

[PaulaO]

OMG. Just reading your post makes me woozy. I’m so glad everything turned out okay.

[Srhorselady]

Mariano is recovering quite well. The leg isn’t bothering him very much! My vet was out on Monday and xrayed the splint bone. Yep it’s broken. It’s what she called an ice cube break with possibly many tiny splinter bone chips. Luckily it’s right in the middle of the bone and not at the apex near the joint. The bone splinters could be future problems if they encapsulate and act as foreign bodies, but we’ll just have to wait and see. We are continuing to ice twice daily, apply lineament, poultice, and hand walk. The swelling has gone down a lot but still no definition around tendons. There is a nasty knot forming at the wound/bone break site as the vet warned there would be. However, he’s shown no sign of lameness and splint bone injuries are almost always strictly cosmetic. The vet has said he can go back to 30 minutes Riding at a walk. However due to our excessive heat this week (seven plus days of 110 to 115 degrees F heat at my house which is usually 5 degrees cooler than the rest of the Valley) no one including me or my trainer is interested in riding much. My goal is to get my morning chores done by 9:30am and limit my other barn chore trips to 30 minutes whenever possible. All of my horses have access to shady stalls and fans, some shade trees, and their turnouts. It’s NOT nice here right now! Also lots of wild fires, luckily none too close. Thanks for all the well wishes. They are greatly appreciated!