August 25, 2014

Update on Dani's Leg

Dani’s leg had a wound with a flap that kept capturing grass pieces so I wasn’t content with just leaving it be and putting vetricyn on it as per advice of other horse people.  There was no way to keep the wound clean.  Called the vet for advice and to see if we needed to have the flap clipped.  We opted to go with sweat wrapping (DMSO and Furazone) and see if the flap either adhered or fell off.  After one wrap it fell off and the wound was looking very good.  After the third sweat wrap we went with a simpler bandage using only a pad with antibiotic ointment, cotton and vet wrap to include the bottom of the hoof bulbs to keep it on better. 


Dani is not an easy patient.  The second sweat wrap found her to be quite ornery with legs aimed to strike.  It was a three person team.  One to hold the good hind leg, another to wrap and another to try and distract her with tiny treats.  I also worked her beforehand, then I would handle her legs and if she did a slight kick off I sent her off again in the round pen.  She’s not lame but I don’t want to push her hard and hurt her but I can’t have her kicking like this.  I’ll have to continue work on this as her getting leg injuries seems to be “her thing” so I need her to be a good girl.

Today the wound looks much better so I decided to go with the original plan if she hadn't had the skin flap.  Spray vetricyn and let it be.  We'll see how it goes and if I'll need to bandage it again.



There is a riding instructor and trainer that N and M work with on Mondays, I may look in sometime and maybe schedule a lesson or two to work on her hind leg issues.  When they are worked with too much she gets fed up and it’s a bit dangerous.  She’s always stiffer when picking her hind legs, sometimes does a little kick out but not to “get you” and you have to wait for her to relax a bit and stretch her leg.  Usually she’s not trying to kick meanly but during this bandage changing situation, she very much was kicking out aggressively!

4 comments:

Camryn said...

Maybe try a chiropractor? Could have a legit pain causing her reluctance. Her wound is looking much better. Good call getting Vet out.

L.Williams said...

Glad she is doing better.Carlos used to kick out his hind legs but he was always stretching as he would hold the legs out until he felt stretched enough.

Christie said...

I don't think it's leg pain aside from when she's had wounds on them. She kicks out even if you just barely touch her leg and eventually relaxes. With treating the wounds she's really bad. I know that can hurt but other horses are good and let you treat them. It's just too dangerous. I'll keep it in mind if working with her doesn't do much. The times I've put a polo wrap on her it's the same thing and I'm not trying to move her leg or applying pressure. She just doesn't like stuff on her legs, even drips of water she kicks out at it!

Terry said...

What a big improvement! Well done, you!