Discussion forum
Strange Injury (Horse talk)
By Namanji - 1.5 months ago
Hi all Yesterday afternoon the yo where my Shire mare is at called me to say that she had been bitten by another horse and was struggeling to breathe. Well i called the vet,raced at 160kms/hr up the mountainpass and was extremely relieved that her breathing had returned to normal when i got there.
It seems as if another horse had bit her right next to the jugular vein-one can see the bite marks on both sides of the neck-about 2/3rds up from the neckbase. 5 stitches,bute/tetanus/antibiotics later she is doing well and stood like an angel the whole time(it was already dark by then).
My question is-how normal is this for a mare to be bitten in this strange place?? I would think 2 stallions/frisky geldings might bite whilst rearing and then get each other by the throat-but a huge mare,the biggest in the herd but by no means the alpha horse-actually somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy-NOT known for fighting with others...? Will go out this afternoon and take some photos to post.
Strange Injury (Horse talk)
By Fenplace - 1.5 months ago
My two geldings play bite all the time just below where you would neck twitch a horse, very close to the jugular groove actually, they hand onto each othere there.
Is you horse in with any small ponies perhaps?
Strange Injury (Horse talk)
By Namanji - 1.5 months ago
No ponies Fenplace-the smallest in the herd is about 14.2hh and one 6 month old filly-which follows Fable around as if she was her mother!
Strange Injury (Horse talk)
By jenny-c - 1.5 months ago
Hi Namanji.
I'm so glad that Fable is doing well and that she's such a good patient. That really is a rather bizarre injury!
Did the YO actually see her being bitten or is it possible that she might have got her head through a fence, or other object and hurt both sides trying to extricate herself?
Strange Injury (Horse talk)
By karo - 1.5 months ago
It sounds fishy, to say the least. Any posibility it might have been a stray dog, leopard or other kind of predator? Are there any other marks, even small on her, legs, sides etc? My gelding has been bitten just where the neck joins the head, just the hair is off. He is constanly playing with another gelding. Previously another of my geldings was bitten hard enough to cause swelling but not a wound that needed sutures.
Strange Injury (Horse talk)
By Namanji - 1.5 months ago
Hi guys OK-so yesterday afternoon i went to check on my girl again.I had the chance to examine her wounds in daylight and i am now convinced it was def not a horsebite. Forgot the camera(yet again...sigh) but the suture wound looked like a "winkelhak" and the other side of her neck had more scratches than punctures...(wire injury i recon)
Poor baby-after a bucket full of carrots for the patient-i took her to her nightpaddock.Madam was feeling very frisky and actually trotted off(for those who are familiar with the shires-they do not go fast anywhere...LOL). Anyway,hanged at the yard for a while and later she came walking up to me.At that point she had to walk up a little slope.Convinced that the carroots where truly now fininshed-she walked downhill again...only to appear as if she was about to land 4 feet in the air.Given that i had 20 minutes ago given her an Imi penisillen shot-i went flying down to her(recounting the amount of times i had drawn-back the injection to make sure i was in no vein...5-6!!)Visions of my girl dying because her GP owner could not give a proper IMI injection kept streaming in.With her halter then on ,i walked to a flat space-picking up a leg to see if she truly wanted to collaps----no problem there.Listening to her breathing she seemed to have difficulties in breating again-which seemed to magically dissapear once she felt she was getting sufficient attention again.So mommy stood for the next 15 minutes with her untill she walked away to graze.
Stress due to injections or clever ploy for attention i am not sure. But my girl is fine!
Strange Injury (Horse talk)
By Jane - 1.5 months ago
I had a phonecall from my yo months ago to say that she thought my horse had been shot. Talk about a fast drive!
We got there before the vet and it looked like a gunshot wound - even to what looked like dust around the hole. When the ver arrived he also initially thought it was a gunshot until he probed the wound and pulled out...a stick!
Horse are good at the mysterious.