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Caring for your horse - Injuries and Illnesses
by Jessi Pizzurro

Once you have purchased your horse, you are faced with the task of caring for him on a day to day basis. As his owner and caretaker, you should familiarize yourself with your horse’s usual attitude and idiosyncrasies. All horses have their own particular habits, and it is here that the astute horse owner will recognize the beginnings of a problem. If your usual bright-eyed friendly pal suddenly turns into a grouchy, picky eater with an attitude, there is certainly a reason. Catching the first signs of an impending crisis can often help avoid a lethal disaster. It is also imperative to be well prepared in the event of an emergency. This means having the necessary supplies on hand as well as the knowledge to deal with the situation as calmly as possible until the vet arrives.

Keep your first aid kit well stocked for any emergency. You should have on hand and readily accessible the following items:

a set of standing bandages, inner and outer
a thermometer, vaseline
a few rolls of Vetrap
a few clean towels
a pair of scissors and tape (either masking or electrical)
at least 3 pieces of sheet cotton and sterile gauze
furacin ointment and/or nolvasan ointment
eye ointment ( saline to flush and gentamycin or neomycin to
prevent eye infection)
a gelocast
hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol
horse blanket or cooler

Having assembled your first-aid kit, lets learn how to use it.

For example, if your horse has cut its leg and the blood is spurting out, he has probably severed an artery. Applying immediate pressure is priority number one. Start with some sterile gauze, then sheet cotton, add a towel and wrap it as tightly as possible with some vetrap. The vetrap should stick to itself, but add some tape for additional protection. Call for a vet to come immediately, and explain why. Don’t mess around trying to clean the wound out if the blood is spurting out. Keep applying firm pressure with your hands on top of the bandage until the vet comes. DO NOT be tempted to lift the dressing to look at it. This may cause any bleeding that you have stopped to start again. Keep the horse as quiet and still as possible. Adding a blanket in all but the hottest weather is always a good idea to help prevent the horse from getting chilled.

If your horse has been digging, pawing, rolling or looking back at his stomach, chances are he has the equine version of a bellyache called colic. Colic is a very serious condition and you need a veterinarian to come to decide exactly how serious the situation is. Look for the following information to relay to your vet over the phone. Take the horse’s temperature - normal horse temp is between 99.5 and 101.0. Anything significantly above or below this average can mean serious problems. Note the color of your horse’s gums- they should be pink. If you press a finger onto the gum for a few seconds and then remove it, you will see the white imprint of your finger. This should return to pink within 2-3 seconds. This is a very important piece of information to tell your vet about your horse’s “capillary refill of the mucous membranes”. Next, take the horse’s respiration in breaths per minute - normal respiration for the resting horse is 10-16 breaths per minute. Elevated respiration is a sign of pain. Now, take the horses heart rate if possible.
This is best accomplished by finding the pulse under the side of the jaw. If you cant find it here, try along the horses girth, behind the elbow - this is not always easy to find. Normal heart rate should be between 30-40 in an adult horse. A very young foal can have a normal rate up to 100, and the older foals heart rate will be around 70. Finally take note of how much manure is present in the stall, and its state (runny, small and hard, or normal). How much hay, water and feed has your horse consumed during the day? Collecting all of this information will be a big head start for your veterinarian, and will help the treatment of your horse. One final note, if your horse is trying to lay down and roll, get him up and walk him around. A thrashing horse may twist a portion of his intestine, necessitating colic surgery. Do not allow him to eat or drink anything until the vet gets there in the event that the horse already has a blockage. 

If you are riding your horse and he goes lame suddenly, dismount and examine his legs and feet. Perhaps he has merely picked up a stone, but it may be a soft tissue injury. If the tendon is popped out behind the leg below the knee your horse has “bowed” the tendon. If the whole ankle seems to sag towards the ground, with the fetlock of one leg lower than the other, there has been injury to the suspensory apparatus. Both of these injuries require either a gelocast or snug standing bandage immediately to prohibit swelling. Apply the gelocast as a tight bandage, starting below the knee, down to the pastern, and up again as many times as necessary to use the whole bandage. This will harden as it dries, and form a sort of cast ( hence the name). These tissues heal better if there is a minimum of swelling, unlike some other injuries. Your veterinarian will want to examine your horse and prescribe a course of treatment. 

Horses can get common colds just as people do. If a horse has not been properly cooled down after rigorous exercise, gotten cold and wet, or been around a sick horse there is the possibility of catching a cold. Keep him warm and dry, adding a blanket if necessary. Allow him plenty of fresh air but avoid direct drafts. If your horse is coughing, give him some equine cough syrup. You can also use Vicks Vapo rub in his nostrils or the equine equivalents called Vapol or Trail-eze.

Your horse may develop a “splint.” This is a hard swelling inside the cannon bone that is sensitive to the touch. It comes from riding on hard ground or pavement or may be from banging the leg. It is most often seen in racehorses and young horses whose bones arent fully set. The area will be warm and the horse will most likely be lame. Rest is needed, usually a period if 4 to 6 weeks. Some people will blister, pinfire or freeze-fire a splint hoping to speed the recovery process. However in the last 10 years there has been research showing that none of those techniques really aid the healing process. The key factor for healing a splint is time off for the horse.

There are many other things that can go wrong in and out of the stable. Being prepared to handle any situation can help turn a potentially serious disaster into a minor inconvenience. Dealing with injuries and illnesses requires presence of mind and calm, clear thinking. Your horse and your veterinarian will both thank you for being prepared.

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Jessi Pizzurro has always loved horses. She started off as a child riding western ponies and progressed to showing hunters and jumpers. Jessi began galloping horses in 1989 at Penn National racetrack, specializing in problem horses and breaking babies. She also groomed horses for trainer Steve Rowan Sr. Jessi and Nino met in 1990 and began their partnership that would eventually include marriage and two beautiful children, Joey and Lauren. She was head groom and barn secretary when Nino was assistant trainer for Terry Griffith at Delaware park. Jessi currently grooms, keeps the books, and occasionally gallops. Her specialty remains the first 60 days of the babies racetrack education and legwork. She is a licensed assistant trainer and owner. Jessi is also designing web sites and pages, including PIZZURROS Racing Stables. Jessi's loves are her family, her horses, and her computer!

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