Tree Limb Removed from Horse

[DunPainted]

An MSN group of Wisconsin Horse Owners had a post by a lady whose horse somehow managed to get a large chunk of a tree branch lodged in his leg.

The purpose of these photos serves only to encourage everyone to check their pastures for protuberances, however small, that could result in our horses being impaled by such an object.

 

[Tabitha]

Sadly, it doesn't even have to be a protruding branch on a tree; it can be an old piece of branch lying on the ground.

Years back friends were riding in the forest near here. They were cantering through an open area, and the one horse stepped just right on a short piece of branch lying on the ground--the branch flipped up & impaled the horse--it went in just behind the horse's sheath. It was a piece of wood pretty close to the size of the one in these photos, and it pretty much disappeared from sight. That horse was in some pain--they had to walk him very slowly to a place where they could get the trailer in to him. The vet removed the wood & the horse did eventually recover, but it took a long time to get it to heal. Because the wood was old & kind of decayed, getting all the bits removed from the wound was difficult, and they had problems with infection.

Since that happened I don't just look for branches the horse could run into; I walk the pastures & pick up any sticks & branches that look like they could get stepped on, flipped up & into a horse's underparts!