Unlikely trailer injury

[sbwinde]

two days ago my trainer was working with my mare to help her get over her fear of the trailer. We have a trailer with the double bar cam lock. Anyways, as she stepped down, she caught her leg in the cam latch thingy, and it is a nasty- deep wound. Now we are looking into adding a ramp, or a rubber bumper, and some type of cover for the latch.

Here is a link with the same post, but with pictures

I just want to know if anybody else has had a problem with this, and if so, what was their solution. This seems like a horrible design, considering horses spend every day of their lives trying to find ways to hurt themselves.

Any advice on caring for the wound, or how to make the trailer safer are very welcome!! (and any way to get this girl to not HATE the trailer after this…) She is my endurance mare. Trailering is obviously very important for her.

[moving_to_dc]

I love the cam latches for the stability and security, and I have also worried about that exact scenario happening.

I wish manufacturers would make a “cap” you could put on the ends of the latches for loading/unloading.

Maybe pad it with cut-up pool noodles in the meantime? We have pool noodles on all the edges of our slide-outs to make them less deadly when they get run into…

[Bluey]

Here, many step up trailers have a roll of rubber attached to the back, so if a horse missteps they hit the rubber, not the metal there.
With those latches, the rubber is cut away right where those are, so I don’t know if that would help that much, but it may help some.

I have seen horses hard to load with both and also get hurt with ramps as much as with step ups.
Practically all here any more uses step up trailers, you hardly ever see a ramp any more and then mostly because the trailer is built high up and you need one to get the horses up there.
Whatever works best for you, that is what is best to use.

Hope she heals quickly and you can work at loading again.

[Unfforgettable]

When I was pulling a trailer with a cam latch, it had a very thick rubber bumper that covered the whole back edge and stuck out well past the latch, leaving just enough room for the latch to be closed. It wold be really, really difficult for a horse to get a leg near the latch. I know it’s possible to buy the bumpers…you may want to check with trailer places.

[sbwinde]

Thank you all for your replies, I am thinking of ordering this deal http://horse-trailers-for-sale.com/cart/shop/item.aspx?itemid=99

If you can see, it has a metal box that surrounds the rest of the latch too. I didn’t see those on the site, but I imagine I can create something out of the hardware aisle at home depot.

My other option (a bit cheaper) is shipping boots- (or possibly both for super protection)

Ugh… what a mess

[SonnysMom]

Use shipping boots or wraps?

[BEARCAT]

Shipping boots

[merrygoround]

My trailer has a fat rubber lip.

And loading without shipping boots or wraps is grounds for a personal fat lip. :lol:

[SLW]

I’m not a vet but if my horse had that wound caused by metal I would be giving it a tetanus shot.

Probably using shipping or full coverage SMB boots would be the easiest solution for dealing with the latch. Hope the wound heals quickly for you.

[cutter99]

I’m not sure why that trailer does not have a rubber bumper around the cam latch. I have a trailer with cam latches- love them- and my rubber bumper goes around them. I do not use shipping boots and have never had a problem.

[ThirdCharm]

My Sundowner step up has a rubber bumper that goes right up to the edge of the cam latch.

And with a problem shipper/loader I would DEFINITELY use shipping boots (good ones!) and /or wraps.

Jennifer

[My3Sons]

I would use a betadine scrub (not solution), rinse with saline, dry and apply vetricyn. I would stay away from neosporin, bag balm etc…you want it to heal f/the inside out. Maybe ask your vet about a tetanus shot and/or SMZ’s? After scrubbing and medicating I would put a combi roll or even a maxi pad then quilt and standing wrap until it heals.

I use quilts and standing wraps or just polos to ship in!

Hope your mare heals quickly!!

[AKB]

At least in humans, betadine scrub is not supposed to be used on deep wounds, as the detergent in the scrub can slow healing. Dilute betadine solution is fine.

If the horse were mine, I probably would have had the vet out to stitch it. The stitches might have pulled out, but if they stayed in, it would have healed more quickly. If the last tetanus vaccine was done more than 6 months previously, I would have given another tetanus vaccine. I can’t tell the exact location of the wound, but since the horses is sound, the tendons are probably ok. It doesn’t look like any of the wound is near the joint, so that is good. Any possibility of injury to a joint is scary. I would wash the wound and re bandage it daily. Watch carefully for infection.

Horses usually have amazing healing ability. As long as all goes well, it should look amazingly good in a few weeks.

[ThatScaryChick]

Ouch, your poor mare! I hope she heals quickly.

[sbwinde]

Thank you for the advice, the vet advised me that stitches would likely not work very well since there was not much skin to put together. So we irrigated, used vetricyn and bandaged. Day 3, it is looking a lot better. It is interesting how many solutions i have heard

[AKB]

I am glad the wound is looking better.

[chicamuxen1]

http://www.horsetraileraccessorystore.com/trailer_bumpers.htm is another source for bumpers and everything else for horse trailers. I have the RUMBER bumpers on my step-up trailer, they are at the top of the page link above.The RUMBER bumpers are solid rubber, not hollow, and they hold up and last.

chicamuxen

[sbwinde]

Thanks chicamuxen,
I looked at those, but I would still have to find someway to cover that latch. The ones that arent solid can slide around the latch to protect their legs. Thanks for the input! I wonder if the other ones don’t last as long since they arent solid. My other thought was doing something like those metal boxes, or even a rubber flap that drops down when the door is open, and I would just have to tuck it in when closing the door.

[Ghazzu]

Clean it, put on something non-irritating (I’m fond of DermaGel), put on a decent standing wrap with padding and pressure, and only change it every 48 hours, assuming it stays dry.

Resist the temptation to dink with it overmuch.

[JSwan]

Ghazzu - is DermaGel prescription or OTC? I don’t believe I’ve seen it. Thanks.