Veterinarians frequently counsel horse owners to cold hose an injury for a duration of about 20 minutes. Many horse owners quickly realize the benefits of this practice and will often have hydrotherapy well underway even before the veterinarian has arrived to tend to an injury.

Initially hydrotherapy serves to cleanse an open wound of dirt and debris. A clean wound is not only the first step to effective healing, it is also valuable therapy for ongoing healing. This first step in cleaning will be important whether the wound is sutured or left to heal as an open wound.

If the injury is left to heal as an open wound, hosing the wound for 20 minutes daily encourages further healing. This process can be repeated every day for weeks after the injury depending on the wound’s progress.

The beneficial effects of hydrotherapy extend beyond cleansing the injury. Hydrotherapy is also remarkably effective at controlling and regulating the three main symptoms of inflammation — heat, swelling and pain.

These three processes are natural and functional responses to injury, yet they can overwhelm and slow the healing process. Hydrotherapy appears to modulate the horse’s natural mechanisms to heal an injury by capitalizing on the stimulating effects of improved circulation.

Both the immune system and tissue regeneration appear to be enhanced as well. The timely application of cold hydrotherapy to a laceration, blunt trauma, or strained and/or sprained soft tissue constricts and decreases the permeability of blood vessels at the injury site and thus reduces the amount of fluid accumulation.

Cold therapy reduces the tissue’s demand for oxygen and so limits the triggers for hypoxic injury. Contraction of the vessels due to the cold also encourages the movement of fluid from the affected area, further reducing swelling. One of the often overlooked benefits of cold hydrotherapy is that of analgesia and pain relief.

Invariably the afflicted site shows noticeable improvement and appears less painful for the horse. Horses quickly learn to accept and enjoy the benefits of hydrotherapy. Owners often comment on the favourable influence hydrotherapy will have on their horse’s overall attitude.

There are numerous variations on the theme of hydrotherapy. Cold therapy is recommended until the initial inflammation has subsided. Once the injury feels cool to the touch, heat can be applied to encourage blood circulation to the affected area. Hosing with warm and/or tepid water can be done if such is readily available. Hot compresses can also be utilized to accomplish this end. When heat is applied to the surface of an injury it causes the blood vessels to dilate and increase blood flow to the site bringing nutrients and oxygen to the injured tissue.

Although dry heat from lamps or heating pads can be helpful, moist heat from compresses are better able to penetrate deeper into the tissues. However, if heat is applied too early after an injury the heat can spur undesirable inflammation. Therefore, as a general rule one would apply cold if the injury is warm and/or hot and apply heat if the injury feels cool/cold. The change of therapy from cold to hot can take from days to a week depending on the nature and severity of the injury.

Contrast baths are another practice that can be used to stimulate healing. An alternating series of warm (not hot) and cold applications are used to encourage the movement of nourishing fluids into the affected area and removal of stagnant fluids out of the healing site by cycling dilation and contraction of blood vessels.

It is important not to overlook the inexpensive nature and extremely wide margin of safety hydrotherapy offers. As such, it presents strong arguments in its favour, bringing a multitude of advantages to horse owners when presented with acute injuries or wounds.

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Whenever horses, people or at times both become entangled with a rope(s), burns are a likely mishap. The friction created by the rope as it runs across the skin heats the tissue, causing a burn injury that can be very serious, painful and difficult to treat.

Rope burns frequently occur in locations where the body flexes such as pasterns, knees, flanks, hocks and under the tail head. The pastern is commonly afflicted and can be problematic to heal because of its tenderness and flexibility.

Unlike an open bleeding wound which demands immediate attention, rope burns tend to be more subtle showing very little apparent damage to the tissues initially. As such their seriousness is often overlooked. Rope burns seldom bleed. Bleeding would be an indication to summon a veterinarian. These injuries cannot be sutured. Consequently they are managed as open wounds. Rope burns seep and weep fluid. Weeping is an indication of tissue injury, as well as a means of healing for often fibres from the rope become embedded in the tissue and must ‘fester’ out like splinters for complete healing.

Pain and lameness will be readily apparent. Even mild rope burns tend to be quite painful for the horse. Any person who has experienced a rope burn can readily attest to its stinging discomfort. Individual assessment of the injury will be necessary to evaluate involvement of deeper tissues such as muscles, bones, tendons, tendon sheaths and joints.

Keeping a rope burn clean is important. It is the most important element in healing any wound, and rope burns in particular. They are often incredibly painful and cleaning them can intensify the pain, so restraint or sedation may be necessary to attend these wounds. Gentle rinsing with cold water brings welcome relief, cleaning and soothing the wound.

While healing, the wound benefits from daily hydrotherapy. Aloe vera or Derma-gel are good choices as initial healing salves. It may be necessary to cover the wound to keep it from crusting over and painfully breaking open as the horse walks. The benefits to bandaging the wound are cleanliness, fly control, improved healing and reduced scar formation.

Many burns stubbornly form a scaly crust as they heal, leaving a raised, hairless scar. Keeping the skin moisturized for months with soothing ointments containing lanolin, vitamins A and D or aloe vera serves to minimize scarring.

At times infection may complicate a rope burn. Horses with an infection become very lame with marked swelling and foul discharge at the injury site. They may also develop a fever, become lethargic and lack appetite.

Scarring from deep rope burns can impede blood circulation distal to the injury site, temporarily causing the limb to swell until collateral circulation becomes established.

Keeping the skin pliable and soft at the injury site while encouraging movement can minimize the effects of superficial and deep wound scarring. These wounds can take up to two years to strengthen, remodel and mature, so patience is valued.

Rope burns are best given immediate first aid treatment. Proper treatment greatly reduces the chances of their complications, ensuring a favourable cosmetic outcome and return to function.

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And those are so often the workplace ingredients and circumstances farmers cite when they come through the doors of the West Fit Physiotherapy and Sports Clinic in Brandon with some kind of musculoskeletal disorder.

Staff there see all sorts of painful injuries to weight-bearing joints and backs among farmers, which have resulted from heavy lifting in improper positions, or sudden bending, kneeling or twisting, often by bodies that are fatigued, physiotherapist Karrah Nelissen told an Ag Days audience last month.

“Farming is a very physical occupation,” she said. “And these kinds of injuries are more common than you know.”

What can help prevent them? Correct posture is important. Learning proper lifting techniques is key. And so is developing a daily habit of incorporating a few stretching exercises into a work routine, she said.

Many farmers lift from awkward positions, often because they’re in tight or confined spaces, she said. But using the leg muscles to lift, keeping loads close to the body, and legs shoulder-width apart for a stable base all help prevent lifting-related injuries, including the all-too-frequent disc injuries therapists see.

Improving posture and reducing slouching meanwhile can reduce the soreness workers feel in their necks, shoulders and upper backs, especially after long periods in one position.

“It’s going to make a huge difference with muscle tension and you’ll feel less aches and pains,” she said.

Being warmed up, through a series of stretches, for a physically demanding job is key to warding off strains, sprains and other injuries.

She put her Ag Days audience through several types of gentle stretches for the neck, back and demonstrated easy circular motions for wrists and ankles. The exercises were all done seated, proving they can be easily done while in the cab.

It’s simple and easy to incorporate warm-up exercises into your daily work routine, Nelissen said.

“It’s no more than 15 minutes of your time,” she said.

Sprains and strains have been found to be Canada’s leading type of farm-related injuries, with overexertion the leading cause of these injuries, ahead of livestock handling and machine-related work.

Overexertion causes 84 per cent of all strains and sprains injuries sustained in agricultural work, according to one study by the former Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program.

Statistics Canada has reported that approximately 15 per cent of agricultural-related injuries are back injuries.

National safety week campaigns in years passed have focused on encouraging farmers to think through their work and work habits to find ways to reduce the risk of sprains, strains and falls.

Forward Bending

Sitting

SAFE LIFTING TECHNIQUE

• Get in close to the object you are lifting.
• Keep your head and shoulders up and your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Bend at the hip joints, and keep that slight inward curve in your lower back.
• Try to keep the shoulders over the knees and the knees over the toes.
• Step and turn with the feet, not the back.
• Don’t hold your breath while lifting.

Neck bending

Neck bending

Crouching

Kneeling Without Padding

The Farm Safety Association has an online guide with illustrations for stretching exercises that help reduce fatigue and prevent injury among farm workers.

www.farmsafety.ca/public/other/stretches%20and%20postures%20at%20work-e.pdf

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The three-year-old filly was sent to Barb Mennie of Kemnay for some driving lessons. A few days into the training the filly had the accident which tore a huge chunk out of her right jowl. The wound was deep in her cheek and jawbone. The throat was still intact and the teeth and jawbone were visible. It was a heart-wrenching mess.

Grand Valley Vet Clinic was called and Dr. Allister Gray surveyed the situation. “You have a big challenge here — she might not make it,” he said. “The Glovers said you may as well put her down — she’ll never heal.”

But Barb Mennie saw a will to live in the little filly’s eyes and she knew she had to try. Barb is no stranger to horse and dog injuries and had a wealth of experience in saving animals with lots of TLC and tons of patience. Some of this patience and understanding came from a lifetime of being a psychiatric nursing assistant at Brandon Hospital from which she had just recently retired.

Dr. Gray cleaned up the wound, tied off some arteries and applied a pressure bandage. And he suggested using a “natural raw honey” therapy. Processed honey usually found in the stores is not to be used for wound healing. It doesn’t have the same healing qualities. Getting raw honey “directly from the bees” was not a problem as Don Glover is a Boissevain beekeeper.

Mennie chose honey to keep the bone moist and infection out. She also decided to also put her favourite product “Cut Heal” around the edges to hopefully prevent proud flesh, an excessive growth of granular tissue, from forming.

“Uni” was given pain killers and antibiotics for one week and oral antibiotics for two weeks.

Every day Mennie cleaned the wound area using a large syringe to get into all the areas. She had to pick bits of food out of the wound as it was open to the inside of Uni’s mouth for about a month. She used a 4×8-inch gauze as well as a 4×4-inch gauze to cover the wound area. Then it took two rolls of gauze and two rolls of vet wrap to keep everything in place. It was such a hard place to dress.

She had to be quite inventive about criss-crossing it over her ears. It had to stay in place but not cause any sores around her ears. And it was very hard to work with the honey as everything ended up very sticky.

“One night in bed I thought of cutting the round container off of the honey and keeping it in the fridge, then just slicing off what I needed (one-eighth inch or so) and placing it on the gauze, ready to put on the wound. This worked very well as I could get her wrapped before the honey started melting in. The whole process took me about two hours from start to finish,” Mennie says.

As the weeks went by the job got a little easier as the honey started to do its healing. The wound slowly got smaller and smaller. By mid-June it just needed a 4×8-inch gauze and there was no more food coming through the hole.

“It was too good to be true!” Mennie said. “By mid-July we only needed about three-quarters of a 4×4-inch gauze. And by the first of August, I only wrapped her during the day because of the flies and left it open at night to the air. By the end of August there was no more bandaging.”

By Sept 9, Barb resumed the driving training. She amazingly had no trouble with the bit in her mouth. The “miracle of honey” had really done its job. The hair all grew back in too, which was equally incredible.

“From the beginning Unicorn never gave up the ‘will’ and never stopped eating,” Mennie said. “I fed her seniors’ pellets and beet pulp which was easy to chew and some hay. There were a couple of days of not drinking well, but we overcame that little glitch and she hasn’t looked back since. I must admit she is a little spoiled but she deserves to be!”

She said she was grateful for the veterinary advice and support she received throughout the treatment and the assistance from her “barn crew.” Eastside Acres Unicorn now permanently resides at Barb and Lloyd Mennie’s Clearview Acres hackney pony farm at Kemnay.

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While the incidence is not widespread, for some farms this problem is up to six times more common than for the plant average. The culprit could be a reduction in calcium and phosphorus in hog diets associated with the use of the enzyme phytase, leading to bone weakness, says Beltranena.

Along with Matt Schoonderwoerd, Olymel’s director of veterinary affairs, he has been investigating spine fractures and other associated bone fractures.

“The fractures we are seeing involve one or more adjacent vertebrae or the spine breaking above the pelvis,” says Beltranena.

“Yellowish or bloody bone fluid leaks out of the fracture(s) running down the carcass and causing contamination.”

He notes this seems to happen close to the time of slaughter or carcass dressing as there are no signs of prior swelling, hemorrhage, necrosis or nervous tissue damage.

As this appears to be a relatively new problem, processor reports on carcass contamination and trimming do not provide enough information for producers to identify that something is wrong. Therefore, unless they are contacted by the processor, they are largely unaware of this type of mild mineral deficiency, although the packer may report an increase in the number of “downer” hogs.

“Spine fractures may also occur when moving pigs for shipping at the farm, during trucking, or at lairage at the plant,” notes Beltranena. “Affected hogs may still be able to walk, appear normal, and may not be identified by CFIA inspectors during ante-mortem inspection. Most likely, abrupt leg extension and muscle tensing as a result of stunning, followed by scalding and dehairing are the main triggers, he says.

The spine fractures don’t seem to occur until physical trauma takes place, says Beltranena. Thus producers may never see hogs walking abnormally if trauma happens after hogs left the farm or after stunning.

“If spine trauma occurs when moving pigs, during weighing, or when loading onto the truck, the stockman might see the odd hog walking abnormally from the hind limbs, even showing leg tremors, distinct from lameness or lower leg injury symptoms,” he says.

“Seriously affected hogs ‘dog-sit,’ squeal when disturbed, and should not be shipped. Such hogs may be coded as downers if they arrived like that at the plant or the spine fractured fighting in lairage.”

Suboptimal mineral nutrition on the farm is the most likely predisposing factor for this condition, says Beltranena.

“We see broken ribs that have healed perfectly by the time of slaughter,” he observes. “Broken ribs that have healed suggest that bone mineralization has been compromised since pigs were young.”

While the cause is speculative at this time, a common denominator to farms where hogs are affected is the inclusion of phytase enzyme in hog diets.

“It is unlikely that the cause is the feed enzyme that increases phosphorus availability from cereal grains and protein meals,” comments Dr. Beltranena. “Possibly the cause is the parallel reduction of phosphorus and calcium inclusion from mineral sources in feed, on the assumption that the phytase enzyme makes more phosphorus available from feedstuffs.”

Mono-dicalcium phosphate and limestone are the most common sources of rock-derived phosphorus and calcium, he adds.

“It might be that in affected farms the reduction of rock-derived phosphorus and/or calcium in feeds including a phytase enzyme might have gone past the threshold level, resulting in a mild but prolonged phosphorus deficiency,” says Beltranena. “It does not mean that the phytase enzyme is at fault or ineffective, just that in farms with increasing incidence of spine fractures, mineral phosphorus and calcium inclusion in feed needs further consideration and adjustment.”

The incidence of spine fractures at slaughter may also be compounded by pen crowding on the farm.

“Nutritionists formulate calcium and phosphorus feed content to expected hog feed intakes,” says Beltranena. “Pen crowding may limit feeder access and reduce feed intake resulting in compromised bone phosphorus uptake from feed.”

He notes gilts and sows likely won’t be affected due to greater phosphorus and calcium inclusion margins in breeder diets.

Producers should monitor their condemnations and trim levels carefully for any indication of a problem with spine fractures, advises Beltranena. If the level is increasing, they should be more gentle when moving pigs and avoid the use of electric prods.

“Any pen crowding should be alleviated and feeder access improved if it is limiting feed intake,” he suggests. “Also ask your nutritionist to review dietary phosphate and limestone inclusions.”

Finally, he recommends discussing any problem with the farm’s veterinarian because there may be other causes compounding the occurrence of spine fractures.

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