Collar sore?

Hi Erik.. I had a slight chaffing on old Tyde when he was in the hay turner but have to say the swelling was only small. I re checked his collar and found it was a tad big..my fault as I hadnt checked often enuf with the rush of hay making and he had obviously changed shape as the season went on…. I adjusted the ratchets on the hames and tightened the bottom strap. He finished the hay with no further problems. His pad is of the plastic lined variety but I wonder if the creases in yours may be causing the problem ? I have both the deer hair and plasic lined but have to say I prefer the plastic lined ones although they certainly dont absorb sweat..
John

Not sure why you guys are using those plastic lined sweat pads. They are no good other than they are easy to clean. But they do trap heat which cases more problems then they are worth. A wet pad will not cause sores. So all you need to do is take a pressure washer to them every so often.
I don’t want anyone to take offence that is my 2 cents, and that comes from training horses for a living over the last 30 odd years.
Al

hi erik, i never saw a collar sore that proud. maybe the picture. you don’t think he might had a fly bite early that got agravated by the collar? we use the felt pads. they seem to dry out quick. not today tho. good luck with your horse, mitch

@Donn Hewes 19534 wrote:

Al, Do you use the deer hair pad?

No Donn I use felt pads, I find that they are not as rough, which can case sores to. I will be honest I have not been driving horses as long as some on here, but I have packed in the mountains, ridin in 20 tousand acre grazing leases, so I have a good knowledge of how to prevent sores on horses. Another thing I like to do with a soft horse is to wash them down with cold water, helps keep any swelling to a minimum also helps to toughen up those areas that see the most strain. How my .02 helps some of those that have problems with swelling problems that led to sores, leading to the aniamal sitting on the side lines.
Al

Is the sore warmer than the surrounding skin ? Infections and insect bites are usually warm because of increased blood flow to the area.
If the sore is not particularly warm and is soft, it may be a hematoma or seroma … i.e., fluid filled, blister-like swellings. (of course a hematoma or seroma can get infected and then it would be hot …. )

like someone else said, the wrinkles on the collar face could cause a sore especially if the collar was a tad big. it has been a long time since i doctored a collar sore but rest and monitoring the spot sound like a good idea to me.
one other thought: does he have a current tetanus vaccine?
Barb Corson (VMD)

My wife says haematoma, (maybe a kick)? hot water and epsom salts compress, (water as hot as YOU can bear, not scalding), then cold compress. two or three times a day.

No they don’t. I had the opportunity to work with 2 Amish crews. They had 5 teams working. 3 teams with one crew, 2 teams with the other. The horses all had come from the same farm. The western style harness’ had been made in the same shop, and the steel wheeled log carts had been built by the same man. The crew with the 2 teams were constantly having sore necks on their horses, they had pulling collars and deer hair pads. Pads were cleaned daily. The other 3 teams had standard farm collars with the black vinyl covered pads and never had any trouble.