question for all the horse people.

[TJR89]

ok here is the deal, got a barrell horse with a sore/strained suspensory tendon. other than just penning him and and giving him time, what other things can be done to give him the best chance to be able to run again without coming up lame every time? and is there anything to speed up the whole healing process? he is a dang good horse so i'm not gonna do anything stupid to prevent a proper healing just curious.

[aladatrot]

Numotizine poultice. Smells awful, but will help draw out the soreness. Won't necessarily speed anything up, but will help break the soreness and tighten things up.

Cheers
M

[coyote hunter]

Epsom salt. Soak a stag and wrap it around the tendon area. Will help with soreness also. As for healing its best to allow the animal to heal on its own.

[RockinW]

my wife had a horse she was runnin pull a suspensory once. we asked some old race horse guys we knew, they said to "sweat it" with DMSO. we rubbed the leg down with it, wrapped it with a short peice of an old polo wrap, covered that with plastic wrap, & put vet wrap on top of that. all of it pulled tight. seems like we would only leave it on for maybe 15 minutes twice a day. the rest of the time it was just kept wrapped tight with a clean wrap & we kept him up where he wouldnt move around to much. dont know if its the best way, but within a month he was sound & she was runnin him again.

p.s. dont let ANY DMSO get on your skin.

[bailey508]

my wife had a horse she was runnin pull a suspensory once. we asked some old race horse guys we knew, they said to "sweat it" with DMSO. we rubbed the leg down with it, wrapped it with a short peice of an old polo wrap, covered that with plastic wrap, & put vet wrap on top of that. all of it pulled tight. seems like we would only leave it on for maybe 15 minutes twice a day. the rest of the time it was just kept wrapped tight with a clean wrap & we kept him up where he wouldnt move around to much. dont know if its the best way, but within a month he was sound & she was runnin him again.

p.s. dont let ANY DMSO get on your skin.

x2 on the DMSO

X100 on not getting it on your skin..lol

[RockinW]

p.s. dont let ANY DMSO get on your skin.

x2 on the DMSO

X100 on not getting it on your skin..lol

i wore an old pair of leather gloves when i wrapped that horse. the next summer i was hauling some square hay, dug around behind the truck seats, found a pair of gloves , put em on and in a little while i noticed a funny taste in my mouth.  took me awhile to figure out what it was. it was the DMSO. didnt seem to get tired or sore hauling hay that day though!

[aladatrot]

I forgot about dmso sweat. Our racehorse people around here use nitrofurazone ointment spiked with dmso and paint it on with a brush. Wrap in saran wrap, quilt, and standing bandages just like what you did. Not sure if anything what the furazone ointment would add, maybe its use is regional. I bet the dmso is what does all the good. Was the taste in your mouth a little like garlic? Lol.

Cheers
M

[TinyTexasCowgirl]

If you have a vet, you can also add 10 ccs of Dexmethasone to the DMSO  (the little white jar) and it will really help as well. You can also use Surpass. You also can put the horse up on wedge shoes and it will relieve a little of the pull on that tendon. I can also show you how to wrap a leg with a polo wrap specifically for the suspensory tendon. Where you live at?

[Rockin-P-Ranch]

All of this is good info but I can tell you this from years of messing with hores. Turn him out at the ranch and pick him up this spring. Leg injuries are nothing to play around with in a horse. Time is the best healing you can give him.A horse without his legs is useless. And keeping one up in a stall or small trap is not the best thing for him.

[TJR89]

thanks for all the responses. we had a few people tell us about the dmso i was just looking for a few more ideas but its pretty clear that dmso might just be the best bet. gonna get that started asap.

And keeping one up in a stall or small trap is not the best thing for him.

not trying to doubt you sir but why is this? we were told that keeping him penned would prevent him from running around to much and reaggravating the injury.

[Rockin-P-Ranch]

Mam I have been around horses all my life and have never had a horse hurt or injur itself without some kind of human help. And I will bet you that the Vet is the one that has told you about all theses things that you need to do to help get this horse back on his feet. And you need to come see him ever so often so he can check it out.Put the horse out some where so it can be a horse and not a pet. And it will heal up a lot faster.Now with all that said horses are a very big part of how I make my living and they are a tool just like my truck or my dogs to get my job done.And if one gets injurd I will take care of it. By the way You are the one that asked for input not me.

[jdt]

Mam I have been around horses all my life and have never had a horse hurt or injur itself without some kind of human help. And I will bet you that the Vet is the one that has told you about all theses things that you need to do to help get this horse back on his feet. And you need to come see him ever so often so he can check it out.Put the horse out some where so it can be a horse and not a pet. And it will heal up a lot faster.Now with all that said horses are a very big part of how I make my living and they are a tool just like my truck or my dogs to get my job done.And if one gets injurd I will take care of it. By the way You are the one that asked for input not me.

   x 2

[TJR89]

first of all i'm a sir not a mam. and no need to get worked up, i thought that i asked respectfully enough why you thought this, but i guess i was unclear. sorry for the confusion

[ETHHunters]

first of all i'm a sir not a mam. and no need to get worked up, i thought that i asked respectfully enough why you thought this, but i guess i was unclear. sorry for the confusion

X2 I thought he was rather rude!

[T-Bob Parker]

Ronnie ain't being rude, he's being realistic. I don't know crap about horses and don't care to but I do know that time heals all wounds, when animals are left alone they heal naturally because they know what hurts and what makes them feel better if you put a bunch of goop on them to dull the pain you'll hinder the animals healing process by dulling they're senses. This is the old way. If you feel more comfortable fiddling with it everyday, then go for it I'm sure youl do a good job too.

[bailey508]

I don't think it was what he said that was rude. Just the way he said it. 

[TinyTexasCowgirl]

I will second that Mr. Ronnie ain't a rude person at all, he is just frank, And to the point.

Now, with that being said, in my opinion, I think turnout will depend on the horse. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Ronnie's horses could be used to being turned out all the time, instead of  being stalled up, but I could be wrong, therefore they wouldn't see wide open space and say "hot d*mn! I'm free!!" and run around like a freak.

If you have a horse that is used to being stalled, and hasn't had much turnout then yes, turning him out could aggravate the injury, but if the horse is used to space, then by all means, turn him out, and don't look at him for 6 months to a year...

[Cutter Bay Kennels]

Mam I have been around horses all my life and have never had a horse hurt or injur itself without some kind of human help. And I will bet you that the Vet is the one that has told you about all theses things that you need to do to help get this horse back on his feet. And you need to come see him ever so often so he can check it out.Put the horse out some where so it can be a horse and not a pet. And it will heal up a lot faster.Now with all that said horses are a very big part of how I make my living and they are a tool just like my truck or my dogs to get my job done.And if one gets injurd I will take care of it. By the way You are the one that asked for input not me.

I like your response. To the point.

He was just letting you know he wasn't looking to bicker back and forth. A lot if times people ask for suggestions. Then they want to argue about the opinion ( being derived from many years of experience ).

[Rockin-P-Ranch]

I'm not replying to this to defend or take anything away from what I posted.But what Tiny an Cutter said hit the nail on the head.Let me give you a little back ground.For a good many years I worked with the 4H horse club in my county.And was also ansked to help with 4H drill team in my county.And if you have never worked with parents that think that they and their kids have no problems with horses go and sign up to help. Back to my point, most parents and kids think you just jump on a horse and he is supose to know what to do.Well it dont take long for them to find out the oppisite, They think the horse is what the problem is.So when they finaly come to me and ask how to fix the horse I tell them to go sit down in the bleachers and leave me alone with your kid.Most of the time I would put the child on one of my ranch horses to show them what it felt like when a horse moved under them the right way and then try to show them how to get their horse to do the same thing.Now I'm going to brag on the kids that I was so happy to work with, They have won numerous state and national drill team contest.Not because of me and the other people envoled but because they where willing to hear and see what we where trying to do.

[coyote hunter]

Hey "mam" what u been up to? Besides crashing horses.  In all honesty the best way for that horse to heal is on Its own. And quit being rude tj. Have some cooth