A somewhat surprising way to heal equine wounds
(Disclaimer: I am not a vet and am not giving medical advice, rather just sharing something that has worked for me and my family for 20 plus years)
As I was wondering what to write about this week, I thought maybe taking you through the basic process I used to heal a recent wound on Hope’s belly could be helpful. For the experienced horseman this may be old news but there is one simple and surprisingly effective way to heal relatively mild equine wounds.
Water.
So simple, so clean, and so effective.
This past week I pulled my horse Hope up out of the pasture and I found that she had a large area on her lower belly that was very swollen. Upon further inspection, I realized she had a puncture wound no wider than the tip of my pinky that was apparently causing the inflammation. Someone mentioned that she may need to be cut open to drain it but I decided to go back to a tried and true favorite of mine: hydrotherapy (or hydro for short).
Hydrotherapy for horses can come in many forms including but not limited to underwater treadmills, pools, direct spray etc.
But in its simplest form, using a traditional hose and spray nozzle with adequate water pressure can help keep the wound clean, prevent infection, encourage inflammation reduction and prevent the growth of proud flesh which can be very tricky to deal with.
(To learn more about proud flesh and its effect upon the horse visit https://aaep.org/issue/proud-flesh)
So when I got to work, I went back to a simple regimen of “hydroing” the wound morning and evening for about 30 minutes. This basically entailed keeping a water hose with a medium powered spray nozzle on and around the wound for 30 minutes.
As I repeated this daily, we watched as the wound dissipated and is now in the very final stages of healing.
Brent, one of the barn managers also gave her some “bute” (short for phenylbutazone) to help with inflammation and lessen any associated pain.
Hope has been a sport all the way through and is now in the final stages of healing.
We definitely recommend consulting an equine professional and veterinarian before making any decisions about your horse’s wound care, but in many cases, using hydrotherapy to keep the wound clean and free of proud flesh can be just the thing to help heal minor wounds.
Overall, the equine body has an incredible way of healing itself if given the right opportunities.
Jessica Schwieters