Unlikely Horse Trailer Injury (Graphic)

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. 

As she stepped down, she caught her leg in the cam latch thingy (the one on the right), and it is a nasty- deep wound.  luckily, she was putting weight on it and there was not tendon or bone damage, and she was not limping. We had several pieces of advice on the wound, most of whom determined that stitches would not do so well, and it was better just to maintain. Here it is after irrigating it right after it happened.  We irrigated, used Vetericyn and a salve (Bag Balm), wrapped it over night.

 


 Day 2 - This is what it looked like after we removed the bandage. Again, we irrigated, until it bled again. We let it air dry and this time we used Vetrecyn and Neosporin, then wrapped again. She is being stalled at night and hanging with the horses during the day to stretch it out.

 More updates as we bandage her.  I have never dealt with a severe wound fortunately, so any comments are appreciated!

Here is Day 3:  We did not irrigate today, just sprayed with lots of Vetericyn, and redressed. Planning to irrigate again and give it some time to air out tomorrow (day 4). 

Over the last few days, I have gotten so many various pieces of advice on how to manage this wound. I thought I would share the instructions I have received for anybody interested:
90% say to useVETERICYN!!!

Professional horse trader:  Irrigate ONCE, use blue cream (horseman's dream) and wonder dust, bandage, and change/dress daily.

Vet 1: irrigate, once then, Vetricyn and salve daily keep it bandaged for the first few days

Vet 2: irrigate, neosporin, bandage - check again in 48 hours. irrigate every day, or every other day and switch to vetricyn or underwoods.

Long time horsewoman: Irrigate daily or twice daily depending on depth/size, vetricyn, stay away from wonder dust- bandage and don't stall.

Another long time horsewoman who runs a rescue: Echinacea for antibiotics, and underwoods spray (or vetricyn) bandage- dress and change daily

One thing I looked into about vetericyn. They sell an eye wash, and wound care. The eye wash is a bit cheaper (like $20), while the Wound spray is about $32 at Tractor Supply. I examined the labels of both (as I have purchased both) and look closely at the ingredients and percentages. Am I crazy, or are they exactly the same? The one on the right is eye wash, on the left is wound care.

Update: One week later, the injury looked like this:

A few days later, (pre-irrigation) it is starting to drain. After I irrigated this one, it became very red so I started her on Echinacea (natural antibiotic) and it looked and smelled much better today. 

Day two of being on Echinacea, the wound looks much better, I am still using Vetrycyn daily, but added iodine yesterday and today to ensure any infection doesn't take over. I also hesitantly, used a little bit of wonder dust. I have heard such mixd reviews from very trusted horse people. I was unable to irrigate it today because our water was frozen over, so I figured that anything I could add, would help. She is really starting to hate the Vetrycyn spray sound and feeling.. I hate that my girl has to go through this :-(

UPDATE:

A week and a half in to this and about 5 days of echinacea, the wound looked much better, but it was still very moist. I switched to underwoods and have been using that for 5 days. Today I pulled the scab of (on accident), and put more underwoods on.the wound is about 1/3 of the size that it was. Once I started using underwoods, I stopped irrigating it everyday and it started to look much better.

UPDATE AGAIN:

She healed up PHENOMENALLY! I will post a pic asap, but she had no proud flesh, and hardly any scarring. I think she will have hair back in the next month. 

Texas Horse Forum Link

http://sahorse.boards.net

Horse Camping in Texas (near San Antonio)

Maybe you are looking for your first trailer with living quarters, or perhaps, you like to rough it in a tent, but who cares, you are with your horse camping under the stars and living the dream! So you might be wondering what do you need to bring to be prepared for your first camping trip and what considerations must be taken into account.

Some Considerations:
Where will you be staying? Will they have electrical hookups for your trailer and water (remember you need water for you and your horse, and they drink a lot when they are being worked on the trails)

Places to go in Texas:

Zhan Road, on the beach near Corpus Christie:
Zhan road in Chorpus Christy is the only place (as far as I know) in the area where you can camp with your horses or even ride on the beach. There are two roads that lead to the beach, the first is Zhan road, and the second is just north of Zhan road at the second entrance. The first, Zhan road is north past the large Stripes gas station  about a mile to the right hand sid. Be aware, that this particular entrance requires a $3 parking pass, which lasts all year, but it get packed. Not with horses, but people and dogs. We parked here and although we had a good time, we had several intoxicated people ask to rent our horses. We also were subjected to hearing loud music all night long. Apparently, lots of people camp on the beach in their cars. The benefits to this entrance are that there is a clean port-a-potty and the sand is compact enough to use a 2wd truck and not worry about getting stuck.  Getting in and out isn't a problem.

However, if you have a 4x4 or just a little braver, I would recommend going down to the next entrance as it is much quieter and more private.

Riding: you ca ride about 5 miles north of the main entrance on Zhan road. There is a barrier that you will be unable to cross to let you know that you cannot go ay further. If your horse is brave, he might enjoy a dip in the ocean. It took us about 20 minutes to get them in, but once they did, they had no interest in coming back out. However, it is salt water, and we did lose some equipment to the rust, since our fresh water was limited and we needed it to care for ourselves and the horses, and hoped that rinsing it off when we got home would save it.

What to bring: If you have an outdoor rug, bring it and use it to eliminate some sand from getting in your rig.You will need your own pens, enough water to last humans and horses. There is no water there. We didn't bring enough and ended up having to disconnect and head to Tractor Supply to pick up another 35 gallon tank for the truck and filling it up at Stripes. 50 gallons was not enough for 3 days. Also, you can spread your manure, but must carry out your trash. Also, bring electrolytes in case your horses experience dehydration, and if you have an awning, do your horses a favor and let them hang  out underneath it. It was really hot in the middle of the summer at noon. There is not any shade on the beach.

No Grills
No Water
No electricity
Bathroom available

Hancock Road at Canyon Lake: 
Although you cannot camp here, it is the only place that you can park your rig and take your horse for a spin. Be aware that you cannot drive all the way down to the beach, but instead park in the field area and walk down to the lake. The trails are on the left hand side and they are nicely groomed and maintained, you can ride all the way around to the other beach, but not on the beach. More info can be found at this link

Terrain: You might want to put boots on your horse if you don't have front shoes, but the terrain isn't bad.
What to Bring: Bring your own water, none is available, other than the lake

No Grills
No Water
No electricity
No bathroom

Hill Country Natural Area in Bandera: Rather than re-write, I will provide you with this link on Bandera.

Terrain: It varies, but it is mostly rocky, shoes or boots are recommended.

What to Bring: It depends where you stay, but I always take water as it comes form a well and can be very brown towards the end of the summer.

Campfires allowed when not banned
No water or electricity unless in Chapa
Grills and pens available at most sites

The Happy Horse Hotel in McKinney Roughs outside of Austin (Cedar Creek): 
What a cool place! Rather than re-write, I will provide you with this link on a review of the trails and the Happy Horse Hotel

Terrain: Mostly dirt roads, some rock, you will want shoes on your horse. There is a place to go in the Colorado river with your horse if you want to take him for a swim.

What to bring: Firewood if you are camping at the happy horse hotel. They have a great little fire pit. Their pens are nice 5 panel pens per horse. The outdoor shower there is AWESOME. This is a great place to be spoiled and spoil your horse.

Campfire ring, grill and pens for 2 horses provided

Land Heritiage Institute (LHI): near the Toyota Plant on South San Antonio
They are open for riding the second Saturday of every month, however, you can contact them if you have multiple riders to open on a different weekend. I am not sure how camping works, as I have only been there for a group TETRA trail ride. They have about 16 electric/water hookups, each of which includes one pen, so if you have more than one horse, you will need to bring another pen. There is also a bathroom and shower in one of the buildings that you can use if you don't have living quarters. Here is a review I found on LHI.

Terrain: Sand, I didn't even need boots or shoes, and we had a great ride. What beautiful trails and great places to gallop. The sand is soft, so be careful of holes (and snakes), but what a cool place.

What to Bring: You should be set with everything (except food). You can bring a grill or a fire ring and have a fire, you can also spread your manure. There are not water spots on the trail, but there is a small area where you can go in the Medina river if you are willing to go down a steep slope (we did it with no problem).

Alamo River RV Resort: This is a neat place, but very limited trails. However, it is perfect in the summer because all of the trails are shaded by tall trees. But without electric, it makes it a little uncomfortable to sleep without a fan or AC in the heat of the summer. The horse pens are in shaded areas, and there is a total of two pens only, and they are at two separate campsites. so bring your own pen if you have more than one horse. Here is a review that was written on the Alamo River RV Resort place.
No campfires allowed
No Electricity


Things to bring:
Generator and gas can (if no electricity)
Water tanks, allow for at least 50 gallons for two nights in the summer (if no water available)
portable stove
portable heater if it is going to be chilly
Some places allow for fires