Field injury, how to bandage - queasy pic

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Sid these days!
Apr 30, 2010
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Surrey Hills
I arrived in the field on Sunday morning to find Mattie injured. He had tangled with some fence wire, I think.
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I could see at a glance it was beyond me. The emergency vet was with me in 40 minutes, cleaned, bandaged and said he thought there was a good chance of recovery. Although there was damage to tendons and ligaments (as you can see, ew) nothing was severed and as he is just a field ornament anyway it was worth a go.

I explained that Mattie can't be box rested and he said he thought a small paddock would be good enough. So Mattie is in my little school area, bandaged and eating like a horse. He loves his butterscotch-flavoured antibiotics!

Unfortunately although the vet thought his bandage would last 72 hours it is already slipping badly. The wound isn't exposed yet but soon will be. The vet's bandage covered the whole leg below the hock, but can anyone advise me on bandaging this difficult area? I just can't afford to get the vet out every time, it is more than £100 a visit.

All advice gratefully received.

In case you're wondering, Charlie was the culprit - he broke the fence (despite the electricity) to get to fresh grass. And he is completely uninjured! That young man definitely has nine lives. Well, seven now.
 
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Reactions: Kite_Rider and Jessey
I would use lots of wadding/Gamgee and layer it up with cotton wool to make a thick dressing to give it some structure/stability, then go from the fetlock (for a wider area to hold it up) right up over the injury. If that doesn't hold and it doesn't need pressure on it?? I might go and buy some large self adhesive wound dressings and some kinesiology tape to give them some extra hold, obviously you'd need to clip the area pretty well for anything sticky to hold.
 
Jessey said:
I would use lots of wadding/Gamgee and layer it up with cotton wool to make a thick dressing to give it some structure/stability, then go from the fetlock (for a wider area to hold it up) right up over the injury. If that doesn't hold and it doesn't need pressure on it?? I might go and buy some large self adhesive wound dressings and some kinesiology tape to give them some extra hold, obviously you'd need to clip the area pretty well for anything sticky to hold.
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Thanks @Jessey . I was thinking of trying a figure-of-eight around the hock and running it down a bit rather than building up from the fetlock, but I'll see how it goes. Fur is so slippery
 
I have similar with filly when she shredded her legs failing to stop at a fence. you could also put a travel boot on top to hold it on place and loads of vet wrap and even gaffer tape at the top to hold it
 
Jane&Ziggy said:
Thanks @Jessey . I was thinking of trying a figure-of-eight around the hock and running it down a bit rather than building up from the fetlock, but I'll see how it goes. Fur is so slippery
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I have never had much luck with hock bandaging and it can cause problems easily done wrong so tend to avoid it ☺
 
I'd (try!) to put a melonin dressing on the wound and then hold it in place with a soft wrap bandage (https://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/EasiVet-Soft-Bandage/productinfo/SOFTBAND/) down to the fetlock and back. Then gamgee, pulled as tightly as you can with vet wrap on over the top down to the fetlock and if there's enough left I'd try to take it over the hock with a figure of 8 - again keeping the vet wrap taut so you've got a solid dressing. Is there nyone who can give you a hand? You might be a lot capable than me, but I find it so much easier if I've got someone there to pass things to me!

If he's out and moving it's going to be harder to keep it in place. I wonder if a brushing boot fitted over the bandage would give it a bit more support?

I hope he heals up quickly.
 
Oh crikey poor Mattie, poor you to having to deal with it too, no idea on the bandaging but good luck with it and healing vibes for Mattie too x
 
carthorse said:
I'd (try!) to put a melonin dressing on the wound and then hold it in place with a soft wrap bandage (https://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/EasiVet-Soft-Bandage/productinfo/SOFTBAND/) down to the fetlock and back. Then gamgee, pulled as tightly as you can with vet wrap on over the top down to the fetlock and if there's enough left I'd try to take it over the hock with a figure of 8 - again keeping the vet wrap taut so you've got a solid dressing. Is there nyone who can give you a hand? You might be a lot capable than me, but I find it so much easier if I've got someone there to pass things to me!

If he's out and moving it's going to be harder to keep it in place. I wonder if a brushing boot fitted over the bandage would give it a bit more support?

I hope he heals up quickly.
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Very comprehensive, thank you. I don't have any boots alas but will give it my best shot
 
Correctly bandaging a horse is pretty tricky, especially since it really depends on where the horse is injured. It doesn't look like it's swelling too much so just focus on getting it wrapped. If blood seeps through just keep wrapping for now and use a boot or something to hold it in place. There's a great write-up on dressing a wound on https://cowgirlu.org/what-is-the-correct-way-to-bandage-a-horses-wound/ that I've used before, the key is keeping it clean and free of insects/irritation so it doesn't get infected.
 
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