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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Izzy's Leg: Week 2

1/28/2015

 
I took Izzy to the vet on Saturday for his end of week two exam. While it's not horrible news, we didn't get a "woot woot" from the vet either. Although, the thought of Dr. Tolley woot wooting anything does make me laugh.

Best friend, KG, proved her worth yet again by meeting me at the barn on a ridiculously cold and foggy day to spend her Saturday afternoon with me shooting the breeze at Bakersfield Vet Hospital (BVH). We both agree that being at BVH is far more interesting when it's not your horse being examined or your wallet that's being emptied.

As I knew he would, Izzy hopped into the trailer fairly quickly. I did have to give him a few tugs and make a second run at it, but this horse is not a fighter. He does express a mild opinion, but ultimately he is easily persuaded to follow my suggestion. He unloaded quiet pleasantly, and even though he was in a strange place, he followed me willing into BVH's exam bay and stocks.

After unwrapping the wound, Dr. Tolley gave a bit of a frustrated sigh. Far more proud flesh had developed than he had hoped would. It seems as though my intuition had been right; we should have gone to the vet hospital last weekend. He said no harm had been done, but the healing had been put on hold.
Picture
Dr. Tolley at work.
For those who haven't dealt with proud before, basically, it's what happens when the inside tissue grows faster than the skin that covers it does. Proud flesh will continue to grow and mound, even growing over the edges of the skin. When this happens, the skin can't knit the wound closed.
Picture
Got proud flesh? Unfortunately, yes.
Fortunately, proud flesh can be stopped with pharmaceutical assistance and bandaging, but it takes vigilant care and frequent debridement. When the vet debrides the wound, he literally cuts away the flesh that has over-grown its area. In Izzy's case, Dr. Tolley used what looked like a razor blade and simply sliced away the excess tissue until it was level with the skin. While I did watch the procedure in its entirety, it was pretty gross, so I refrained from shooting pictures.
As Dr. Tolley removed the excess tissue, the wound bled profusely. He staunched the wound as well as he could, but then wrapped it as I had been doing for the past two weeks. Izzy has another appointment on Friday. Dr. Tolley wants to keep checking on the wound as often as possible to ensure that we stop the development of proud flesh.

We are also going to try a different treatment from what he usually does. While he admitted that he hates change, he is curious to see if a new product will control the proud flesh more quickly than his own White Lotion. Instead of just using the moist pressure bandage, he applied a medicated pad that contains a calcium/something else mixture.

I teach a small amount of chemistry to my students and am more familiar with the periodic table of elements than most people, but he lost me as he rattled off the chemicals contained in this product verses those in the "White Lotion" that BVH makes. Both products are astringents that irritate the flesh, which slows the red blood cells from creating new tissue. The White Lotion that BVH makes is lead based which means it poses some health risks. This new product is calcium based and less of an irritant to the skin cells.

According to the creator of the medicated pad, it will more dramatically slow the growth of proud flesh which will enable the skin cells to do their work. At $14.50 a medicated pad, I hope they work pretty fast!

So our current plan is this: Dr. Tolley wrapped the wound with the medicated pad, covered that with brown gauze, added a telfa pad to cover the lowest part of the wound that the medicated pad couldn't cover and then topped that with more brown gauze. A roll of cotton sheet was then added. Topping that, he applied a pressure bandage of more brown gauze. He sealed the whole thing with a roll of Vet wrap.

I reapplied the same bandage on Monday night. We'll re-evaluate on Friday. One advantage with this calcium pad is that the bandage doesn't need to be changed every other day as with the moist bandage or white lotion. As long as Izzy doesn't damage the bandage, the medicated pad will work for four days. We shall see!

Since Izzy was already there, he also got a dental exam. More on that tomorrow.
Austen link
1/27/2015 10:03:18 pm

Man, what a tough situation for your vet. I've had good luck using Equiaid for proud flesh, though not on such a big wound. I didn't have the courage to cut the proud flesh down to level, so now Guinness has a bump where I used the stuff. As soon as I started using it, the wound started to close up, instead of grow out. It was pretty cool.

Fingers crossed the medicated pads work out. Hooray for bandage changes every 4 days! ;)

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/28/2015 09:25:59 am

Many people have shared other solutions, but my vet has only offered the white lotion or medicated pads as treatment options. I am going to ask him about some of the other options on Friday. Not that I doubt him at all, but I am curious what he has to say about these other products. Thanks for the info!

Lauren link
1/27/2015 11:55:59 pm

Proud flesh is so frustrating! I bet it'll look a lot better on Friday.

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/28/2015 09:26:29 am

Fingers cross, but if not, ever onward. :0)

Amanda link
1/28/2015 01:15:25 am

Underwood's is supposed to be amazing for proud flesh as well.

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/28/2015 09:27:13 am

Thanks, Amanda. I am adding that product to my "ask the vet on Friday" list. :0)

Tracy link
1/28/2015 02:48:02 am

Ugh. Proud flesh sucks. :(

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/28/2015 09:27:49 am

That's pretty much my opinion too!

Beka link
1/28/2015 03:40:34 am

What! I want in on this magical proud-flesh-taming pad! Hope it works well for Izzy! Granted Archie's leg has a significantly smaller surface area, I found that he was extra-ouchie after the debridement of the proud flesh. Hello, blood.

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/28/2015 09:29:07 am

I have no idea if it works or not. And Archie's wound looks so much deeper ... and scarier!!!! Nothing to do but follow directions and let time pass, right?

Beka link
1/29/2015 01:11:29 am

And alcohol. And arts and crafts. My next project will be t-shirts for the "Crippled Horse Owners Club."

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/29/2015 09:30:41 am

HAHA - written with a drink in my hand!!!!!

emma link
1/28/2015 05:29:57 am

good luck - hopefully these new pads do the trick!

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/28/2015 09:29:43 am

Thanks!!!!

Teresa link
1/28/2015 07:07:55 pm

those pads sound terrific- if they work it means less debridement which is better in the long run.

Poor Izzy (and you) but he's getting lots of training on groundwork, trailering, vets etc....

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/28/2015 09:22:53 pm

hope they work as well. It's such a large wound though. It's just going to take a lot of time for it to close up. But, like you said, we're doing lots of work from the ground. :0)

CindyA
1/28/2015 11:28:19 pm

Proud flesh is the worst but those pads sound awesome, wish I'd had them a few years ago when I was dealing with this! It will seem like forever while you battle healing of the middle, keeping the "hairline" around it healthy, and watching the proud flesh fight for position. At least you don't have to wrap frequently...let the vet do it for sure! Good luck to you and Izzy. Oh, and Speedy is a rockstar!

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/29/2015 09:33:10 am

Speedy is a rock star, but keep it quiet. he already has a huge head. :0)

I don't mind the wrapping. Every other day is fine with me, but what I don't like is seeing a lack of improvement, like tonight. We're going to the vet tomorrow, but I was a bit discouraged when I unwrapped and saw more proud flesh. I am not sure how we're going to slow this stuff down. I dread going to the vet every week for debridement. Not only is it time consuming but it's getting expensive. :0/

Tori link
1/29/2015 03:25:45 am

I had luck with wound powder and keeping it wrapped 24/7. Best of luck to you all working to heal this horse!

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/29/2015 09:34:25 am

Thanks for the suggestion! We're ABSOLUTELY keeping it wrapped at all times and as frequently as necessary. I hope the vet tells me it looks a it better tomorrow. When I wrapped it tonight, it looked pretty covered with proud flesh. Patience ....

Val
1/31/2015 01:47:03 am

Debridement sounds like nasty business. Thanks for sparing us the pictures.

I have never treated a wound like Izzy's, but I have had good luck with Wonder Dust. It sped up the healing process. That raw hamburger look of proud flesh was what triggered me to dust the wound and it took care of it very quickly. Wear goggles!

My first dressage trainer's (new) mare jumped a fence and sliced her leg up in a similar fashion to Izzy's wound. She was never lame, but the healing was slow going and the wound was beyond gross. She tack walked the mate everyday and swore that it prevented proud flesh. No debridement was ever necessary and she healed with a flat scar. Only a thin line of hair was missing in the end. Just some food for thought.

You know what? Harley also jumped a fence and scraped his legs after I had owned him for less than six months. Is this some kind of new horse initiation?

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/31/2015 02:05:57 am

Yeah ... it's a pretty gross procedure. :0)

I have discovered that some horses develop more proud flesh than others. Every wound behaves differently as well. Dr. Tolley explained that hand walking is normally not recommend when dealing with proud flesh as it causes the skin and underlying tissues to move around which distrupts the skin cells' progress. In Izzy's case, the wound is on a part of his body that doesn't really have any movement such as bending or stretching. This is good as hand walking is good for his brain!!!!

And horses ... what would we do without them? :0)


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
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