Update: His stitches were removed and we were cleared for 2 days of hand walking before sedated medical turn out! The wound is still not closed and draining but it’s much less. He will continue the antibiotics (enrofloxaxin) and daily wrapping forever, I mean until it freaking closes. The vet said we are out of the woods with regards to the joint going septic.
He is a fire breathing dragon. I thought he was really holding it together until he broke a crosstie and bronc’d in his stall. And that was with Trazadone on board and after a grassy walk poor fella.
Really hoping turnout goes safe tomorrow for human and horse. fingers crossed
Well turnout did not go to plan. He ripped around, kicked his wraps off and rolled. The hock was angry, hot and ripped open
We upped the meds and he went out for 4 hours for the past 2 days but the damage was done. The wound is much more open (though no longer hot and swollen)
Why is it always red heads that do this!?! I’ve been in your shoes and it’s rough! My guy had stringhalt surgery with stitches and full wrap like you’re doing. Let me tell you keeping a bandage on during healing was a nightmare. He’d rip the hock bandage off every night. He ended up having an infection once the sutures were removed and the wound dehiscenced. Plus he became allergic to the elasti-tape. It was awful, I was a wreck. Put him back on antibiotics and left the wound open to heal naturally. We wrapped it as much as he allowed (slathered on silver sulfadiazine cream plus non-stick pad the cotton wrap), but we did take the bandages off for hours while someone was around during the day, so he basically was only wrapped over night. It naturally closed over the period of 2 months and he has a very faint scar now. He’s fully recovered and then some with occasional bouts of cellulitis.
Best wishes to you and I hope the rest of recovery remains uneventful.
When my gelding had a deep laceration after being kicked on the outside of his hock earlier this year there were definitely times when it looked better and then worse, it’s such a tricky area for healing since it moves so much. It took three months of hock and stable wraps and small pen turnout (with Ace on board at the beginning) before it had healed enough for big paddock turnout with buddies and eventually, riding.
When the sutures came out it definitely had a couple of weeks of adjustment when it looked significantly worse. So so many rolls of expensive Lightplast! But it did heal slowly and surely. If he’d been on stall rest the whole time it would have healed more quickly but I was worried about how that would affect his brain.
At any rate I can empathize with what you’re going through. It will get better… it just takes forever!
Jingles indeed for your poor boy!! That stinks. I’m sorry.
Well, I can offer a success story if that makes you feel better!
In the fall of 2019, I moved my 3 horses to my parents place for the winter (from where I board during the summer months). About a week goes by and my mom let’s me know that Dexter is limping a little bit. She couldn’t find anything on him so we figured he got kicked by someone, which is bound to happen when reintroducing my horses to my mom’s horses (who they are familiar with). About another week went by and he seemed fine, limp gone.
Then out of the blue again, he is dead lame on his hind leg. Won’t put any weight on it and there’s a very tiny what appears to be scratch on the top of his hock, with some pus oozing out. I was going to my parents place (about a 2 hour drive) anyway so I stopped at our normal equine vet on the way down and got some antibiotics for him (of course, after consulting with vet), and thought we would try this avenue first.
Few more days went by and he’s not getting better. So my mom hauled him to the vet. Turns out, he had the smallest PUNCTURE wound that went straight down into the hock, from the top. And he had a joint infection as a result of the puncture.
Vet gave us several options including hospitalizing him, but we chose the middle-expense road. My mom would haul him in for joint flushes with antibiotics, vet put a drain in, and my mom would take care of his wound at home and feed him more antibiotics. She ended up hauling him three times I think for the joint flushes. We honestly didn’t think he was going to make it. He lost so much weight and was just not doing well.
But bless my mom, she saved his life. He did pull through and you can barely notice his hock looks any different. I did give him the entire year off following that, just pasture turnout, to let the hock do whatever it was gonna do. Now, I inject his hock with a normal steroid cocktail every spring as he does have fusion changes too, but his hock does not bother him in the slightest. I am amazed. Truly.
I actually took him back to barrel racing about a year and a half later, made a couple runs on him. Hock didn’t bother him.
(Unfortunately, he also has navicular and that is NOT doing so well. But his hock is fine!!!)
So I hope your horse will recover just fine with time!!!
He has been unwrapped for a week. There is still a small “bump” directly under the wound. The wound is a small scab.
He has been re-started undersaddle. 1 week 10 minutes walk, second week 20 minutes walk and 5 minutes trot. He feels short behind. Hoping its just from being stuck in and in a small paddock. To get him more turnout he is joining a senior pony on overnight turn out tonight and back in small turnout for the day tomorrow. He’ll asses this for about a week.
Hoping and not hoping for him to join back to his big herd and turnout next week.
He is doing ok mentally but I am really starting to get drained from the what ifs/ set backs/ and worry on if he’ll come sound.
so sorry, I hope this isn’t too much of a setback.
But his hock is fine!!!)
