Wither wound... How to bandage?

[cyberbay]

If such a thing is even possible?

My elderly gelding has a blanket rub right on the top of his wither. He needs to wear a blanket b/c of age and cold and windy weather. We try to remove it as often as conditions allow.

So far, in order to keep the wound from further chafing, I have stacked and ‘tented’ baby diapers over the wither, and duct-taped them into place. The diapers seem to provide protection.

The problem? The diapers aren’t staying in place. As you’ve probably instantly imagined, they don’t stay secured. I think the system would work just fine, if I could just find a way to secure them for real. But within a few hours of the horse moving, rolling, going outside or doing anything a horse does naturally, they’re toast.

So, does anyone have a successful way of bandaging the wither area that can also cope with the extra challenge of a blanket?

Thank you… for anything and everything!

[IPEsq]

Tape it to the blanket not the horse?

[Foxglove]

I think I would try modifying the blanket to keep it off the area —if you have an old or inexpensive blanket, try cutting out a U shape of the part that rests on the rub area. Sew heavy elastic on the front to “bridge” over the neck --kind of like how an English breast collar fits --in front of the saddle, sometimes even resting on the mane. The part of the blanket that rubbed would now be gone --leaving the rubbed area exposed --maybe not what you want but that would allow for healing.

A second idea would be to take fleece sheepskin and sew it on to the inside of the blanket --but only if that part stays dry. You don’t want wet sheepskin on the wound.

A third alternative might be to use a shoulder guard, and again, sew fleece directly over where the wound is.

FYI when we rode distance, we put Vaseline on our girths where they might rub —don’t know if that would help heal, but it seemed to work to prevent.

[Toblersmom]

Without seeing the specific wound it’s a little hard to guess what might be appropriate. Couple thoughts from challenging bandage areas I’ve seen applied (in no particular order):
-shave the coat down to skin (like, use a razor) next to the wound and put Tegaderm on it (after cleaning, of course).
-tape the padding (sanitary napkins or similar might be less likely to bulk up and catch than diapers, maybe??) down all the way around, ideally also on skin, not hair.
-sticky tape (Elastikon usually stickier than duct tape, YMMV) as a complete belly band all the way around, going far enough up that the front edge of the belly band is well ahead of the front edge of the blanket so it’s not constantly catching and picking off the leading edge of tape. Starting from the back and moving up is also going to give an armadillo-plate orientation to the tape edges that are less likely to catch.
-get and use a blanket that fits better. If this one fits poorly enough it rubbed a bandage-worthy injury, it’s going to keep rubbing, all the worse with bulky bandage material
-if it’s more than just a scrape, get your vet on board for advice and treatment. Bad wither wounds can be boogers to heal since they have poor drainage; if it’s bad enough he might need to go in a tie stall for a bit so he can’t lay down and roll, or might need a tie-on dressing (the vet puts loops of suture near the wound to act as anchors so that bandage material can be secured by tying it to the anchors)

[cyberbay]

Thanks, everyone.

• We did try taping it to the blanket. It didn’t hold either.
• I hear what you’re saying about creating an open area over the wound. Need to find someone with the tools to make that modification… and maybe even be able to restore the blanket once this crisis is over.

[Potato]

Could you stitch padding on either side of the rub into a shoulder guard that goes under the blanket? Maybe that would get the blanket up off the wound.

Does the blanket fit the horse? I’d imagine getting a properly fitting blanket may be the best long term solution. Good luck!

[Kyrabee]

What about getting a couple Bossy’s Bib’s? They should prevent further rubbing and with two, you can throw one in the washer daily to remove any drainage/dirt. They work great for “floating” the blanket above the skin. You might be able to stitch padding on either side of the top to actually lift it off the withers. Easier to alter than the blanket.

Susan

[beowulf]

@IPEsq

Tape it to the blanket not the horse?

This. I had to get creative when I had a gelding get a puncture injury to the top of his hip. He needed it covered, but we couldn’t really wrap that area. Solution was to duct-tape down the back of a blanket where the wound was, and then apply/tape gauze to that area - changing daily.

Is it possible you can find a different cut of blanket in the mean time? Rubs happen, but usually finding the right cut will help. Some blankets come with shoulder gussets stitched together, that you can cut open - these usually help alleviate pressure around the shoulders and withers.

Another short term fix would be getting a lycra shoulder guard.

[Scribbler]

I would switch out the blanket first since different blankets gave very different stress points on any given horse. In particular a higher or lower neck configuration might help.

Then I would try to figure out how to lift the blanket off the injury. Could you rig up some basically donut shaped foam or padding to fasten to the inside blanket that lifts it up?

[Milocalwinnings]

I had to bandage a similar wound last year and I ended up sewing those padded no-bow wraps to the inside of a sleezy, and having him wear that. Worked very well.

[BayBondGirl]

I bought a ~3" thick foam pad, cut chunks into rectangles and glued them to the underside of an elastic shoulder guard to lift the blanket (and shoulder guard) up off the wither. That was a nasty, long period of time that I do not miss!

[Marla_100]

Your blanket may be too tight or poorly fitted to try to insert padding but I’ve had success in padding beside a wound by

using kitchen sponges. Can glue several together for additional height. Then glue or hand sew the sponges beside the

wound area onto the blanket.

Personally I’d get a better fitting new blanket.

[Cocorona]

Didn’t read all the responses but my first thought was…maxi pad. Sterile and you can stick it to the inside of the blanket to prevent more rubs/replace daily.

[2DogsFarm]

Many, many (20+) years ago friend had to cover a bad rub on top TB’s withers.
She bought karaya gel pads (used on ostomy sites) placed directly on the wound.
Wish I could remember what she used on top of that - maybe gauze 4X4?

That combined with the ideas about raising the blanket off the site could help.

[Twisting]

Might try a shoulder sleezy. The lycra things. Use the diaper or pad, then put the sleezy over it then the blanket. The blanket will slide smoothly over the sleezy without irritating the skin or disturbing the diaper and the sleezy’s snugness will help hold the diaper in place. When the wound heals the sleezy can still be used to prevent further rubs.

[Postandrails]

It sounds like you are only trying to avoid further rubbing, rather than dressing a wound. Is that right?

The easiest way to tent the blanket is to use a couple of the big car wash sponges and attaching them to the blanket by covering them with a scrap of fabric and hand sewing that fabric to the blanket lining. Make sure you squish them into place so they don’t slip down, and use a slippery fabric like satin.

[HungarianHippo]

Yeah, agree with the ideas of lifting the blanket. Also maybe try a high-neck style, so there’s not a blanket edge right on the wither

[DownYonder]

Have you tried using large moleskin patches? These worked really well for my horse when he got a bad friction rub from the saddle pad. We initially couldn’t find any method that would protect that spot and I ended up having to give him about 3 weeks off so the rub could start to heal, and then couldn’t do sitting trot for another month or so. I finally found large moleskin patches at CVS that have adhesive on one side and stuck it to the underside of the pad at the appropriate spot. I still had to be careful about sitting trot for a few weeks but the moleskin did a good job of minimizing the friction from the saddle pad.

[DownYonder]

Jeez - I had written out a post but it was unapproved (I assume because I had used the name of the drugstore chain where I found the moleskin I used to resolve a similar issue).

Second attempt.

Have you tried moleskin? It was the only thing we could find that worked to resolved recurring friction rubs on my horse’s withers. His rubs occurred every spring/summer when his body shape changed and the seam of the saddle pad would rub at one particular spot on the “rise” of his withers. The rubs would get raw and bleed no matter what we tried. I ended up having to give him about 3 weeks off the first year so it could start to heal and then couldn’t do sitting trot for another month or so. By then the saddle fitter had been there and the spot was healing so we were good to go for that year. He developed a rub at the same spot the next year and I finally found large moleskin patches with adhesive on one side. I applied a patch to the underside of his saddle pad at the appropriate spot and although I still had to be careful (no sitting trot for a few weeks), it protected the spot enough for it to heal.

[merrygoround]

Buy a 1’ thick or thicker piece of felt. Cut out a piece the size the wound Put under the blanket , . It needs to be big, long enough to secure with a surcingle.

As alternative stitch to blanket with huge upholstery needle.