How long after the injury did you administer first aid?

I was away on a trip and the caretakers at the boarding facility didn’t notice it for two to three days according to the veterinarian (based on tissue damage)

What caused the injury?

A nail sticking out about an inch from a post on fencing in a small enclosure near the barn, the horses kicked a board down and the nails were never removed

What could have been done to prevent this from happening?

Proper fence maintenance

What did you learn from this experience or what would you do differently?

I learned you always have to be on the lookout for a potential danger to your horse, they are self-preserving herd animals so if there’s a nail sticking out but there’s a boss mare chasing them out of the way they forget about the nail when they are about to get kicked

What is the long-term prognosis from this injury?

By following the veterinarian’s wound care instructions, a very thin scar on her shoulder would be there, but probably not visible under her hair

 

What did you do to treat the wound? Did it help? How well? What might you have done differently?

Veterinarians’ care instructions were to rinse the would with a water solution with a few drops of Chlorhexidine in it followed by a gentle cleaning with a piece of gauze dipped in the solution, then cover the wound with Furazone and use Bag Balm about an inch around the outside of the wound to keep the skin protected from drainage and the Furazone shifting down below the wound. I did that twice a day for 4 days and then went to once a day.

It helped tremendously, the Bag Balm kept the skin soft and allowed the injury to heal from the inside out. The Furazone kept the injury protected and caught debris from in the stall that would have otherwise gotten into the wound and started to scar.

I wouldn’t have done anything differently with her care plan. 

Did you have your veterinarian come out?

Because I found it on a Saturday afternoon, I had to take her to the veterinarian for an emergency visit on Sunday.

If yes, what did she/he do?

The vet debrided the wound, there’s no way I would have know how much to debride the wound or what the tissue should have looked like when it was fully cleaned because of how large it was and the location. The he rinsed it and showed me how to apply the Furazone and Bag Balm dressing.