Charlie injured- photos (graphic)

[sarhound]

Well, I've aged about 20 years since about 4 pm tonight...

I was baking bread; the loaf was in the oven, so I went out to get Prince and bring him up for our first bareback ride since his arrival at the farm. Charlie and the other boys were in the field. They came up to the stalls; Charlie hung his head over, looking at us. Deputyhound went over to him to say hello. Next thing I know, DH is saying, "Hey, he's bleeding over here."

His face was sliced open in 2 places. It looked like he had chest and leg injuries, as well. I nearly fainted--God knows, I can handle any human injury, but let it be one of my babies, and that's a whole 'nuther story.

The vet was in the clinic with a critical horse receiving IV fluids, so we stuffed him in the trailer and took off. She did a great job for a lady who's going to be having a baby in 3 weeks.

The pictures are a little graphic, so squeamish folks might want to take a pass...

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o148/sarhoundX2/horses/CharlieInjury/CharlieSedatedNov9_2008.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o148/sarhoundX2/horses/CharlieInjury/CharlieOverviewNov9_2008.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o148/sarhoundX2/horses/CharlieInjury/clippingTheSiteNov9_2008.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o148/sarhoundX2/horses/CharlieInjury/CharlieCloseupWoundsNov9_2008.jpg

She said the cheek wound would heal up clean with no scar. The jaw wound had to have tension sutures, so he may scar from it. About 12 stitches to close everything up, a shot of tetanus toxoid and bute, and scripts for bute and antibiotics, sedation, and minor surgery only ran us about $260. Of that amount, $125 was the after-hours call. I was expecting several hundred dollars, at least.

We still don't know what he got into to be hurt this badly. DH didn't have time to check both pastures before we went hauling out. He'll have to wait until daylight to see if he can find any blood where the injury occurred. My biggest fear is that the other boys will get into it, too.

Poor boy was drunk as a skunk while the vet worked on him. Good thing, since this is the boy who put me in the ER 2 weeks ago when he bit the fool out of my hand. My first words to the vet were, "Be careful, he bites." He came thru the ordeal with flying colors, though. He did have difficulty climbing back up into the trailer; he finally staggered in and fell asleep.

He's now eating hay, has had his antibiotics, and is in a stall, thanks to the heroic efforts of DH. We closed off one of the stall runs, so he has indoor/outdoor access and his own personal water tank. Stitch is extremely bent out of shape, since they're attached at the hip.

I just hope I can get some sleep tonight. I'm going to be worried all night about him, since I don't know if he's ever been kept confined before today. I'd feel better if I could stay out there with him, but it's not really feasible.

I'm too old for these kinds of shocks...

[Dakota Sunrise]

Wow, I'm glad he's going to be ok! I would have freaked if one of my horses came in with that injury!:eek: I would have been doing this number, lol ------> :rant: you guys handled it so well!
I wonder how he did it?

Keep us posted! I hope he makes a fast recovery.

[Annie&Dixie]

Oh I am so sorry! I don't know what I would do if Dixie ever got something like that, I was a wreck enough when she was just lame! I'm hoping for a quick and good recovery! Let us know what caused it when you find out...good for you for making sure he gets what he needed!

[FoxFireEMT]

OOOO my gosh... .I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Looks terrible. It seems like he has a good prognosis though. I hope your able to find the "reason" for his injury.

[FoxFireEMT]

O forgot to say, when I was "barn" shopping for a place to board my horse this one barn I was at was at a friends. She brought her horses in and we noticed her horse was bleeding big time from her jaw but it was vertical along the jaw line. Same thing, they had to load her up & take the horse to a nearby clinic. Needless to say, she is fine now. But they never did figure out what it was.

[WashingtonBay]

Yikes...


Thanks for the pictures! Very interesting, I wonder what he did.

[Remali]

Oh gosh, I am glad he is going to be alright, but those really are bad wounds aren't they......your poor Charlie!
And you too, I would have been so upset.....the vet sounds wonderful, that was good they got him in right away.

Such deep cuts and so clean-cut....I wonder....is there any metal anywhere he could've got sliced open on?
I know how horses are.....there can be one piece of something sharp in a million acres, and the horses will find it. And there are also chest wounds and leg injuries too? He didn't get attacked by something did he and get sliced open by a claw? Just guessing, but it is curious he had more than one wound...and they are so clean-cut.......

[lovesfortune]

Ah! Glad that you got him in and taken care of right away. I hope with the daylight you are able to figure out what he hurt himself on.

Keep us updated on how his recovery goes.

[Vegashorselady]

Oh gosh, I can't imagine how you felt seeing that! My heart would skip a few beats! I'm glad the vet got him all stitched up. Keep us updated on his recovery.

[PaintedHearts]

Wow that looks really bad. I'm glad he's going to be ok. Good luck finding out what did it. I hope no one else gets hurt until then. Keep us posted.

[JackieB]

Wow, those are some nasty wounds. Glad he's going to be OK. Let us know if you figure out what caused the injury. Get well quick, Charlie.

[oursarge]

I'm so sorry, I know the stress, I had a bad week too. I hope he'll heal up and be just fine. Thankfully the vet was there to take care of him. I had to skip the pictures but it sounds awful. Poor baby. I hope that he will be fine and you are able to find out what happened so nobody else gets hurt. Animals are really good about taking years off of our lives, I think my dog took 20 yrs off of mine this week!

[Gliderider]

O wow thats a nasty cut. My horse cut his eyelid into in his stall we never did figure out on what. They sure can find things to get hurt on. I wish him a fast recovery.

[Ryderd65]

Oh your poor boy! I hope he heals well and fast and you find what hurt him. ((((Hugs)))) to you.

[Equine_Woman]

Wow, those are some cuts!!! What kind of fencing is he in? My horses put their next through our pipe fencing and Sterling has had a cut in that area from pulling it back out. .

Charlie is one lucky horse!!!! Did you remember the bread in the oven before you left for the vets? My luck I'd have left it in the oven and burned the house down while I was gone!

Hope Charlie heals fast!

[alittleoffkey]

Wow, you'd better hold on to that vet! I'm glad he's going to be okay, I can't imagine how he did that.

[magayle]

oh i would have flipped!!! sure hope you find what did this

[Lakota's Pet]

Wow! That looks kinda nasty. Hopefully you can find out what happened so if it was something in the pasture you can fix it so it doesn't happen again. Poor baby. I really hope he heals up ok. I'va had a couple wounds like that over the last few years, and they are never fun. Let us know how he's doing.

[Gypsy Rose]

Eek! Here's hoping Charlie has a speedy recovery! Who knows, maybe being in this state may be a good thing toward attitude improvement.

Sorry- didn't mean it in a bad way- just thinking maybe his attitude might change a bit after this.

[grandmadeb]

Yikes, that must have been scary. Glad you were able to get him to the vet so quickly. Al sliced his lower leg when he stuck his foot through the fence on the wire. Ain't it amazing how they do not have to try too hard to hurt themselves?

[sarhound]

Well, he seems to be OK this morning; he "whoo,hoo,hooed" as soon as he saw me come out the back door. I put his Bute into a handful of sweet feed, and he scarfed it down. Hopefully, it will keep the swelling under control so the jaw stitches don't pull out.

It's raining out here today. I'll bet 10 to 1 odds that the blood from wherever he got hurt is washed away and we'll never find out what happened. The vet said that there are some injuries that they never find out how they occurred.

I guess I shouldn't have worried about him being confined. He's dry--chomping hay in the covered part of the stall run. Stitch is in the next stall run with just a little dampness on him. He can't figure out why he can't be touching Charlie (they're joined at the hip most of the time.) Poor Chico is soaking wet. He hasn't figured out that the third stall run is open and he can get in under the roof there. Prince is going, "Eh, whatever;" he's out in the rain with the big hay bale all by himself.

The bread survived. The hamburger buns that I was making were gargantuan in size, since they raised for several more hours than I was originally planning for them, but they sure tasted good last night when we finally got to eat.

Now to see if I can keep Charlie entertained for 10 days until the stitches come out. I'll try to get him to pose for his "scarface" pictures when I get home.

[vicklynn]

Oh man, my heart is just beating thinking about IF it were one of mine.
I am sooooo sorry you had to go through this. It is so different when it hits home vs someone else.
((HUGS)) I hope you find what did that, but sometimes its just a freak thing.
Hope he heals up well. Your vet sounds pretty awesome.

[Remali]

Glad to hear he is doing OK this morning, too bad it had to rain tho....it would have been nice to find the spot where it happened so it gave you some clues. Let us know how Charlies does, sounds like he is in good hands!

[42many]

Good luck finding what did it - I know that can be tough tough! I hope he heals up well ... poor boy :(

[cloedoll]

Wowza, now that's a cut. Hope he heals up quick!

[Toodlestoo]

Yikes--I would have fainted! Great job getting him to the vet so quickly! It also most looks like a razor blade cut! Let us know if you ever find out what caused it. Poor baby!http://bestsmileys.com/crying/8.gif

[AUEquine]

is it sad that I took one look at the pics and said "wow that laceration looks great, perfect cut to suture up!" Think I've been working at the vet school too long now!
I know you're stressed, but I do have to say, if he was going to do it... he did it the best way he could have!
He may have a slight scar, but you'll be suprised how well wounds on the head heal! Also after a day or two in sutures the skin will relax and the swelling will come down and the skin will cover more of the exposed area. He'll probably have a small divit, but nothing majorly noticable!

Keep us posted, I'd love to see some post suture pics. Always interested to see others suture patterns!

[JetLagaside]

I'm glad he's doing better poor fella. Some of Jet Lags nasty cuts we have known exactly where it happend but the day he came in from the field with the entire inside of his hind leg open we never did find - talk about gross.
LOL AUEquine cuz I had thought the same thing!

[Suzi]

I hope he heals well. Its certainly scary looking cuts. They sure do manage to get themselves into trouble. I notice in your post and others, the use of 'DH" as a title. Sometimes I'm abit slow but what the heck does that mean......?

[lovesfortune]

DH - Dear husband :)

[Nudge_gurl58]

OMG wow. Poor guy...
That's really nasty!!
Hope he makes a speedy recovery!

[Suzi]

Thanks.....I figured it refered to hubby.

[PaintedDreamer_0110]

O wow that is a narly injury! I would have flipped my lid like Dakota if I seen any of my horses with that injury. Ouch! Glad he is ok though. And thats not a bad vet bill at all. Hope he feels better soon and heals fast.
-Painted-

[Tiz]

What the heck? Are there any farm implements out there, like a disk, or something?

Horses, I swear. My brother says that sheep are born looking for a place to die, and horses are born looking for a place to kill themselves.

[lisakaye]

I think if Easter or Brutus had done somethng like that I would have fainted right then and there. I hope he heals quickly and well.

[Miracle Whip]

Yeah I was thinking barbed wire also. That is a sharp cut. Unless their face just splits open if they are kicked in that spot? Good for the vet to be so cheap.

[rums_mom]

Yep, some cuts there. Good thing you saw them right away. Hope he heals quickly.

Rum got a cut under his chin at a show when he was eating from a hay bale through the trailer window, we figure he got cut on the metal around the window.