Hey horsey people!
Recently, my TB gelding that I full lease got a cut from being turned out. I dried up the blood and cleaned his leg off. I put some Equiderma Wound Treatment (the one with calendula) and it seems to be clearing up. His skin is very sensitive, however, and I’m skeptical about continuing to use it. Any suggestions for wound treatment on a sensitive horse with some skin problems? Thanks!
I’ve had great luck with Equaide for small wounds that need to be kept covered. Depending on the size and location, though, keeping it clean with some water or saline, maybe a mild antiseptic and otherwise letting it alone may be enough.
Sometimes mixing too many lotions and potions does more harm than good.
I changed my whole wound protocol after I had a skin cancer removed from the side of my face. I thought you were supposed to let wounds scab up and dry out. No - you are supposed to keep the wound moist and covered so it will heal with minimal scarring. So now if a horse has a small sore or wound I use vasoline (what UAB told me to use on my face) or Aquaphor and keep it bandaged as well as I can.
I have a horse that gets scratches type sores on her lower legs in the summer. I try to keep them wrapped to get them to heal. She is a bad bandage remover and is a huge challenge but Raplast is my friend. If I can keep a bandage on them they heal a lot faster.
My TB’s leg will get warm and puffy with even very minor-looking scratches. I use triple antibiotic cream, or Silver Honey. I may wrap (standing wrap or gauze wrap with vetwrap over it) depending on the wound location and pasture conditions. I still turn him out if he’s not lame, which he never is.
AluShield aerosol is a good product.
My gelding will get cellulitis at the drop of a hat. The vet told me to use triple antibiotic on anything that made him vulnerable, so that’s what I put on every leg scratch.
It’s on a leg and super minor, I wash and spray with the silver stuff.
If more than a scape I cover it with the medical honey crème for humans and keep it moist. Plus give it a spray with silver stuff. Once the silver stuff is gone, I know it’s time to clean and apply meds.
I wash with diluted chlorhexadine, then apply triple antibiotic and wrap, or silver spray if it is staying open.
I really like Equaide . I have used it for years.on all sorts of cuts and old proud flesh. It comes in a small jar with a brush and popsicle stick. I guess it is a sediment. Add a little water and stir. The brush makes it easy to apply exactly where you want it. I stopped using copper sulfate. If you are sloppy it can also eat healthy flesh around the edges…
My horse had a nasty wound on the bridge of his nose. It wasn’t a cut. It looked like something had whacked him. It was about 1/2 x 1 inch rectangle with square corners. I cleaned it up and painted the Equaide on. I didn’t scrub it all off every day, I used a gauze square with chlorhexidine and held it on the wound without rubbing. It softened everything. I cleaned it up with dry gauze but left the heavier areas as is, then covered the entire wound. I think it helps things heal faster. There are a few hairs missing where the scar is.
He had a criss-cross pattern of 4 lines of proud flesh on the back of his left hind pastern. It was there when I bought him in 2001. You can rub proud flesh off down to pink tissue. It doesn’t have nerves. I did it when it occured to me. I was amazed, and so were the farrier and a couple of friends.
What silver spray are you referring to? I see a couple of you mention it.
clean it with water/soap as needed and just keep it covered with vaseline.
I’ll third the Equaid recommendation! I had some nasty wounds last year that I tried everything on - Alushield, DermaGel, an antimicrobial ointment, all sorts of honey/silver stuff. Finally folks + my vet recommended Equaid and after months of slow progress, Equaid took the inflammation down overnight, reduced the budding proud flesh super fast, and the wound looked infinitely happier as it continued to (quickly) heal. It’s great stuff.
If I need to clean a fresh wound, I use diluted chlorhexidine. I use the Absorbine SilverHoney products almost exclusively for wound topicals now - the spray for fresh/open wounds and the cream once the skin has closed over and I’m just trying to grow hair back. The only exception is wounds on the face near the eyes, where I use plain triple antibiotic ointment in case it runs or is rubbed into the eye.
Alushield. Works really well for those lower leg scrapes.
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