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  Discussion on Repeated Leg Wounds
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 2, 2000 - 3:09 pm:

In April we purchased a 2 yr old qh gelding. His breeding leans towards cutting/barrel horses. Our problem is that in the months we have had him he has twice cut open the inside of his right hind leg just below the hock. The first time it was more like a scrape and healed fairly quickly. The second time it was quite deep and required stitches, became infected and we had to treat him with a round of antibiotics for lameness. He is almost completely recovered from this but I am afraid to take the wraps completely away. We cannot find anything that he is catching this on in the pen which leads us to believe that he is self inflicting this when he runs/spins out in the pen. We have been doing groundwork with him and have made a lot of progress but everytime we get close to mounting he seems to come up injured and the continued wounds have slowed this down. We would like to start breaking him soon. Any suggestions on how to keep him from hurting himself further? I don't think I can just keep a light wrap on him forever to cover this area and protect it- can I?

Posted on Monday, Jul 3, 2000 - 6:48 am:

Hello Candi,
Unless you have a very odd gait abnormality, this would be a very unusual place for a horse to catch himself with either the opposite hind or a front foot. On the other hand horses injure themselves all the time on what seems like nothing. If you really think this guy is wounding hemself due to age and exuberance, I would be sure he remains bare foot and the walls are all rolled nicely at the bottom until he learns to move a little better.
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jul 17, 2000 - 9:16 am:

Its been about 2 weeks. After writing the first message I took off the wraps and decided to give his wound a try open to air. The wound had been healing very nicely and consistantly but now seems to have stopped and is not healing any further. I have tried covering it again and putting intercel or ointment on it of days but there does not seem to be any drainage and this does not seem to change the wound. I have been trying to keep it covered with SWAT to keep the flies off as it has been very hot and the bugs have been bad. Any reason for the healing to seem to have stopped? As I remember, something similar happened towards the end of the first round of healing but the second wound came along so I didn't have a chance to ask anyone. I guess that I'm worried that he'll hurt himself in this area a third time before it heals this second time if I can't figure out what is going on.

Posted on Monday, Jul 17, 2000 - 5:19 pm:

Is there any chance it could be proud flesh? This is where the tissue underneath the horse's hide/skin grows faster than the hide can grow over it ... it is typically kind of raw and angry looking.

If it is proud flesh, it may require a vet to have a look and treat it.

Posted on Monday, Jul 17, 2000 - 7:58 pm:

Actually, the area is almost completely healed. There is a small area about 1/4 inch wide x 4 inches long which is very light pink and does not have hair on it. It appears to be almost totally closed over except in 2 very small areas where there are small scabs. Last time the wound was even smaller and almost all of the hair had come back except on a small scab type area but this time it does not seem the same. Does the fact that he will have a lump on the leg as a result of the gash/stitches make a difference on the healing? I would have probably guessed that it did except last time it was healing well with no visible scarring until he injured it again.

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 18, 2000 - 11:58 am:

Chris is right - you need to determine if you are dealing with proud flesh. Proud flesh is grainy looking, sort of gravelly, and is raised above the level of the surrounding skin. Wonder Dust is a fantastic proud flesh remover - just dust it on the proud flesh (not the good flesh), and over a period of a few day (after repeated applications, twice daily at least), the proud flesh will come off. Wonder Dust is a caustic powder, so it essentially burns the stuff off. Proud flesh doesn't have nerve endings, so it doesn't hurt.

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 18, 2000 - 12:36 pm:

When treating the wound above my mare's eye this spring, a small bit of proudflesh was delaying the closing of the last part of the wound. It was a bit raw/a tad scabby.

The size was less than the size of a hole punch hole.

My vet suggested making a paste of meat tenderizer and "triple antibiotic ointment" (neosporin is one) and applying to the area. This did the trick, partly because it was not very proud, yet and partly because it was a very small area.

The meat tenderizer has an enzyme that stops the tissue granulation and allowed the hide to heal.

For larger areas, or more prominiant proud flesh, a vet may trim it or burn it with liquid nitrogen. Neither is a do it yourself procedure.

If it were me, I'd discuss it with my vet and ask him if he thought he needed to have a look. But, we have a very good understanding after all these years and he is very accessible and not too far away.

What you describe could easily be proud flesh.

Cheers.

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2000 - 11:08 am:

For our recommendations on treating proud flesh and wounds in general see: Equine Diseases: Skin Diseases: Wounds: First Aid, Care, and Proud Flesh
DrO

Posted on Friday, Aug 17, 2001 - 8:00 pm:

My Palomino gelding keeps getting open sores about the size of a half dollar on his hocks. The sand in his outside pen seem to rub them. What is a good treatment? Can I and should I wrap them? What is the best way to bandage the hock area? I have been using corona ointment but they aren't getting any better without wraps. Thank you. Sharon Voelpel
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