# Overreach injury



## Mistyrocks (24 October 2007)

I was hacking Breeze this morning, and i got to the riding school and she had overreached on her front right heel, it's about a cm long and shes just sliced it si theres a little flap, i had to hack home and wash it, and spray it, however it bled a far bit. How long do overreaches usually take to heal? i'm checking her tomorrow morning what should i do if its swollen?( i don't think it will be she wanted to canter home and she was keen on way home and was 100% sound)


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## Twigben (24 October 2007)

Hi

My boy overreached very badly - he was hopping lame, i thought he had broken his leg when i found him in the field holding it in the air! I got the vet out who cleaned it up, he had to have box rest because the movement of walking opened up the wound and it wouldnt have healed especially because he was out 24/7 and the field was muddy.  The vets cleaned it with iodine, and bandaged him up (he also had a cut on his splint bone and so literally the whole leg was bandaged! God knows what he was doing that day in the field!

He was a nightmare in the stable so he only lasted 5 days - when he was turned out i used Derma Gel which i got from the vets but you can get from the tack shop - it acts as a barrier and keeps the area moist.

He was off work for about a week - but the overreach took literally weeks and weeks to heal and then when the hoof grew that part was v week and took months to grow down.  From that day onwards he literally lived in overreach boots - if they became even slightly damaged a new pair went on.  I was not going through that again!

The main thing is to keep it ultra clean and covered (Derma Gel/bandage etc)

Good Luck!


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## catembi (24 October 2007)

Has he damaged the hoof wall or coronet band?  If so, watch out for unexplained lameness in 6 to 9 months when the damaged bit has grown down as it can get a bit pinchy.  Think split in your nail across the pink bit.

One of mine went lame when the damaged bit became load bearing at the heel.  I *think* we put on some eggbars or similar for a couple of shoeings til it had grown out.  No probs after that.


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## Mistyrocks (25 October 2007)

she has damaged the top of the heel, but it is only small flap. It's not very big at all, i'm going to see her today to inspect and clean it out.


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## cellie (25 October 2007)

I treated my horse with stockholm tar the farrier recommended it .Its antiseptic and keeps the wound sealed and clean in the mud.I obviously cleaned it up first with hibiscrub but this tar kept out all elements.His was a small flap at the top of the heel.Good luck


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## cellie (25 October 2007)

I  always used over reach but they made my horses heels soft then the heel split .So I think they should all have some time out of them so the skin can breathe,or alternate the type of boot you use.Have you experienced this?


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## deb12 (28 October 2007)

Try Nutrawound its an amazing formula take it orally to heal from the inside and externally mix it with aloe vera and you wont believe your eyes, it heals rapidly!!! Anything to do with wounds/tendons/ligaments I put our race horses on this straight away as we need them back on track asap. You can get it from www.myhealthyhorses.co.uk.


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