Ouch!

Today Haley had an accident while out trail riding and slipped off a foot bridge. Her leg slid down the side of the bridge and she ended up with a wound on her knee and her sports medicine boot tore as it protected the lower part of her leg from further injury. Haley & her rider are luckily fine, but she will need some wound care over the next few weeks. But this situation brought up a very common question: "Your horse has a wound - what do you do!?" Luckily Haley has a mom for a vet, but not all horses are so lucky! Here are a few quick tips:

• If the wound is bleeding excessively or near a joint, don't try to clean it at all - call your vet! For bleeding, use a clean wrap, cotton or cloth to apply steady even pressure to the area that is bleeding, add layers if needed but don't keep peeking to see if it has stopped, this can disrupt the clot that is trying to form!
  

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• For other wounds you may have to gently cleanse the wound or even clip some hair to determine the extent of the injury . . but doing this incorrectly can make treating the wound much more difficult. In general wounds that are very dirty can be cleaned with water from the hose to remove the initial layers of dirt / debris. If the wound is a puncture or appears very deep, use saline to clean it out initially (add to first aid kit = wound wash saline from your local pharmacy).
  

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• If the wound is through all layers of skin and/or gaping open, sutures may be needed to help speed the healing process, if you suspect your horse may need sutures, call your vet and do not apply anything to the wound unless they ask you to! Applying any sort of wound cream, spray or ointment can really interfere with suturing. Things like hydrogen peroxide and certain wound powders can actually destroy healthy tissue and prolong the healing process. If anything, apply a small amount of plain sterile lubricant (add to first aid kit = K-Y Jelly) to the wound to help keep it moist and protected. Also applying lubricant prior to clipping will catch the hairs around the wound and they are then easily wiped away after clipping instead of going into the wound.
  

• For superficial or minor wounds (not receiving sutures) applying a wound cream (add to first aid kit = Dermagel, Horsemans's Dream or similar product) may be helpful to prevent infection and keep the tissues moist while they heal. If sutures have been applied, keeping the sutures clean & dry is very important! In some cases your veterinarian may have you apply a wrap to protect the wound. A basic standing wrap (add to first aid kit = telfa pads, thick quilts and standing wraps) is great, make sure that the wrapping material is not sticking to the wound (use a non-stick gauze or telfa pad if needed) and the leg is well padded. In general, you want to avoid using a thin band of tight wrapping material like vetwrap over a wound as this can apply too much pressure.

Accidents happen and knowing what to do and having a first aid kit handy is important! If in doubt call your vet for advice.