December Case of the Month: A Tricky Situation
Why do horses get themselves into such tricky situations? If you’ve owned a horse long enough, you will find yourself, at some point, scratching your head wondering how on earth did your horse get himself/herself in such trouble? Well, this was the case for Gus’s owner when she witnessed him get himself caught up in some large gauge smooth fencing wire, straddling it. Once he was freed from the wire, she noticed blood dripping from in between his hind legs and some tissue hanging from the fence. The severity of the wound was not determined until Dr Danica came to the farm. After sedation, she discovered that the smooth wire cut very deep between his hind legs from the back of his sheath to his perineum. It was at least 40cm, or 15 inches, at the deepest point between his legs. What was the treatment? Antibiotics, stall rest and daily cleaning. Thankfully Gus was a very good young boy and tolerated the daily scrubbing. In fact, he learned to enjoy it once the healing process got to the ‘itchy’ stage. Miraculously, Gus managed to miss ALL the important structures and he has made a full recovery in three months. Poor decision-making Gus, poor decision-making!
