A few days ago my wife and I returned home from a one day family trip. Shortly after getting home we called the stable where our horses are to check on them. We go and involve ourselves with our horses almost everyday religiously so it was normal for us to call and check on them when we had not seen them that day. The call alerted us to the fact that one of our horses was injured earlier in the day. As horses do when they get a temperature change coupled with more daylight the horses had been running feverishly around the paddock expending some pent up winter energy. Horses being horses in the knee deep slippery wet snow we currently host is nothing to be all that concerned about.However; One of them took a fall.. How bad could it be? After all its a horse not a crystal unicorn. 

Naturally concerned about the injury of our horse we immediately headed out to the stable to assess the situation. The horses were already in the barn and stalled when we arrived, and this is what we were confronted with. See the Photo

Naturally we were taken aback by the extreme swelling in the area of the gaskin and hock. My wife was horrified instantly at the sight.

Admittedly I am  relatively new to the whole horse ownership spectrum and have had only a little experience dealing with horse injuries. With the helpfull advice of the stable owner it was decided that application of  an epsum salt poultice to the severely swollen hock was the first aide treatment that could be employed. Epsom salt was pasted with water, then applied to the swollen leg and hock. The paste was covered with cellophane food wrap while vet wrap was applied above and below the hock to keep the poultice in place. After approximately one hour the entire remedy was removed. I have to admit I was totally amazed at the significant reduction in swelling after only a short period of the epsum salt application.

This horse was stalled for the night and it was determined that a quick call to the vet was in order. The vet was previously booked to visit our other horses in two days so it was a matter of determining the correct course of action until his scheduled visit. In this case the horse was to remain on stall rest and bute, with limited exercise (walking) a couple of times a day. We continued with the process of applying the epsom salt poultice a couple of times the next day with the directed stall rest and walking. By the end of the day following the injury there was almost zero evidence of the injury. The horse showed no signs of lameness and we showed the vet the pictures we took of the injury for fear that he would not believe that any injury had occurred at all.  

Unfortunately I fell asleep at the wheel and did not take any pictures of the applied poultice and bandage although I had multiple opportunities.

I did however take this before picture and the subsequent after picture about 24 hours later. Just to show the difference.

Vet diagnoses in a nutshell: A blunt trauma injury in the Gaskin area from the fall caused the swelling and invariably it worked its way down the leg to cause the bulbous appereance at the hock cap area.

In this instance no serious injury has transpired, and I consider it a good learning experience for a backyard cowboy like myself. Although this could have been significantly worse, I am reminded once again that generally horses are not fragile creatures. 6000 years of evolution has made them pretty rugged.

Things to remember,

1. Just like we treat people. "First aide is just that, first aide" it preserves life and prevents the condition from worsening.

2.Call the vet. Be clear in your description of the injury and the circumstances surrounding it.

3. take pictures...in this high tech world you may actually be able to send photos electronically to the vet for a better first hand look (sans emotion) and interpretation of the verbal description.

 Now I am on the hunt for magnesium sulfate/epsom salt in gel form. Just easier to work with.