My mare got her front leg caught in the barbed wire fence. I did not see her do it, but she has a cut that goes from one side to the other on the back side of her foot just above the hoof . Her leg was swollen from the knee down to the hoof. It has been 2 weeks now, but she is still limping significantly. The cut is healing very well. The vet gave me Equioxx for pain and had me "sweat" the leg to reduce the swelling and has me keeping both legs wrapped 24 hours/day. The vet instructed me to leave her in the pasture and to walk her 20 minutes a day. Well, I don't think she is getting any better, but I do not have any experience with this type of injury so maybe I am expecting too much. Any advice from someone with experience? Should I be doing something else for her or is it just going to take a while to see improvement?

Did they suture the wound or did they leave it open? Wounds in that area can be very tricky and at 2 weeks out from the injury I would expect her to be doing better. Is she on any antibiotics at all? We had a horse do this in the past. Ther Wound was clipped and cleaned and then sutured. They then put a cast on it for 2 weeks to aid in the healing. During this time the horse was kept in a stall and had not turn out. Once the cast and sutures came out on the 14th day. IT looked pretty good, from then on we kept it wrapped and changed the bandage every 2-3 days until it was completely healed. These wounds can be hard to deal with and since the leg is still swollen I would be concerned. Is she still eating? Does she have a temperature? Do both legs swell or just the one with the wound? Also, some horse can become dependent on the wraps. If this is the case then you can slowly wean her off the wraps. But You may also want to look into a second opinion if that is an option in your area.

The cut was not too bad and was not sutured. It is healing well. The first vet via phone call only said to leave her in the pasture to exercise it. The second vet tapped her leg to check for infection, but the fluid was clear, so she did not put her on antibiotics. I don't know if she has a temp. The 2nd vet encouraged me to walk her 20 minutes a day. I was doing that, but she is not getting better, so I decided to put her in the barn and see if I reduced her activity if that would help. Only the injured leg is swollen at this point. She is eating and drinking. Yes, I would like to get a second opinion, but I have hit dead ends so far ... all the vets I've called are either not seeing new patients or are booked for 2+ weeks. I am so frustrated. Thanks for your post.

My biggest worry is that something vital might have been damaged, It just seems odd that it is still swollen and she is still having issues if it was a minor cut. Is there anyway you could post a picture of the wound. The only other suggestion that I have is if you are in an area that either has a Vet school or an emergancy referral hospital. I would get in contact with one of them. Both places have enough vets that you can see someone within a day at the most. Like I said that area is hard on wounds because it is constently being stretched and pulled and also because of the dirt, urine, and manure that can get the area dirty. I am concerned that the horse might have cellulitis in the leg. In which she will need to be on antibiotics and leg wraps. If there is any way you can get her to a referral hospital I would head in that direction or have a local vet come out and check her again. If you need anything please feel free to send a PM or email me.

My app recently had a deep cut which was a little higher more around shoulder level and my vet told me to keep it washed twice a day with soap and a 10 minute rinse with the hose she also had me put her on antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. This worked great. Later on about two weeks in she said for me to start cleaning it with betadine and that kept it a little cleaner.

Thanks for the replies. I had another vet come out on Friday. She took several xrays, but has to develop them and I am waiting to hear from her. I have kept her in the stall, and she is doing much better. She still limps, but not so bad. She still has some swelling, but the vet did not seem to think it was infected. The cut is mostly healed up. I am hoping for good news and that she just needs to rest the leg for a while. I have been walking her about 10 minutes a couple of times each day. I will let you know whatt he vet says.

I'm glad to hear that she doesn't think it is infected. Hopefully the xrays will come back clean. Lets us know.

At the moment she's under the care of one of the best vets around.
i hope she heals ok

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