Providing first aid for your horse
Being able to perform first aid on your horse yourself is one of the things that every rider deeply desires. Here is how you can perform some first aid on your horse.
Extended shower of members
A prolonged shower of the limbs may be useful in certain pathologies of the hoof capsule, particularly laminitis. Restrictive, because it requires several hours of exposure to the water jet of the limbs, it can be facilitated by a simple assembly from watering equipment allowing several limbs to be showered at the same time.
This assembly consists of using four plastic watering hoses in the form of springs, approximately 2 metres long, on which 2.5 mm diameter holes have been previously drilled using a drill approximately every 5 cm on one side of the hose. The hoses are wrapped around the limbs and meet at the horse's withers or they are fixed to the top of a surcingle, connected by a multiple connection connected to a watering hose.
Making a durable foot dressing
To treat damage to the hoof capsule (abscesses, blisters, anthills, etc.), protective dressings that remain in place despite the equine's movements are necessary. Two widely used foot dressings are effective: the "Spahi" dressing and the bursa dressing.
“Spahi” dressing
This dressing is based on a successive braiding of turns of bandage, crossing each turn at the level of the hollow of the pastern and placed opposite the glomes. Five to seven turns of bandages allow to wrap and protect the hoof capsule. A correct braiding naturally lodges between the glomes and ensures a robust and effective dressing.
Stock market dressing
This type of dressing is rather used to ripen an abscess. It consists of cutting a piece of tarpaulin or sturdy plastic into a square of about 50 cm on each side and regularly piercing 3 to 4 holes on each side. A string passed through these holes allows the whole thing to be tightened around the pastern, wrapping the foot like a purse.
A wooden sole to reinforce the lower part can be placed under the foot and held in place by a sticky strip holding the dressing. In the specific case of a foot abscess, it is essential to allow the abscess to mature before piercing and draining it.
A mixture called "bread dough", rich in starch and salt, which gives it hyperosmotic and hypertonic properties, allows, when wrapped around the foot with a bandage, to naturally drain fluids out of the affected foot. The owner can easily make this mixture, which includes 200 grams of bran, two handfuls of flax seeds and four tablespoons of salt, and hold it all around the foot by making one of the bandages presented above.
Clever hoof dressing
Many hoof injuries (such as abscesses, hoof blemishes, sole bruises, etc.) require scraping the horn down to healthy tissues to eliminate the infection. In addition to the classic use of farriery equipment ( reinette, hoof trimmer, etc. available from La Sellerie Française ), the owner can use a small Dremel-type hand motor to meticulously and precisely grind the affected part of the hoof.
The empty space thus created can then be filled with a piece of sponge cut to the appropriate size and soaked in iodine tincture to prevent any infection. A durable dressing will finally have to be made to hold the sponge in place. In some cases, drug treatment is necessary, so it is important to know how to administer them correctly.