Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1910-11-04
Barbed Wire Cuts ON Horses

place topic to discuss in a journal
devoted to horse breeding topics. but
anything that relates to the care of
the horse as well as to his breeding
should be proper material for q
horseman's journal. Certainly barh-
ed wire injuries are common enoupb
10 cause us to make an effort to treat
them IN the best manner possible.
Perhaps no class of injuries are as
common to the horse as are barbed
wire injuries and at least two-thirds
OF such accidents are due to the neg
ligence of the horseman. A loose
wire, in the lot, or along the pasture
renee hitching the horse for few
minutes to fence where the bottom
wire is down or when we knew the
horse was apt to fret and paw or an
old wire gate left down when we
drive the horses in or out of the pas
ture or lot, all contribute to the scar
ring and causing permanent injury to
our horses. Just a little bit of time
well applied will suffice to prevent
most of these injuries. We can keen
the fence up or, better still, never
throw them down, and by doing these
little things often prevent serious in
jury to valuable horse. However.
since we are going to have barbed
wire fences and consequently plenty
Of wire cuts we should undertake to
handle the injuries so as to cause the
least amount of injury and blemish.
If there is a serious cut about the
lower portion of the leg or foot, the
first thing that may need attention is
to stop the flow of blood. Generally a
wire cut is of such a nature as to
| tear the blood vessels in an irregular
| manner and to cause but little bleed
ing, but occasionally large vessel Is
cut and it is necessary to stop the
| bleeding. The first thing to do in
an emergency of this kind is to keep
your wits about you. If necessary
| feel into the cut and learn where the
blood is coming from, whether from
above or below the cut. If you find
the vessel try and pass a cord over
the end and tie it firmly. A soft
leather strop, piece of rope or even
a suspender may be tied around the
leg either above or below the cut as
is necessary and then place a stick
would a switch. You can increase
the pressure over the blood vessel by
placing a piece of wood or any hard
substance under the band and then
! tightening up as before. Twist this
| band tight and you will succeed in
stopping the bleeding. This band
can not be left on the limb any great
! length of time, but it will give you
| time to either secure help or devise
some means of stopping it yourself.
If one tries the blood vessel may
nearly always be reached by means of
a needle and thread. Powdered alum
or tincture of iron are good to use
in these cases. Do not fill the cut
with dry dirt, SCOT flour or ashes,
as this is never necessary.
A wire cut in the fleshy part Of the
leg or body will heal much quicker
than one on the foot or lower part of
the leg. The character of the tissue
has a great deal to do with healing
as a cut in muscle will heal much
quicker than where ligaments and
tendons are cut. Suppose that a
physician should call to dress a
wound on the horse owner and
should begin by using ashes, axle
grease, pine tar, lime or SCOT, How
much of that treatment do you think
the man would stand fort At one
time such remedies or worse were
used by the physicians, but they have
now gone beyond such means and in
treating the horse we should remem-
| Der LudI WHAT Is SOOu IOl uldu Is dlSO
good for the beast in most cases. AT
least if it is good surgery to keep
a wound on man clean it is just as
good surgery to treat the wound on
the horse in the same way as far as
it is possible for you to do so. There
are plenty of horsemen who think
that such remedies as mentioned
above are good enough for the horse
100 often wounds are prevented
from healing by the frequent appli-
cation of some irritating drug
Again, horses are too often turned
to pasture where wet grass and
weeds do even more damage than
the irritating drugs used A wound
should be kept clean and dry as pos
sible and a horse with a wire cut
about the feet or legs should never
be turned to pasture when the grass
Is wet.