Horses are so Injury Prone!

[ArrowHBrand]

Oh, I can't believe our luck this year! This week my 2 yr old gelding hooked a gate hinge into his side and when he freaked it literally split the gate post down the middle and dropped the gate. Now he has a hole in his side. This is the same horse that ripped open his coronary band a couple of months ago. This past summer our stallion tore his throat on something and right when it scabbed over he ripped it open again. He also got into something and about ripped his ear off. Luckily for us my wife has her animal science degree and she's able to sew and patch them up. Four years of college is well worth the headache and worry of trying to get a vet out on a short notice.

 

[Jim62]

Tore his throat on "something"?

Got into "something" and about ripped his ear off?

Might be time to do some cleaning up ?

 

[circlet]

just curious is something spooking these horses or has it just been plain old bad luck? makes me wonder about a neighbor's dog or bad pen-mates or something like that...

whatever the reason, good luck to you, we had a gelding step on a nail last winter and we had a tough time making sure that didn't get bad, luckily everything turned out ok, it just delayed getting him under saddle 6 months.

 

[peg4x4]

I swear a horse can find more ways to kill themselfs than a sheep can..!

 

[circlet]

you are sure right peg. along those lines i've always marveled at how tough cows can be and how fragile horses can be. i've come on calves that coyotes have worked over and watched my father-in-law stitch them up with fishing line and the calve pulls through and grows up nice as you please and i've watched horses cut their leg on a piece of barbed wire and that's all she wrote.

 

[Alan]

I have always said if you own a horse you might as well stand there and feed it 1 dollar bills a fast as you can.... that's about what they cost to keep. My 2 yr old stallion just took about 30 stitches to the forehead. Here's his story; I stall all my horses and turn them out during the day during the winter and they are out 24/7 during the spring and fall (mild temps, no shade). While turning out I use a lead around the neck with some, halter others and use a yearling halter on one. As I have done 100 times before I toss the halter in front of the stall of the horse I'll take out after the one I'm leading out with a lead. Yea, this time I tossed the halter and it spooked my stud, he threw up his head and hit the top of the stall door, tore a 4 inch patch of skin from his forehead. It was hanging like a flap in the wind, about 30 stitches and a drain and 14 days of SMZ 960's he's on the mend, but boy was he mad, striking and kicking at any and everything. Lucky I know the Vet well and she was out right away.... drugs were good friend on that day.... for the horse. ;-)

Any horse any day,
Alan

 

[ArrowHBrand]

Tore his throat on "something"?

Got into "something" and about ripped his ear off?

Might be time to do some cleaning up ?

Listen to this fella. He's never been to my place and he's going to judge me by my horses getting injured? I might have one of the cleanest places you will ever see. I love Alan's analogy, just stand there and feed horses $1 bills. We had one get "something" in a nostril and we went out to feed her and her leadside nostril was split in two. It wasn't bleeding and she wasn't freaking out. Ten stitches later she was good as new. That vet did a superb stitch job, when it healed you could hardly tell. People who have had horses for any length of time know how injury prone they are. Circlet gets my nod, horses are so fragile compared to cattle. You could put a horse in a round room and they'd get hurt on a corner!

 

[Jim62]

Well, there sure seems to be "something" out there in the horse pasture.

Not judging at all. It just seems kind of obvious to me.

If you give a 5 year old kid a butcher knife to play with, you'll probably find him to be pretty "injury prone", too.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

Well, there sure seems to be "something" out there in the horse pasture.

Not judging at all. It just seems kind of obvious to me.

If you give a 5 year old kid a butcher knife to play with, you'll probably find him to be pretty "injury prone", too.

Bull. Teach a 5 year old what a knife is for and he can play with it just fine. It's the overprotected pansy-a$$ kids (and horses, in my opinion) that will get hurt. I call it the poodle effect. Street mutt knows the ropes, but Foofoo will get run over the first time out out the door.
It's also related to how much money you have in them. An expensive registered animal will ALWAYS get hurt, sick or die before some ugly old grade thing.

 

[Jim62]

So what you're saying is that we need to teach our animals to not get hurt? So then it will be OK to not be responsible for their well-being? Sorry, it don't work that way. I really don't see what all the excuse-making is all about. We are (supposedly) more intelligent than our animals. It's becoming pretty obvious in this thread that this is definitely not the case.

If you think you can teach a 5 year old how to play with a knife safely, you obviously have no experience with kids, and probably little with livestock.

If animals "get into something" and gut themselves, it's time to get "something" out of their pasture.

 

[pdfangus]

well a lot depends on the animal too.

My mare and my mule are pretty good at protecting themselves.

On the other hand I had an arab mare that would injure herself at any and every opportunity in the same environment.

 

[Just_a_girl]

There's nothing in the pasture with my horses, but a pond and several trees. Darn if they don't get snagged or cut on the branches of those trees in the pasture.

Any suggestions on how to get those trees out of the pastures so my horses will stop hurting themselves on them? :roll:

This is silly that this post turned in to an argument, it could of been approched in another way.

You can't keep an animal from doing harmful things, all you can do is try your best to prevent it.
A horse can do damage to their eye just eating hay. Rip a nostril on the smallest object they find. Gash themselves while rubbing or pawing on posts, fencing, gates, or whatever they can find. :?
There doesn't have to be stuff laying about for horse to get in to, they will find something to get in to. And, don't forget what they do to each other while in pecking order or just playing around.

Hippie,
You are so right with your post. I also believe that having an overly pampered horse is not good.....it just causes too many problems.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

So what you're saying is that we need to teach our animals to not get hurt?

Yes, in a way. Experience is one of the best teachers. Animals that have experience with hazards tend to know how to get around them better than pampered pets.

So then it will be OK to not be responsible for their well-being?

No you would still be responsible for their well-being. I'm saying you can get obsessive about protecting things and safety. Reasonable is more what I advocate. Yes clean up the loose fencing, ladders, etc. No don't install padding on the corrals.

If you think you can teach a 5 year old how to play with a knife safely, you obviously have no experience with kids, and probably little with livestock.

Got three grown kids and have been on this place (~150 to 200 head) for 22 years full time. But then not teaching kids how to behave safely around dangerous situations is a much better way to raise them, eh? I didn't say teach a 5 year old how to play with knives. I said teach them ABOUT knives and they could play with them safely. I am not sure if you can grasp the difference, but there is one. You can't protect children from everything, but you CAN teach them caution and care.

Animals can learn too. Check out any junkyard horse. Now put some fancy overpriced show animal in the same situation. Same with kids, poodles, livestock. Common sense can be learned.

If animals "get into something" and gut themselves, it's time to get "something" out of their pasture.

Depends on what that is - I completely agree for some junk, maybe not for something that is just a freak situation. It really isn't practical to build padded rooms for horses - and knowing some, they would still hurt themselves.

 

[Jim62]

OK. You win. Take care of your horses however you want to, or not at all. I'll keep doing my best to keep mine from hurting themselves..... :tiphat:

 

[Alan]

Any horse, any day.

Alan

 

[ArrowHBrand]

It's sad that a simple post of statement of fact turned into an arguement about caring for horses. I don't pamper my horses they are turned out all year long to learn to be horses. I don't stall them and only bring them in when we get any type of freezing or wet weather in the winter. Jim62 right now my horses are up in lots around the barn for the winter. Other than wood fence and a hay feeder there isn't anything in their lot for them to get hurt on, but sure enough our stallion did get hurt and so did our gelding. I don't know what it was I wasn't there and haven't found any blood or hair on anything to help me find that "something" they got hurt on. We have a decent investment wrapped up in our horses, all horse people do when you consider tack, feed, and especially your time involved with their care and training. We do our best to keep them safe and injury free, but things happen. Just_a_girl is right we have pastures the same way. Last summer we went out and gathered a couple of mares on a Tuesday to clip them for a show. We let them back out and when I went and got my mare on Thursday she had cuts on two of her fee right above her heel bulbs. I don't know what she cut herself on, my guess is a stray strand of barbed wire, but danged if I can't find it. I'll bet she will again this summer, though. When horses hurt themselves it's not that the owner is irresponsible, it's just the curious nature of horses that tend to get themselves in trouble. What it comes down to is not to jump off and judge before knowing the whole story. :cboy:

 

[kerley]

We have owned horses most of our lives. We always do all we possibly can to feed, care for and protect our animals. One thing we have learned is if you own animals long enough, you and your horse are going to get injured, whether it be negligence or ignorance. Sh#t Happens. :cboy:

 

[turn&burn92]

Nicely put! Horses eventually hurt themselves at one point or another. It doesn't always have to be because of lousy care.
Sometimes it is but alot of times it is pure accident. I know from having horses all my life that crap happens and sometimes nothing can be done. Nuff said on my part.

 

[FTJ]

Hello to everyone , Question my friend has a horse that is wild in a way. Takes time to cathch her, I am worried about a wound the mare has on her lower chin. It now has a bubble 2- 3 in wide and always has something leaking out of it. They said she rubbs it on the fence, but I think she mite have a bad tooth. But they said she eats good and she looks to me she has a healthy weight, she is also pregnant due I beleive any day. They bought her with this problem and it has never gone away. What could it be.
Thanks

 

[turn&burn92]

Possibly an abcess. It probably needs to be lanced and abroadspectrum anti-biotics follow up. I would definantly call a vet, just to be sure.