TCJp23 Equipment Update: First Aid

FIRST AID:
...things you need to know

Where effective first aid is concerned you can't bee too prepared or too careful.

You don't want to be hosing your horses arterial blood off the yard floor before you come up with a practical first aid strategy (like I did), make a plan now.

I have a Brownie badge in First Aid too, so feel I am suitably qualified!!

I have a fully stocked, comprehensive First Aid kit in my feed room, and a phone in there with my vet and farrier on speed-dial.  I have a bigger supply of vet wrap than my saddlery, because being prepared for emergencies is vital, you could save your horse significant down-time if you have all the right stuff immediately to hand.

I have a 'quick kit', a bag of essential things I need to dress most cuts and wounds.  I can just grab it and everything I need to bandage a wound is right there.  This has been used several times, It really is a great idea.

'Quick Kit' First Aid Kit: In the kit I have the following:

• gamgee
• cotton wool sheets
• scissors
• gauze cloth
• wound cream
• vet wrap
• gaffa tape
• bandage tape (to secure the ends of bandages where necessary)
• first aid spray
• hoof shaped poultice sheets
• hoof pick

For example, don't wait until you really need to work an emergency situation before you learn your horse doesn't like his leg hosed, or he wont stand still for you to bandage his leg.

Tom has just had a bath, it's a great way to get your horse to enjoy being hosed....do it when it's really hot, and he'll love it!

If your horse really MUST be kept in with an injury, remember he'll need at least 18 hours of fibre (hay or haylage) to eat in a 24hour period.  and keeping a buddy near-by can help tremendously with keeping stress levels to a minimum.

PRACTISE

I treat every little cut like it was a big-deal, so I can practise bandaging and hosing.  Not just to speed up my response and better my technique, but to get the boys used to all the fiddling about, to a point where it becomes a casual affair, mine will stand still in the yard, no head collar, whilst I fix a bandage etc on.

In the summer, when it's hot, your horse might enjoy, like my 2 do, a cold hose on the legs.  This is a great time to get him used to being hosed when he can relax because it feels good.  Then when you need to hose for an injury, and you're panicking and flapping about, he will be the calm one!

BANDAGING:

Some bandaging for first aid can be fiddly, so prepare for this.  Get you horse used to the mechanics of the job of first aid.  

Cotton wool sheets over the dressing with vet wrap over the top and secured with some tape (my vet did the bottom one, you can tell because I will only buy black vet wrap, Tom & Henry are very style-conscious even with an injury).

LEG WOUNDS:

Cleaning: which could be cold hosing for quite a while until you're certain the wound is clean, or wiping with a clean flannel.  It can be useful if your horse sustained a  minor cut earlier in the day to clean it with a flannel, rubbing gently until the wound bleeds again, this can help clean the wound further, but only do this if you've watched your vet do it and you can copy his technique.  Drying the wound, and applying a wound cream or similar preparation, we all have our own favourite things that work best for us (I like a giant tube of cream).

Dressing: This is when I use a human-grade first aid gauze layer in between the freshly cleaned wound and the bandage.  I lay a piece of the fabric over the wound, cut to size when necessary, it can be helpful to stop the wound blood sticking to the bandage.

Bandage: Vet Wrap, I love this stuff, it sticks to itself so it's much less fiddly to apply.  Rehearse using these too because there is a degree of tolerance in the level of stretch.  You don't want to apply too tight, or too loose, it needs some practise.

Stable Bandages: If the boys are in for the night, i'll swap any protective outdoors boot for stable bandages, these are fleece and stretchy, they can keep your bandage and leg protected and warm, and are easy to get on.

Boots: Invariably my 2 are turned out.  So putting boots over the bandage, and on the leg on the other side too, helps keep the bandage in place and adds extra protection.  Have a variety of brushing, tendon and specialist turn-out boots in your inventory, you never know what type you may need.  Try to buy ones that are machine washable too.

Protective Indoor Boots: I have indoor quilted boots too which cover the leg from the knee to below the fetlock.  If I have wet the leg for and injury (hosing or cleaning) and it's cold, these are a great thing tom use after towel drying the area, it keeps the leg warm (always put a matching one on the opposite leg), and allows it to dry too.

TENDON INJURIES:

I never approach a tendon injury without veterinary consultation.

For tendon injuries remember only 20 minutes of cold-hosing is effective in bringing down swelling.  It can also keep you occupied with a real job while you wait for the vet to arrive. Do this at least twice a day as your vet advises, OR buy your kit 'cold bandages', they are amazing, I fully recommend them: Aerborn Coolsport.   I keep an old plastic biscuit tin specially for this:  soak the bandage in water, in the tin, in the fridge so it's cold until the gel in the bandage swells.  They attach to the leg with long elastic Velcro straps, they are very easy to put on.  Which is handy if you've got a fidgety horse!  Leave them on for 20 minutes, and it gets the job done, you can do other things in the yard and saves water too. 

These cool boots are brilliant, I recommend every horse owner has a set,

they are easy to use and you can get on with other yard duties while they work.  with a hose you'd have to stand there for ages, boring for you, but more importantly, very boring for your horse. xx

Your horse may have to be stable bound (box rest) for a period of time, listen to your vet, but also use your judgement. 

When Henry has had tendon injuries (always a nutty field-related, shoe at the end of a 4metre skid type-thing), I have approached his box rest strategy in the same way. 

I have kept him and Tom indoors for as few days as possible (usually just 1). 

Then Henry stays in for the second day and Tom gets the yard and his box to wander about in. 

Then day 3 Tom goes out into the field that joins the yard only and Henry gets the yard and stables.  Keeping them close keeps them happy and Henry can move at liberty without being moved along by Tom. 

Henry, confined to the yard so he heals.  Tom is very near by and my land it arranged so there's nowhere he can go where Henry cant see him.

This can last a few days, then John builds a special tiny coral with electric fencing out into Tom's field. Henry gets a bit of rolling and grazing done, but in a very tight restricted area, so there's no possible chance of him leaping around and re-injuring himself, perhaps I should say, there's less chance....Henry doesn't need much room! 

Then the vet comes back, and gives him the all-clear to be turned out.  I am never in a hurry to ride, so Henry gets all the convalescence he needs. 

During this period Steve, my farrier has also called by to put on a special shoe which gives some relief to the injured area, and makes Henry sound enough to be turned out finally.

Remember farriers know everything about feet, and can make special emergency shoes to suit an injured horse, even help relieve a tendon injury.

Being prepared and practised means you skill levels rise, and the time it takes to apply a tricky dressing and bandage gets quicker each time.  If your horse gets a wound in a tricky place, you'll be more confident to tackle it, and your horse will be happy to stand still while you do it too.

You could ask your vet if they run a first-aid course, then you could learn about how to tackle on a few different scenarios.

TRAKEHNERS CAN JUMP Xmas Edition

Tom&Henry, and all of us here, wish you and your horses a very Merry Xmas xxx

...remember keep the Xmas indulgence to a minimum, think about our waistlines.....you 

 wouldn't want to fork out for new girths in 2012!  keep us fit and healthy and outside as much as possible, poached fields are easier to fix than mental horses!!

enjoy xxxxxxxxx 

Tom having a laugh

TCJpart22 Farriery

FARRIERY:
UPDATE:


February 2012  issue HORSE Magazine:

We need to have experts around us we can trust.  sometimes we need to ask those people to go above and beyond the call of duty, and a good relationship with your 'experts' is vital.

You may notice from this photo (my husband did), that the farrier is being offered a double-decker and a cuppa, this is a good start, but wait until he has finished doing a tricky job eh?

FARRIERY: My message, if your farrier falls short of the expertise you'd expect from him, change him.  An unhappy relationship with someone whose job it is to take care of your beloved horse is just not worth it.

Check out the Worshipfull Company of Farriers: website, there you can find farriers in your area and cross-check them with any reccomendations.

ORIGINAL MESSAGE: FARRIERY

January issue 2012

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Hi Jo,

I am writing in response to a letter in January issue ‘missing costs’ regarding farriers.

Fiona Morris obviously doesn’t think her farrier is worth the cost of a set of shoes, but she has forgotten the cost of shoeing isn’t about the raw materials, it’s about having someone very skilled and experienced, with years of apprenticeship and training, looking after your horses feet. 

What she may not realise, because the operation looks so smooth and practised, is that every visit her farrier is checking the balance of her horses feet, watching how he moves, trimming to straighten or correct, shaping the shoe, so he remains sound and rideable.  This is a very skilled job.

Farriery is the one cost I don’t moan about, because a good farrier, like mine, is worth his weight in gold.

Farriers get a lot of criticism from owners, about costs and unreliability, but I have the best farrier in the world and I am happy to pay him what he’s worth.  When he doesn’t turn up or is late, I try to think that that could be my horse he’s taking longer with: requiring speciality bespoke made corrective shoeing or emergency footwork, and my farrier takes the time it takes to do the job right, so he is quickly forgiven.

Steve Taylor, comes out at almost no notice to put shoes back on, he made a shoe specially to relieve a tendon injury my horse had (much to the surprise of my vet who thought he’d be lame for much longer, Steve’s forged on-the-spot, corrective shoe made him sound), and when I had the HORSE Magazine photographer come round, he got out of his sick bed to come out to me to check their shoes were OK for the shoot.

Treat your good farrier well, appreciate his expertise, you’d be lost without him.

 

Thank you

Shelley Rand, Tom & Henry.

TCJpart21 Rugging Horses

TO RUG OR NOT TO RUG...THAT IS THE QUESTION:
...and one we ask ourselves everyday once we've checked the local weather...it's tricky, but there are some checks you can make to be more...'scientific' about your choices...

Tom & Henry rock the snowsuits in FALPRO silver interactive well-fitting rugs.  They cost me a fortune, but they're so worth it.

I strongly believe in keeping my horses as naturally as possible, I don’t trim them at all except their tails but only because they get so long the boys tread on them getting up and down!

Horses are designed to be outdoors with only natural shelter from sun and rain. Obviously if your horse was designed for arid dessert environment and you keep him in the UK, or your horse is clipped, rugs are a very useful tool.

Mine are happy rugless, they cope with extreme cold as their natural temperature control is better than any rug can provide.  

They grow good hairy coats and provided I keep the mud roughly brushed off so the hair can stand up they have a brilliant personal heating system, there is hardly ever any need to rug them.

Having said all that their are certain 'triggers' in the weather, which mean I can  be flexible with rugs, since I would much rather them be out with a good rug on, than shut away indoors where space is restricted.  If there is one important lesson I have learned keeping T&H, is that being outdoors, with freedom to roam in safety is the most important thing to a horse.

**I keep their stable doors open all year round full of clean bedding and fresh haylage, the only times they consistently choose to use the shelter of their boxes is in hot and sunny weather.  They never go inside in the rain.  They might stand together with their bums toward the rain or wind backs against the hedge of their boundary looking, we believe, miserable, but this is extreme anthropomorphising - they are not us - we'd rather have a hot bath, get into jamies and sit by the fire with a cuppa - horses want to be outside...end of story.

Tom and Henry looking all snugly in the cold.  rain was forecast overnight, hence the rugs.

Triggers:

I spent a lot of time analysing my horses at different times of the year.  Measuring their temperatures, noting their behaviour during a variety of weathers.  And I learned to my surprise that I had been rugging them far too much, and the effect of this ultimately meant their natural defences (their coats) were never fully winter ready. Now they are.

I do however rug them when certain markers are reached, triggers in the combination of elements.  With a temperature + rain + wind strategy, it’s easy to work out the rug situation.

Spend time outdoors with your horse in lots of weathers and understand what his needs are. I set temperature goals for certain scenarios and stick by them. I have a thermometer in the feed room which I check twice a day, and I keep a careful watch on the local weather forecast too, find one that is as accurate as possible for your area.

The triggers I have decided to use to decide whether rugs go on or not are:

Temperature.

Rain/Snow/Sleet,

Wind

...and combinations of all those.

I know for example at what air temperature Tom and Henry begin to get cold (put your face up against your horses body, feel the warmth coming through the hair...or not - this  also means you don't need to take your gloves off either). 

It's very rare that I will rug against cold only. 

It's 2 degrees today, sunny dry mid December morning, they are naked.

When I do, it's because it's dropped below a certain marker/temperature.  You can find this out about your own horse by noticing how cold it needs to get before he is cold. It's really worth doing this groundwork, because you might be surprised like I was how few times they actually need rugs on - we like them to be snugly when we leave them at night in the winter...but that may not be what they need, and in certain cases, might also be unhealthy. 

 In the rain too, as long as its not below 4degrees I keep them naked. When I do rug is if the combination of wet + cold happens, when the rain is heavy and prolonged: IE, it’s unlikely there will be time to get dry and warm before another downpour, or if it's very windy. This will mean the moisture will evaporate off their bodies and keep them at a lower temperature,

IE: rain + wind, means cold = rugs. The wind changes everything, because if they’re wet, wind can make a happy horse very cold, very quickly.

wet + cold = rugs

If its just prolonged wet, a lightweight sheet goes on, well fitted of course so it doesn’t hinder their natural movement (and for T&H that’s means galloping about like mad things).

Cold/wet/windy they have a medium turnout for that extra snugly quality.

And in the snow, they have a heavyweight, because I don’t want them freezing in combination with the wetness of the snow, and they roll about in it, gallop about in it and eat it too!

Tom & Henry xxx

Consider the long-term effects of deep mud - not just for mud fever. Wet mud is very cold in winter, and your horse might be standing in it all day, getting cold from the feet up. This is another trigger for me bringing Tom & Henry in at night. Their feet get a chance to be clean, dry and warm.

When the weather always has my fields wet and muddy, and it’s cold and windy too, they come in at night. Above 5degrees they remain rugless

Neck covers: I buy rugs with them because I like the options of being able to be flexible with my weather protection, but rarely use them. Tom & Henry LOVE to roll and the neck covers just seem to lessen their enjoyment of getting as filthy as possible!

ahhhhh...Henry xxx

I sometimes rug indoors too, because the restricted room disallows them to move about and get themselves warm as they would do whilst out.

So indoors + extreme cold (minus2 degrees for eg (you decide what your own level is for your horse)) = rugs. 

Choosing rugs can be tricky.  I have found a brand that fits my boys perfectly so I buy all their outfits from that brand.  They don’t rub, they never slip, are fully, easily and quickly adjustable, marvellously waterproof, modern and lightweight and have silver interactive linings, which to my surprise really do make cuts and knocks heal quickly!

Be fussy when you buy rugs, assume you'll spend a fortune for a good one, it'll be worth it - I have had mine for years, and only needed to buy more because the boys grew!!  check they fit your horses body shape well - there are so many shapes and fits - because they will be spending all day in them, they have got to perform.

happy rugging.......or not! xx

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