Cautionary Tale

I think we have all, at one time or another, commiserated with each other over the many ways in which horses seem to find to hurt themselves, sometimes tongue in cheek and at others with deadly seriousness. Yesterday, we had one of those moments at our barn, where the combination of events lined up perfectly to wreck havoc on one of our four-footed friends.

If you are squeamish or don't want to see blood,

 do not go any further!! 

 

First - it started with this type of bucket hanger, which had a cross tie attached to the ring by the clip. That ring was round. The clip dangled down from the strap/crosstie.

Second - there was a mare in the crossties being unsaddled after her jumping lesson.

Third - there was a bored-to-death gelding in the stall next to where the crosstie was attached. He has been on stall rest for about a week due to an abscess.

As far as we can piece together, the gelding was messing with the crosstie, the mare flipped her head as mares do, and the clip on the bucket hanger slipped over the gelding's nostril. The heavy part of the clip was inside the gelding's nose, with the latch part on the outside of the nostril.

The gelding pulled away.

The barn owner saw it happen in her peripheral vision and we got to him before it had even started to bleed. Several phone calls later and the vet was on her way. One of our boarders is a small animal vet. she used saline to keep the torn flap part of the nostril damp.

 

Sedated. The wound has been cleaned.

She started with stitches on the inside, then did the outside.

The vet was very meticulous and careful about lining up the edges of the flap.

She did debride it first, since the flap had begun to dry, and to improve the chances of the flesh reconnecting.

Finished product.

Such a great stitch job. 

He was such a good boy throughout. He was calm and easy to handle. Accepted peppermints and direction. Didn't fight or fuss. Hopefully, his beautiful nose will heal with no other issues.