George Updated 3 Weeks Nov 18th *Graphic*

George had a bad day yesterday and I feel like a really bad horsey mom

I went out to feed them and noticed 2 drops of blood on the ground, figured someone bit Hubba again. Well, I turned around and saw George's buttercup pretty much hanging open. At first I thought he got kicked but then I saw what happened. There used to be a metal gate on the run-in door that I took off since they are free to come and go. I didn't take the hinges off the wooden post thinking that I may need to put the gate back on at some point. The hinges are a homemade jobby consiting of a metal pipe and plates, the gate slides down over the pipe. I never imagined that they would be an issue, big mistake and I should have known better. Somehow George must have come down with his rear end onto the top of the hinge and it punctured his butt muscle. Then he must have jolted forward and ripped it out. Whatever happen it's a freakin mess.

At first it didn't look like I was going to be able to get a vet out (that's a whole other rant) but thank god Trevor could come from Shubie. He was actually on his way to Tatamagouche so it worked out good. So George is now stitched up as best as possible and has to stay quiet for atleast 10 days. So far he's being a good patient, probably too sore to do anything. He and Hubba are out in the front field. There's no shelter but as long as it doesn't rain they can hang out there together. I was up several times last night checking on them and they weren't fussing about being left out.

Here's some before and after stitches pictures. Don't look if you can't handle blood and such...











I don't care if he has a bad scar, I just want it to heal without ripping open again.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor Goerge and poor you i would have freaked, thank god you managed to get a vet out, Now there is a fantastic cream that will work wonders on healing that up, i don't have any but you can google it and order it on line, it is a little expensive but worth every penny, i will look it up now, ohhh my you poor things..... stuff is called Equaide.

TailGaters

Box 16

Aubigny

Manitoba, Canada ROG OCO

1-866-683-6263 (toll free)

email: tailgaters@gninc.ca

This is where i got it and they shipped it straight out to me the same day, and it really is fantastic stuff, in fact i will call them and order some in it is something i should keep on the shelf and joan wants some more too !!!

poor George things happen.. I am sure he is glad he has you for a mom to look after him..

Vet said not to put anything on it but I would like to try something. I wouldn't be able to bandage it though so I'm wondering if I put a cream on it without covering, it might get grass and dirt stuck in it.

I'm supposed to push any fluid out of the little pocket at the bottom daily (he didn;t have a drain in his kit to put in) and I can barely stand to look at it :roll:

He won't take his antibiotics either. It's granules that go in his feed but he's not wanting to eat it, even with molassas poured over it. I'll have to get creative.

Poor George... I'm sure you'll have him all healed up in no time!

As for the meds - not sure if it is possible with what the vet gave you but we dissolve everything in water and administer it in a big syringe just like wormer.

SexyDexy wrote:

He won't take his antibiotics either. It's granules that go in his feed but he's not wanting to eat it, even with molassas poured over it. I'll have to get creative.

Dealer use to be like that too. So for him (spoiled rotten as he was) got an applefritter every meal. It was split into 4 peices, then two hollowed out and the powered meds put in and folded in. Then I would go and give him them at random order so he never knew if it was going to be a good one or a bad one. He never ONCE refused his meds in this form.

Oh my! That must be sore. It is amazing how horses can handle stuff like that. My friend's horse, Sunny, cut his leg when he stepped on a culvert. He did get stitches and we were able to wrap his leg, but what we used to clean the wound was a syringe with saline. You can buy a big bottle of saline from any drug store. I bought it from Walmart. It was about $3 cheaper then the vet clinic. Use a syringe that has a finer tip, but fairly big.

Now to get your horse to take his drugs, I agree with D-Cutch. Get another syringe, this one should have a bigger tip then what you would use to clean the wound. Put you finger on the tip, put some warm water, not too hot but not too cold. This will help the drugs to liquefy. You don't want too much water, cause the more water you have the more stuff you have to get into your horse! In the past I have added warmed molasses to it or a fine apple sauce. Just for taste! I guess that you could buy baby food, something sweet, I never thought of that before! You want it to taste as good as it can, so you can catch him when it is med time! Put the plunger on, a bit and keep you finger on the tip and shake it up. Now be careful when you removed your finger, because it might squirt out some!

You might also want to get some gauze pads, you can buy a pack of 200 for something like $10. Use this to clean, under the wound. You know the stuff that might come out. Just to keep things clean. I have not dealt with a wound that big before, but have seen several horses after they have healed. It is amazing what there body can do! Sometimes they can't stitch a big wound up, and it heals!

Now over the next two weeks, the wound will change alot. You might notice next week, that is is kinda ozzing grossness, but I was told that is part of the healing process. You know if it is really gross it might be infected.

Best of luck with the healing process. Keep up posted. Maybe in a few days take more pictures. I did that with Sunny's leg until he was mostly healed up.

omg rose.. when you called me yesterday and told me it was bad.. I had no idea it was that bad.. geeeeeessssshhhhhhh .. hope the vet will come and check it in a few days.. I don't blame you for not wanting to look at it.. me either.. as far as his meds go.. this is what we do.. are they pill form... I put them in our coffee grinder until powder then mix dose in a bowl with apple sauce and molasses.. and suck it up with a large syringe.. then in it goes like a wormer .. works for me..
OMG A.. good luck with that one.. poor bugger.. (((hugs)))) to both of you.

We had a horse with almost the exact same thing... But it kept getting bigger and bigger and the vets had to keep coming back and taking the dead flaps of skin off.

TONS AND TONS of COD LIVER OIL worked amazing! I wish I had taken pictures.. We thought we were going to end up losing him because it was a good 8 inches or more wide and about 10 inches or more the other way.. It was bad.. And very deep.. But he's all healed up and the hair came back in black.. Our provincial vets also mix up their own ointment, it smells like mint and is a mint green color it works wonders as well. The only two things we used on it.. Long road but worked perfect!

Poor George...nasty injury. I am sure you will give him all the TLC to get him back to his old self. Hopefully it won't scar too badly, if at all. We had a mishap with our roan mare, Ruby this summer, a deep pocketed wound on her side, the size of your hand that couldn't be stitched. We did loads of flushing and trimming dead tissue and it healed without a scar with the exception that her hair grew in darker. Veda also gouched her whole side as a yearling on a round pen latch, very similar to poor George, 64 stitches. She has a scar but no long term problems. I hope this will be George's case too.

Pictures every few days are a good idea as well so you can note improvement. Great idea about syringing the antibiotics .

PS... don't worry, you ARE a great horsey mom, Dexy

Holy, I would have freaked out. It seems that if there is any way possible a horse will find a way to injure them selves and not just a little but major injuries (well at least my horse is like that). Good luck taking care of it looks like the vet did a pretty good job stitching it up considering the depth and size of it.

Hows he doing this morning Dexy ??????

Poor George. They certainly know how to get in trouble. We always syringe our antibotics. That way
you can make sure they get it all. Last thing you want is to have an infection set in. It's a real nasty
cut. I hope he is feeling better real soon.

That is a bad gash, but I am sure it will heal with out too much of a scar.

I have a friend who's horse did the same thing with her hip on a stall latch.

Her injury was a lot more severe than yours and it healed very well. Although she went through skin grafts and surgery on the island. Her main thing was irrigating with water from the Bay of fundy with a garden watering can, every day. It was amazing. Wish I had kept the pictires to show you, but I hadn't. Sorry.

Lots of patience is needed with these things. Good luck and keep us posted.

Good Lord Cindyrelly..........thats one mighty god awful looking thing...........do you remember Abbey having that terrible run in with the standardbred when she ripped her whole pudgy to bits...........I only ever put tea treee oil on that.....5 6 7 times a day....anytime I was passing...........it really honestly worked miracles because it could not be covered due to urination and her tail hanging there........but the other stuff C4B is talking about....the EQUADE is another miracle product...........thistle, bet you just feel like hittting yourself with a tire iron. HUGS TO YOU BOTH

Georgie is a bit better today. The hole that the skin was missing from is covered over now with "goo" so atleast I don't have to look directly at the muscle now . The actual muscles in his leg were seperated and had to be stitched back together.

Unfortunately his antibiotics are not water soluable so I gave him the bute in some pepto bismol (mixed in a syringe). He loves the pepto so much that I put that in the grain with the antibiotics and he ate it. I'm going to scale back the bute a bit though because as soon as it kicked in he decided he felt good enough to run :affraid: . I rather him feel a bit of pain and be quiet than tear around and pull his stitches out.

So far, so good. I'll take some pictures along the way as it heals.

Keep the good vibes coming please.

Good vibes heading your way ............. glad he's feeling a bit better, like you i would have been horrified at him thinking he could run !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but you are an excellent horse mummy you will get him all better.

Good Lord! That is NASTY looking. Poor George. The vet did a great job of stitching it up - you were sure lucky to get hold of him. It seems the critters heal up much quicker and better than we do so hopefully it won't be too long of a road. Keeping it clean is probably going to be your biggest challenge. That and keeping the druggie from running! Keep us updated on his progress. Sending healing vibes your way ...

Ouf, how awful for you guys. We had a horse hit by a car here many years ago. Totalled the car, and sure didn't make the poor horse feel very well.

She had acres of stitches, three layers deep. Drains, IV, antibiotics, handwalking etc. Bless her soul, she pulled through and the scar from the worst injury, where her hip was laid right open, wasn't very noticeable at all.

Ouch, poor George! I think the vet did a decent job with the stitches, he should be healed up in no time. I've never dealt with a horse injury this large but my goats udder was seriously injured in a dog bite accident this summer and it healed up perfectly within a couple of months. Obviously we were unable to wrap it. We left it open to the air and applied an udder cream with mint/TTO once the wound dried a bit. Can you give him injectable antibiotics instead of the pills?

How is the boy doing? I've been thinking about him non-stop. Hope all is well.

Wow I was not expecting that!!!! I read the story first then scrolled down and BAM!!! Poor baby!!! He is lucky to have a good horsey mommy to take care of him....You must have totaly freaked out when you seen this....I would of had a cornary... :get_well_soon_

Hi SD, how are you and George today ?? good vibes are still heading your way !!!!!!

We played musical horses all weekend (out in front field, in the stalls one night then back into the main paddock) but I finally have him and Hubba settled back into the paddock with 1/2 of the run-in. I had to drive metal stakes into the gravel pad top make holes for some posts, which wasn't and easy task, but I was able to get some temporary posts in to seperate the area, 1/2 for George and Hubba and 1/2 for Dex and Prince. Prince is royaly pissed off that he can't get in to harass them :roll: . I know that's how this all happened in the first place, Prince is a pest.

I'm spraying it with TTO/water a few times a day. The vet said it would irritate it but George seems fine. I keep trying to get some pictures but I am so friggen busy with work this past week (figures the week that something like this happens) I'm only home when it's dark. I think I've logged over 1000km's in 3 days

I'll try to get some pictures today before it gets dark. The foaming has seemed to have stopped, that was a sight, but it's still pretty raw looking.