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Discussion on Stallion in scuffle with another stallion
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Member:
judyhens
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Posted on Sunday, Sep 16, 2007 - 11:07 pm:
A 2 year old colt (who is typically very gentle)partially pushed over the dividing fence between himself and an 11 year old breeding stallion of a smaller breed. The two year old stayed on his side, but obviously they fought... with the older, smaller stallion ending up with a few (appear to be superficial) bite marks and quite sore. He also seems to have one very sore foreleg. The two year old is fine. All our stallions live in large (acre or more) paddocks with 5 ft. non-climb horse wire and hot wire on the top and low on the fence. We have had stallions adjacent to each other for years without mishap. They seem happy and content and enjoy the company. No problems. Well...the hot wire failed. Apparently the young guy took that opportunity to conquer the fence. We brought the gimpy stallion up to the barn. The young one, who is really a quiet, sweet guy, is going home tomorrow, so the problem will be solved anyway. And we are having the hot wire hard wired, rather than using the solar which has always been somewhat iffy.
We are giving the stallion 1 gm bute AM and PM, hosing him off during the heat of the day (which he seems to love), and keeping a fan on him. He has access to the stall as well as a small paddock. He seems more comfortable this evening...just sort of sore all over. Is there anything else we should do? I don't think that any of the bites caused bleeding. There are no open cuts...just scrapes. We couldn't reach our vet over the weekend. The horse is pooping appropriately, but isn't eating grain very well... but then he doesn't eat a lot as a rule when it is hot. He is eating - just little by little. Not a whole lot different than normal for him in the heat. (90's).
For general soreness, is bute as good as banamine? Better? He's current on vaccines. Is there any need for antibiotics or a tetanus booster with scrapes/ bites? Would a linament rub be of help? The sore leg has no swelling in the tendon, but the leg or shoulder is clearly sore. We see no evidence of where the pain is coming from. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Judy
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Sep 17, 2007 - 9:45 am:
Hello Judy,
I would use the bute unless I did not get the response I was hoping for. Generally antibiotics are needed for wounds that do not penetrate the skin, though very bad bruising might rarely be an indication for antibiotics. For scrapes and bruises what you are doing currently sounds fine. The question seems to be why is that leg so sore? Until you find out I would be sure he remains stall rested.
DrO
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Monday, Sep 17, 2007 - 12:23 pm:
And aren't stallions just a lot of fun?!!
We've had similar incidents on two ocsassions. Once a nephew left a stall door open so both stallions could get into the same pen, and they did. I was on crutches at the time, and the only one home. It is very scarey to see two big stallions in a small pen fighting! I finally was able to separate them using one of the crutches and got the door locked between them again. Both were sore from kicks and had bruising and lots of nip marks. Like you, I buted, cold hosed and gave rub downs. I found that Sore No More worked really good for the sore kick spots and sore muscles.
Our second incident was when one of the stallions managed to rub his halter off while drying in the sun from a bath. He about killed himself and managed to do serious damage to the barn also by rearing and tearing down a sprinkler system. Luckily, the stallion he tried to go after cowered in a corner of his pen and remained unharmed.
The hot wire being hard wired sounds like a great idea. Even better would be about 5 or 6 feet between their runs so they can socialize but not reach each other.
Good luck!
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Member:
judyhens
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Posted on Monday, Sep 17, 2007 - 9:52 pm:
Thanks Dr. O and Sara,
We continued with a gm. of Bute this AM and PM (2 gms. total today). We hand walked him this evening and he appears totally sound on the bute. He is now walking freely from the stall to the paddock and seems very interested in his surroundings. There is still no swelling in the leg that was gimpy yesterday and no heat that we can identify. His "pride" might have suffered a little though... :-(
He is our best Peruvian breeding stallion and also is our teaser stallion because he is so easy to handle. He is actually about as good as an ultrasound for determining ovulation. (I.E. he is always kind to the mares, but will only act likes he's ready to breed if the mare is truly ready to ovulate. We always have the vet out to check to be sure, but we have never known him to miss. Most of our other stallions would happily breed anything, any time it seems.... :-)
Anyway, for our ranch, Legendario is worth his weight in gold both as a breeding stallion and a wonderful mount, who is even great with children. His full recovery is very important to us.
The vet is coming in the next day or two. Our current plan is to taper him down to 1 gm Bute tomorrow, then off the next day if he remains sound. He will remain at the barn until we are sure the Bute isn't just masking a problem. If Legendario had a serious leg injury, is it likely we would see some swelling by now? Also, if all symptoms are controlled by Bute, would that be a good indication that things are moving in the right direction? (He has had a total of 4 gms since the onset of the problem early yesterday morning).
Sara, we do have our two primary Andalusian stallions separated by about a 10' buffer zone. They are just too big and too strong to risk. Their paddocks do back up to a very large gelding pasture and we have never had any problem with that. However, their paddocks are hard wired with electrical wire in addition to having 5' non climb horse wire. I agree that space between runs is the best option.
Thanks again!
Judy
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