StemCell Therapy

Horses are really good at getting hurt. Liz Arbittier, VMD, CVA, once treated a horse with a metal pitchfork-tineskewered hoof. Barn staff left the fork in the wheelbarrow, which was blocking the stall, while momentarily stepping away. Upon returning, the worker found the horse standing on the fork, which had pierced the bottom of the foot and come out the back of the heel/pastern.

Amazingly, after surgery and a long recovery, he was absolutely fine, said Arbittier, whos an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvanias New Bolton Center School of Veterinary Medicine, in Kennett Square.

Sharp metal prongs arent the only things that can injure a horse. Samantha Parkinson, DVM, CVMMP, the equine field service resident at Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, has seen several horses impale themselves on wooden handles of pitchforks.

Horses are uncannily efficient at finding things with which to hurt themselves, she said.

Often, its the most common barn fixtures that cause injury. Here are five that veterinarians encourage clients think twice about before using.

It helps to always have the snaps pointing toward the wall and making sure the screw-eye doesnt have any gaps/metal edges, Arbittier said. Investing in safety snaps or hangers is a good idea.

Its okay to feed hay on the groundthats the natural way horses eat, he said.

That poses a hazard for the horses mouth, lips, and gums, said Lindsay Goodale, DVM, an equine practitioner and a lecturer at Cornell University. The best option is to avoid sharp metal, but if its in your barn check it regularly for damage.

If theyre designed to fold down after use, return them to that position, Ahlschwede says.

Its not possible for everyone to change their latches, but they can make sure that horse owners, staff, and others bringing horses in and out always push the latches all the way in to avoid injuries, Goodale said.

See the article here:
5 Common Things You Won't Find in Horse Vet's Barn - TheHorse.com

This entry was posted on February 8, 2020 at 9:47 pm and is filed under Veterinary Medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |