A few weeks ago, my friend called me out of the blue. I thought it was odd since she usually texts. When I picked up, I knew instantly something was wrong. Her daughter’s horse had lain down to roll, but when she got up, she didn’t shake. That was the first red flag. And when she tried to lay down again to roll, she realized that the horse was colicking.

My friend is still relatively new to horse ownership, so she wasn’t sure what to do. Being a few hours away, I couldn’t be there to help, but I told her to keep the horse up and walking, and call the veterinarian. Thankfully, her horse came out of it, and they got some pretty funny videos of her after the vet administered some medication that made her woozy. She fell asleep standing up and snored with her tongue hanging out!

That ordeal made me realize that my own horse first aid kit needed to be upgraded. We had some basics, but it wasn’t complete. I started researching the most essential items, but also found some things I would have never thought of that could come in handy during an emergency. 

Below, find a list of items to keep in your horse first aid kit, broken down by different needs and circumstances. 

Horse First Aid Kit: Emergency & General Care

Horses are hardy animals, but more often than not, they manage to get themselves into some kind of scrape. While many injuries and illnesses can be treated at home, having the right tools on hand is essential. Here’s a list of emergency and general first aid items to keep stocked in both your barn and trailer.

Items Needed:

• Stethoscope: To check heart rate and gut sounds
• Gloves (disposable latex or nitrile): For clean handling of wounds and medications
• Twitch or sedation alternative: If handling an injured horse
• Headlamp or flashlight: For emergencies in low light
• Thermometer: To check temperature
• Syringes: To administer meds
• Needles: For injections
• Electrolyte paste or powder: To help with dehydration recovery
• Activated charcoal or Bio-Sponge: For toxin ingestion concerns
• Notebook or first aid log: To track treatments and vital signs
• Vet & emergency contact list: In case of urgent care needs

Horse First Aid Kit: Pain & Inflammation Management

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), colic is the most common cause of death in horses that are 1 to 20 years of age and the second most common cause of death for horses older than 20 years of age (USDA APHIS NAHMS 2015). Flunixin meglumine, often known under the name brand name “Banamine,” is a common NSAID used for equine inflammation and pain associated with injuries, but it’s also used to alleviate pain from colic. However, it is highly encouraged to only administer Banamine with a vet’s permission—or, better yet, by the vet themselves.

Phenylbutazone (more commonly known as “bute”) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) are also common NSAIDs, mainly for joint swelling and injuries, but they’re not great for colic. In fact, if DMSO is administered incorrectly, it can actually cause signs of colic in some horses.

Dormosedan Gel (frequently nicknamed “Dorm gel”) is another good addition. This is an oral sedative for calming a panicked or uncooperative horse in stressful situations.

Be sure to talk with your vet about directions for use and follow all medication guidelines. 

Items Needed:

• Bute: Pain relief, anti-inflammatory
• DMSO: Anti-inflammatory
• Dorm gel: Oral sedative
• Topical cooling gel or liniment: For muscle soreness

Horse First Aid Kit: Wound Care & Bandaging

If you are treating a wound, it’s important to inspect the wound for depth and infection. If the wound is too deep, it can lead to an abscess and it will require a call to the vet. Wounds on the eye also warrant an immediate call to the vet. 

When cleaning a wound, remove debris and wash with soap and water if possible. Avoid hydrogen peroxide or alcohol on open wounds as they can delay healing. Instead, use wound spray or antibiotic ointment.

Items Needed:

• Non-stick gauze: For wrapping wounds
• Cling gauze: Secures dressings without adhesive
• Gauze pads: Absorbs wound fluids
• Vet wrap: Self-adhesive bandage
• Elastikon: Strong adhesive tape
• Bandage scissors: For careful cutting of bandaging items
• Cast padding: Prevents pressure sores
• Duct tape: Secures hoof wraps
• Absorbine Silver Honey®: Antimicrobial wound care
• Triple antibiotic: Prevents infections
• Wound spray: Disinfects wounds
• Saline solution: Flushes wounds/eyes
• Hydrogen peroxide (3%): For cleaning tools, but not recommended for wounds
• Betadine (povidone-iodine solution or scrub): Antiseptic for cleaning wounds
• Cold packs or instant ice packs: For swelling and injuries

Horse First Aid Kit: Hoof Care

If your horse suddenly starts limping, chances are it’s a hoof abscess. Check for heat, swelling, tenderness, or drainage from the hoof. Treating an abscess often involves soaking the hoof in warm Epsom salt water or applying a poultice to draw out the infection. Wrapping the hoof or using a boot helps keep it clean and protected.

Items Needed:

• Bandaging items: See above
• Duct tape: Secures hoof wraps
• Soaking boot: Easy way to soak a hoof and keep out debris
• Epsom salt: Soaks abscesses and reduces swelling
• Animalintex: Poultice pad for infections
• Green poultice: Cooling clay poultice
• Magic Cushion®: Hoof packing for pain relief
• Hoof pick: To check for lodged objects and clean the hoof
• Diapers or sanitary pads: Great for hoof abscess wraps
• Soft-Ride Boots or hoof boots: If dealing with a hoof injury

Talk With Your Vet

Be sure to talk with your veterinarian about your first aid kit. They can recommend additional items tailored to your horse’s specific needs, explain best practices for administering medications and treating injuries, and may even offer pre-made first aid kits.

Emergencies and injuries are inevitable, but having a well-stocked equine first aid kit can make all the difference. Acting quickly gives your horse the best chance at a full recovery. While some situations will still require a vet, being prepared allows you to stabilize your horse until help arrives. When the unexpected happens, you’ll be glad you took the time to get ready.

The post Horse First Aid Kit: 25+ Items Every Horse Owner Needs appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

It was two days after the 4th of July when I decided to take my horse Milagro for a ride alone on the trail. We live in an equestrian community with well-groomed bridle paths, and I planned to have him out for about an hour. We were only about half a block from home when it happened.

I heard a car coming down the street we had just turned off. One minute I heard the motor, and the next minute, a loud pop. Someone had thrown a firecracker out of the car window in our direction.

Milagro is solid on the trail—he’s my North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC) competitive trail horse—but firecrackers are his nemesis. He bolted in terror, racing up the trail at a mad gallop, away from the sound.

In an effort to stop him, I turned his head and pushed him with my leg into a tight circle. But the bridle path that once seemed wide and safe was not big enough for a terrified, runaway horse.

As I turned him, his back hoof landed on the sloped driveway of one of the homes adjacent to the trail. I felt his back end going down. He scrambled and got his feet under him, but not before he let out a horrible scream.

I jumped off and examined his back legs. I didn’t see anything obvious, even as I led him home. His adrenaline was racing, and he was practically dragging me.

An hour later in his paddock, he had calmed down. It was then that I noticed he was dragging his left hind toe. I called out the vet, who examined him by lifting the affected leg and stretching it out behind him. Instead of bending at the hock, the leg extended straight out in a way that turned my stomach.

“He’s got a rupture of the peroneus tertius tendon,” my veterinarian said.

How Tendon Injuries Happen

Tendon injuries can occur in two ways: through chronic overuse, or through trauma. Because horses’ legs are made up of a number of tendons, they are prone to stress and injury.

“Tendon injuries result from sudden tears or ruptures from a single overloading event, or chronic strains from overuse,” says Annette McCoy, DVM, M.S., Ph.D., Dipl. ACVS, associate professor of Equine Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

“The former are usually recognized right away after an athletic episode, and usually have the hallmarks of heat, focal pain when touched, and obvious swelling,” she explains. “The latter can result in low-grade chronic lameness that can be difficult to diagnose.”

The most commonly injured tendons and collateral ligaments that support joint stability in non-racing horses are the suspensory ligament, deep digital flexor tendon, the check ligament and the superficial digital flexor tendon, according to Jennifer G. Barrett, DVM, Ph.D., DACVS-LA, DACVSMR-EQ, Theodora Ayer Randolph professor of Equine Surgery at Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center at the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

Varied Treatment of Tendon Injuries

The way a tendon injury is handled right after it’s discovered can make a big difference in the ultimate outcome.

“Right after an injury happens, we are trying to combat inflammation and swelling,” says McCoy. “This is accomplished with a combination of cold therapy like icing or cold-hosing, compression with bandaging, systemic medications like a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug [NSAID] such as phenylbutazone [bute], and stall rest.”

Although scarring of the tendon as it heals cannot be prevented, making the scar tissue as functional as possible is the goal.

“Controlled exercise in a rehabilitation program helps us to do that,” says McCoy. “Periodic re-evaluation with ultrasound helps us determine the healing progress. A rehab program might need to be altered, depending on how the tendon is healing.”

A number of adjunct therapies can also be used to help tendons heal, including extracorporeal shock-wave therapy, therapeutic ultrasound, and low-level laser and magnetic therapy, although not all of these therapies have been studied in clinical research.

“Biological therapies such as platelet rich plasma [PRP], autologous conditioned serum, and mesenchymal stem cells injected directly into a tendon injury under ultrasound guidance have shown some promise at either speeding healing, improving the quality of the healed tissue, or helping to reduce the incidence of re-injury,” says McCoy.

“More work is needed to understand exactly how these treatments work, and what injuries are best addressed by using them,” she adds. “This is a very active area of ongoing research.”

There are some tendon and ligament injuries that can benefit from surgical treatment, according to Barrett.

“Examples include the suspensory ligament in hind limbs, the deep digital flexor tendon, and superficial digital flexor tendon when they are injured in a tendon sheath or bursa,” she says.

Slow Recovery

When a horse injures a tendon, the issue can require a temporary layup or permanent retirement.

“Prognosis is entirely dependent on the severity and location of the injury, but typically ranges from fair to guarded for future athletic use,” says McCoy. “An owner should expect that their horse will be out of full work for nine to 12 months while the injury heals. Unfortunately, horses that have had a tendon injury are highly prone to re-injury.”

The way the layup and rehabilitation are handled can make a huge difference in whether the horse is able to return to his previous activity.

“The hardest thing for owners to understand is that healing takes a very long time for tendons and ligaments,” says Barrett. “Humans can rest by taking the weight off the limb completely. This is not possible for horses, so we rely on reducing exercise as much as possible during healing.”

Stall rest is the best we can do to limit trotting and overuse of a healing tendon, but stall rest is hard for owners, and is often seen as hard for horses too, according to Barrett.

“The same way you need to be on crutches to heal a tendon, horses need stall rest and very controlled exercise once your veterinarian determines it appropriate,” she says. “All of the difficult and expensive care your veterinarian provides [might] be wasted if the exercise recommendations are not followed.”

The length of stall rest and the limited exercise needed to help the horse recover depends on the injury. Extensive stall rest is usually prescribed early in recovery, with a gradual return to gentle exercise as the tendon heals.

“Early loading—exercise—of the tissue is the most essential aspect of healing, but we can’t load too much, otherwise it breaks again,” says Henk Offereins, DVM, of equinetendon.com, an Ireland-based equine management service specializing in the area of tendon injuries. “Getting that balance right [is the difference between] success and failure in rehabilitation.”

Update on Milagro

Milagro made a full recovery after rupturing his peroneus tertius tendon, but only after a one-year layup that required three straight months of stall rest with physical therapy on the affected leg. He eventually graduated to hand-walking, slowly building up the amount of time he could be walked over a period of months.

Today, he is back to trail riding around our community as well as competing in NATRC events. He is so sound these days, I often forget he ever suffered this horrible injury. I believe the long layup and following my veterinarian’s instructions on rehabilitation made all the difference.

Key Takeaway

Tendon injuries are as complicated as equine injuries come—and certainly time-consuming to recover from. Understanding treatment options and the recovery timeframe can help horse owners and caretakers to better manage any future tendon injuries.

Further Reading:
◆ Managing Horses with Tendon and Ligament Issues
◆ Taking Care of Your Horse’s Tendons

This article about equine tendon injuries appeared in the April 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Treatment of Equine Tendon Injuries appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Your first instinct when you see a foreign object sticking out of your horse is to pull it out immediately, but veterinarians warn, “Wait, not so fast!”

Treat a Puncture Wound as an Emergency

“An injury with an embedded object is an emergency and must be seen that day,” says Sam Crosby, DVM, whose equine veterinary practice is based in Arcadia, Okla.

Crosby has treated many horses injured in tornadoes with all manner of embedded objects, including wood, glass, small rocks, tree branches and fencing pipe. He says one of the most unusual foreign object puncture wounds he’s seen was sustained by a horse rolling on a deer antler in the pasture.

Use Technology First

Immediately take a close-up photo of the injury with your phone. Call your veterinarian and text the photo so they can quickly assess the injury.

“Get photos, call your veterinarian and have them assess it,” says Woodrow Friend, DVM, who has been a veterinarian with Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., for 20 years. “In some instances, they may say, ‘Go ahead and pull it out,’ but let them assess it. Telemedicine has changed how I do things. I get a lot of FaceTime videos, and it’s easier for me to triage these injuries.”

Of course, if you live in a very remote area and you can’t get a veterinarian out for days, this changes things.

“You could end up doing FaceTime with a veterinarian and they can give you advice on what to do,” recommends Friend.

Don’t Give Drugs Before.the Veterinarian

Do your best to restrain the horse and keep him still and calm to avoid further injury, but don’t administer any drugs while waiting for the veterinarian.

“Acepromazine is a common sedative that many people have on hand, but don’t give the horse any drugs,” says Crosby. “Ace causes blood vessels to dilate, and in stress situations, this decreases blood pressure and can cause the horse to go into hypovolemic shock.”

If the puncture wound is bleeding, you can use a folded towel to apply pressure around the injury—just not on top of the embedded piece.

Friend points out that in some cases the embedded object may be stopping blood flow, and pulling it out could cause serious bleeding.

Why Wait?

There are two important reasons to wait for the veterinarian to remove an embedded object:

◆ To determine any damage of internal structures
◆ To make sure all of the object is safely removed

Depending on the injury, the veterinarian may use X-rays or ultrasound to observe internal structures around the embedded object and any resulting damage.

“Sometimes a wound can look small, but it depends on where it is,” says Friend. “If it’s near a joint capsule, you can get an infected joint.”

“If the wound is close to a joint, it’s especially important to take radiographs,” notes Crosby. “If you just pull the object out and it was near a joint, infection could set in and get a head. However, if the veterinarian knows it’s touching the joint, they can flush the joint, sew up any tear in the membrane, and treat as needed.”

Often an embedded object, such as a board or tree branch, breaks upon impact with the horse. Making sure all of it gets removed is crucial.

“Even if it’s just a piece of wood, I want to be able to assess if we got all of it out,” says Friend. “Sometimes you have the other end of the item, and you want to match the piece that came out. For example, with a broken fence board, you may think you got all of it out of the horse, but when comparing pieces, you can see there’s some missing.”

Friend relates the story of one horse who reared up in the barn and shattered a halogen light bulb with his head. When the wound kept draining and wouldn’t heal after 10 days, the owners called Friend. He found and removed a large piece of glass that was still embedded in the horse’s poll, which reinforces why it’s important for a veterinarian to initially assess puncture wounds.

Puncture Wounds in the Hoof

The most common hoof puncture wounds occur when a horse steps on a nail or fence staple.

“With the hoof, there are many internal structures,” says Friend. “You need to make sure you know where the object went.” He notes that any puncture wound of the hoof should be seen by a veterinarian, even if it seems small.

“If there’s a nail in a foot, I want to know where that nail goes,” adds Friend. “The frog will seal right up when you pull out a nail.”

“The problem with hoof wounds is that they close up quickly,” says Crosby. “If your horse steps on a nail or staple and you pull it out, then the veterinarian can’t see on X-rays how close it was to internal structures in the hoof.”

Treating Puncture Wounds

After your veterinarian has assessed the injury and taken any necessary X-rays or ultrasound images, they will remove the embedded object and begin treating the wound.

Depending on the injury, sutures may be needed. Medication to manage inflammation and pain will likely be part of the protocol.

Antibiotics may also be necessary to combat infection.

“In a tornado, pretty much anything that’s driven into a horse’s body is accompanied by debris and bacteria, and there is almost always infection involved,” says Crosby.

After initial treatment, your veterinarian will instruct you on how to continue treating the wound. Serious puncture wounds typically require a follow-up visit from the veterinarian.

With any wound—especially with punctures—it’s important for the horse to be up to date on his tetanus vaccine, so check your records. If it’s been longer than six months, your veterinarian will likely recommend a booster vaccination.

A Common Mistake

Beyond pulling out an embedded object before the veterinarian can assess it, improper wound cleaning is another common mistake.

“People get overzealous and try to do more than they should,” says Friend, who has seen horse owners flush wounds with alcohol, peroxide—even diesel fuel.

“You want to avoid anything that could be caustic to the tissues,” he explains. “The substance used to flush a wound can ‘pocket’ in the wound or be pushed into a space where it could cause more problems. [Additionally,] don’t ‘pressure wash’ the wound. Just rinse it off and keep it clean. Don’t try to do too much before the veterinarian gets there.”

Cleaning Puncture Wounds

Skip the spray nozzle when cleaning wounds. Just use a hose and normal pressure to move dirt and debris out of the injured area. You should keep a surgical scrub or mild iodine soap on hand to help clean wounds. Lacking this, a mild dish soap, such as Ivory, will suffice.

Stay Vigilant

Any of the following indicate a wound is not healing properly. Call your veterinarian promptly if you notice:

◆ Oozing/draining from wound 10 days or longer post injury
◆ Persistent heat or swelling
◆ Horse has a fever
◆ Horse shows signs of lameness

This article about the treatment of puncture wounds in horses appeared in the August 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Treating Puncture Wounds in Horses appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.