[ your horse health questions answered ]
Ask The Vet
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By Dr. Alfredo Sanchez-Londono, MV, MS, DACVIM (LAIM)
Keeping horses in a snow free environment during the winter season is near impossible for most New England horse owners.
My horse was recently turned out in an icy area, and sliced open his fetlock. What kind of dangers does this pose to him, how should I go about treating it, and what kind of precautions should I take?
Accidents like the one that you are describing are frequently seen in the winter and seem to be inevitable, since the horse would need to be kept in a completely snow and ice free area, which seems to be impossible for the majority of owners. When horses have lacerations of any kind, they should be evaluated by a veterinarian, but it is extremely important if these lacerations are over a joint, since the risk of infection within the joint can be a major
cause for future problems. The veterinarian will evaluate the wound to determine any possibility of communication with the joint space, and if necessary, radiographs of the area will be done to make sure that there is no evidence of any other abnormalities such as a fracture. If there is no communication with the joint space and no fractures are present, the wound will need to be clipped, cleaned, and scrubbed to remove any foreign material from it. Once this has been done, the wound can be sutured and then the area wrapped to prevent any further contamination and try to keep the sutures from breaking apart. The horse will need to possibly be placed on antibiotics
and medication to control pain and inflammation. It will also be important to make sure that he has been vaccinated against tetanus if it has been more than six months from the most recent vaccination. The sutures usually can be removed within 12-14 days, and then the horse can gradually be returned to exercise depending on the severity of the initial injury. Ideally horses should not be kept out in paddocks or areas where there is a large amount of ice build up to try to prevent accidents like the one described in your horse. If the horses are routinely kept outside it is important that they have winter shoes with studs to provide them with better traction. Of course,
About the Author alfredo Sanchez-Londoño, MV, MS is an assistant professor and clinician at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts university, and, specifically, the Tufts ambulatory Service in Woodstock, Conn. He obtained his MV (Medico Veterinario) degree from universidad de La Salle in Bogota, Colombia in 1997. In 2000, he completed the requirements of the Educational Committee for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) at Purdue university, then completed an internship and a Large animal Internal Medicine residency/Master of Science degree program at Purdue university in 2005. He joined the Tufts ambulatory Service in July of 2005. His main interest is Equine Medicine covering all aspects, from newborns to the growing geriatric equine population. He has performed research on respiratory diseases in horses, focusing on exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), inflammatory airway disease (IaD) and recurrent airway obstruction (raO).
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horse me n’ s Y a nkee Ped l ar
January 2012