Horse emergency, super heavy bleeding

[spiritdance]

I'm glad things are a bit settled, but please be very careful in dealing with this animal. It sounds like you have a kind heart that some people have taken advantage of, so I imagine you are very reluctant to consider drastic measures, but if the horse's injury is such that you cannot SAFELY treat it, you might be better off thinking about a "final" alternative. I love animals, and am crazy about horses, but human safety has to come first, and a horse is not a little fuzzy kitten that will just scratch you if it acts up. I would hate to come on here and find that you have been seriously injured or worse because your kind heart led you to take an ill advised risk.

 

[HeatherLynn]

no no, my husband is going to be trying to work my doctoring around his work schedule. I am not going to be trying to do anything solo. We have already discussed among ourselves and with the vet the potential for having to put him down. my brother also promised to drive over and recheck things for us. he raises horses and knows ton more than we do. For now though we will do what we can. For now he is still really mellow. Not sure what the vet gave him but the big danger now is he wants to lean on all of us and wow is he heavy.

 

[violetsky]

I had a pony dumped in my field with issues too. It's worthwhile to spend a little time training your horse so
if anything happens you'll be ready. Everyone said the pony was mean, but like yours was fear/abuse based
behavior. I also rescued a mule that had been severely whipped and was kicking tornado and she left a lovebug.
You can use this injury as an opportunity to start working with your horse. Despooking a horse is
easy and having an animal that is safe to handle makes the effort worthwhile. Horses are great mind-readers
and will sense your intentions, don't transmit your own fear to the horse while your working with him. If
you learn how to position yourself and work with him where you're not likely to get hurt you'll be more confident
handling him.

I had a qh filly that got a deep cut in her forehead, that needed regular painful treatments. I asked a friend that raises
qh's how I was going to keep her from being head shy when I need to hurt her. She said if I held the attitude
I'm helping the horse and not be tentative or fearful she won't become headshy, which was the outcome.

An example of despooking safely. Say your horse acts up around noisy vehicles. Just put the horse in a round pen
with a flake of hay and drive circles around in a lawn tractor or in a car beeping the horn with the radio blaring. Very
quickly your horse will stop reacting and just eat, especially if an been there done that horse is with them ignoring the
commotion. Now if you were in the saddle and frightened of your horse's reaction he'd keep reacting and very quickly
become dangerous. There is a safe way to train or work with every problem but you need to do it in advance of an
emergency. Every single time you go out to feed try to do a little work in one area of despooking. A two minute or
less lesson that ends well is much better than a big struggle ending poorly. Your horse will actually start enjoy being
messed with as they are curious and social critters.

 

[spiritdance]

Whew! That's good! And kudos to you for stepping up for this horse when it needed you. Sending good thoughts your way for a speedy healing.

 

[ailurophile23]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier but very glad the bleeding has stopped. I have used coats and shirts before on bad bleeding to apply pressure, at least until something more appropriate could be found. Some horse stores sell flexible plastic/rubber/???"boots" for hoof injuries - we had to use one and it worked wonders - really cut down on the dirt getting to the wound and minimized amount of cleaning and bandage changing needed. If you have a specialty store within a reasonable drive, I suggest you call to see if they have any. Also, there are sedative pastes you can administer when it is time to clean/change bandages if the horse is too stressed out from the painful wound - you may have to get them from your vet.

Sounds like you are doing things right by making sure there is at least one other person there to help. If and when (hopefully) the horse recovers, definitely put some effort into at least making his interactions with humans positive. The Parelli methods can work wonders with scared horses and it gives you a different way of viewing your horses reactions to your actions. Good luck!

 

[Leslieb118]

Quote:
I agree with the Parelli methods. My horses have been through the Parelli program, John Lyons and Clinton Anderson. My foundation QH Palomino stallion (now gelded) was the quietest, calmest stallion I'd ever seen. You might want to invest in at least the "7 Games" DVD from Pat Parelli. However, the whole set is a "must-have" in my opinion, lol. Good luck!

 

[Twiggers96]

Quote:
X1,000

 

[evenstargirl]

I am so sorry. That is very traumatic!! I had horses for years. Horses are huge animals and so powerful. Working with an agressive or wild one is incredibly hard, time consuming, patient and dangerous work!

 

[evenstargirl]

I agree, I loved Mr. Lyon's tapes!! He is a wonderful trainer. Good luck, and please be safe. When I was very young, about 13, I was working with a 2-year-old QH on the lead out in the pasture. My sister ran around the side of the barn screaming and playing, and the horse spooked. He shied sideways, straight into an electric fence, and I suddenly found myself standing smack in front of a very scared yearling. My heart stopped! I will never forget the horse reared up and then didn't seem to know what to do, so he actually sat down on the electric fence, breaking all the wires, so as not to run me over. My mom saw it all from the kitchen window. She said she had never seen anything so amazing or sweet. I learned a lot from the experience. Horses are amazing creatures. But they are also very strong! If he had decided to come towards me, I would have been a lot worse for the wear.

I definitely recommend Parelli's books. And like others said, now would be a great time to start showing this horse he can trust you.

 

[PAchickenlover]

Any updates? You have me hooked now.... lol.. Not that your situation is funny because it is not. I hope you can get things under control.