Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hello Kathy,

I'm just guessing here without seeing the scar but years ago I had a
horse that slipped in a muddy pen and slid sideways into a T-post. She
got a 6" rip on the ribs behind the right front leg just at the edge
of where the edge of the cinch would lie. The horse got R&R for
several months. When we started riding again the scar was 1/2" wide
at the widest with no hair and would crack there sometimes. It seemed to
me that the skin was dry, not thin, so I smeared on various creams, Bag
Balm, Gall Salve, Corona, Cortesone, while the horse was in the pen. The
stuff collected dirt and looked nasty but when I stopped the cream a day
before riding and brushed the dirt off well (or hosed off the dirt with
just water, no soap or drying cleanser) the scar stopped cracking and
after several more months it was a non-issue and no more cream was
needed. Just my one-rat-test.

Don Huston



At 07:48 AM 9/29/2008 Monday, you wrote:

I have a very unusual case and I'm hoping someone out there
has an idea.  When my neighbor's horse was about 2 years
old he tried to clear a fence panel, got caught 1/2 way over,
and just about tore off his entire right front leg up between the
leg and rib cage.  (He was about a 1/4 inch from severing the
artery and bleeding to death.) 

He's 5 now and fully recovered (although the muscle tissue
in the area won't fully grow back).  However, the skin that is
over the old wound in the area is very thin and re-tears now
if he's cinched up close to that area or if he extends that leg
far enough.

We use more of a center fire rigging which works fine, but the
skin in the area will still tear when we work on his training
either saddled or at liberty.

Is there anything we can do to toughen up the skin there? 
We have gotten no answers or good ideas from the vets here.
(Not that we don't have excellent vets in NM...  ;-)  )  I don't
know if pin firing would help or not.  Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks!  You can email me directly at:

magnumsmom at aol . com.  

:) - Kathy
ps... a huge hello to all old and new friends out there...

---

Find phone numbers fast with the New AOL Yellow Pages!

Don Huston
San Diego, CA
donhuston @ cox .net