Collar sore?

[goodcompanion]

Pretty hot here today. One of our interns had the horses out harrowing several hours this morning. Putting them away both seemed fine. By this afternoon one of them had developed this sore.

Never had or seen collar sores before. Is that what this is? Or perhaps a “hot spot?” The hair and skin was chafed away just a bit in the center of the swelling. We put some blue-cote on it which you can see in the picture.

Is the collar pad to blame? The contact surface of it is essentially just plastic. Not very absorbent.

Currently our plan is to rest him and monitor the swelling and decide tomorrow whether to take further action. Advice appreciated.

[jac]

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

[Donn Hewes]

Hi EriK, I use those same pads and Like them. Some catalogs call them a “healing pad”. I have had one horse come into the barn in the morning with a little swelling right at the top of her neck on both sides. I have been taking it easy on her, but still working her a couple hours a day. It seems to be resolving it self.

[colttrainer]

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

[Donn Hewes]

Al, Do you use the deer hair pad?

[mitchmaine]

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

[Carl Russell]

I use deer hair and have never seen such a welt. Deer hair pads will get soaking wet in the extreme heat and still not cause problems.

I’m inclined to say it has more to do with collar fit than the pad, or the heat of the day. Harrowing can be pretty rough work, and if the collar is too big, the bouncing could cause the collar to shift.

I will also go along with Mitch. It very well could have been a fly bite, or other injury, that was aggravated during work.

Is it sore to the touch? Have you ever noticed a sore in that area before?

Carl

[colttrainer]

@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

[goodcompanion]

I would say the sore is about 3″ in diameter and perhaps a full inch proud. All the horses have had cold water washdowns so we’ll see what tomorrow brings. Nothing like this ever before using the same collars and pads. Very odd.

[becorson]

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)

[jac]

I may have to re think the deer hair pads.. when mine get saturated they go realy flat near the bottom 1/3..that was why i changed to the plastic lined ones… or could it be that we have inferior pads ? getting really good draft horse stuff over here is difficult.. I dont think I’v seen the felt ones advertised here..
John

[cousin jack]

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.

[jac]

Just a thought .. but would a pulling collar help with preventing sore shoulders ? would the fact that these collars seem to cover a larger area help distribute the load more ? I have only seen these collars in fotos because we dont get them here…. so if it seems a daft question that is the reason:o…
John

[Ira]

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.

[Rick Alger]

I’ve never seen one that large.

For the smaller ones I have seen on my horses, I generally cut a hole in the pad to correspond to the swelling. Then I can keep going.

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