Sooo....what do you think did this to my horse?

[sred98]

I went out to check on my horses this morning, and found scratches on my Mustang. She was fine last night when I checked on her before bed, with my neighbors. She is around 14 hands. The other 3 horses have no marks, but, if something was to go after them, she'd be the one to stand up to it and chase it away, kill it, or die trying!

I didn't hear anything because they were pretty far from the house, about 10 acres away. The dog was barking last night, but the coyotes have been bad lately, so I figured it was them. However, I don't think a coyote can jump this high or leave scratches that long/high.

Any ideas?

This pic is of my neighbor's big 18 yo son's hand next to it for comparison:

Here is a pic of her whole side so you can see how it is in comparison to her body:

Thanks,

Shelly

 

[Orchid]

Well, horses being horses, she might have found a way to do it to herself.

But if you think it's a predator, I'd go with some kind of big cat. You have cougars there?

 

[MaggieRae]

If you're in southern Ok, you have cougars. We have quite a few in northern Texas. I don't have a clue what did that to your horse, but I guess cougar is a possibility. I think it would have been worse if a cougar did it though.

 

[texasgal]

Horses .. being horses and all ..

I think she layed down too close to .. something .. and did it to herself as she was getting up...

 

[Wynette]

Most likely, she found a nail & scratched against it, or if you have shoes on any of your other horses, a nail head can easily come lose & cause this type of damage in a defensive kick. I think if it was a cat, you'd see more than 1 long scratch.

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I agree, I think she could have done that herself itching on something, fence, outbuilding, etc.

 

[sred98]

Quote:
Not "officially" but we have heard them. She most definitely could have done it to herself...but she is usually pretty good about not getting into trouble. Especially if it involves pain for her! LOL! That's my DH's horse. He is a walking accident waiting to happen! LOL!

The scratches are deeper at the top and lighten up as they go down, like an animal scratch would be. But, if it is an animal scratch, you think it looks more cat-like? I can't really imagine a dog/coyote/wolf type animal making such clean scratches. I thought it looked cat-like, too. I just want to get other people's opinions.

Thanks for the input!

Shelly

 

[Skippin' Sammi]

I would say fence wire and walk the entire pasture to check it out....you may have a breach in your fence that you need to know about. Looks like she will heal ok though.

 

[sred98]

No shoes on the horses, no outbuildings where she is and no nails. Where she lays is either a dirt patch on the hill or in the grass in the middle. There isn't anything there where she could scratch herself rolling around. They are pretty clean scratches, not jagged.

If there is a fence that is down, she would jump it. She can clear a 4 foot fence no problem, and will test any other fences. She wouldn't be in there if there was a breach. I did walk that pasture this morning when I saw her injury. Didn't see anything wrong with the fences, or anything "extra" in the field or hill.

These are all great ideas. Keep posting! This helps me eliminate any dangerous things I might have overlooked.

Shelly

 

[Turner]

If it was a Cougar those scratches would have been different - not so wide at the top and more (as per a huge paw with long sharp nails!) and if it were that close those would have been gaping and deep....even if she got away which she did.

I agree with everyone else and being a professional horsewoman I say that she either rolled on something, got knocked down on something or ran into something. You know horses - you can give them a padded stall and they will hurt themselves and you can give them acres and acres with nothing but grass and fence and they will find something to get themselves in trouble with. Good Luck