First Aid Kit for Horses

Waking from a nap - or "Huh?"

Yesterday we held our first 4H Horse meeting of the year. N is old enough to be a junior leader, and because there isn't an active horse program in our county, decided to take on some meeting herself.

Last fall she learned at the Wisconsin 4H Horse Youth Conference all about first aid kits for horses. So, yesterday we completed our kit and presented it to a small group of 4H members and their moms.

We then caught Dixie and Gunner, went out to the barn and had those who were interested listen to gut sounds, take the horses temperature, attend a small wound on Gunner and Dixie, check capillary refill time and check for dehydration.

Here's a a list of what we put in our kit (list taken from Petplace.com)

Horse First Aid Kit

Put all your supplies in a covered plastic storage container, plastic file box with a handle, or in a medium-sized toolbox. Make your first-aid kit portable so that you can carry it easily in case you need to evacuate your barn during an emergency or for when you're on the road traveling to horse shows or other events.Key Items for Your First-Aid Kit·

Antibacterial soap Many veterinarians recommend Betadine, Chlorhexidine scrub or Hibiclens to clean minor wounds. The soap should not be left in the wound, so have some saline around to flush the wound before wrapping.· Antibiotic ointment. After a wound is cleaned and dried with a sterile sponge or gauze, you should apply an antibiotic ointment (e.g. triple antibiotic, neosporin or bacitracin) to decrease the chance of infection.· Sterile gauze sponges and pads. Have a variety of sizes on hand for covering the minor cuts or wound.· Two to four disposable diapers or wrapped sanitary napkins. These items are effective as absorbent pressure pads when trying to stop bleeding.

Bandages Include an Ace bandage, a 2½ - inch gauze bandage roll, as well as several equine leg bandages, which are available in most tack stores.

Adhesive tape 1-inch and 2-inch rolls. These will keep pads and bandages in place.

Two to four quilted or padded wraps The wraps should be placed under bandages for added absorption.

Household scissors and/or knife These can be used for cutting clothes, straps or ropes that your horse may be tangled in during an emergency.

Tweezers These can be used to remove splinters, thistles or other fragments that might be lodged in your horse's skin. Do not pick at wounds aggressively as this can deepen foreign bodies and elicit a dangerous reaction from the horse. The vet will remove foreign material, usually with the horse under sedation.

Ice bags or a chemical ice pack These can be used to prevent or reduce swelling from blunt trauma (e.g. a knee that hit the fence), reduce bleeding or swelling at the edge of a fresh wound. Other applications of ice include shrinking hives, treating head injuries contracted while loading or swollen injection sites. In the case of heat prostration, one can actually douse the horse with ice water from a large bucket.

Rubbing alcohol Use this to disinfect your thermometer after and before you use it.

Veterinary or human rectal thermometer Keep this to take your horse's temperature and know whether or not he has a fever before you call your veterinarian. This bit of information will help steer your vet in the right direction before he or she visits your horse. Digital thermometers are less likely to create worry about glass breakage and are very accurate. They come with a nice plastic container.

Lubricant Include a tube of K-Y Jelly or another water-based lubricating product to help grease the thermometer before insertion into the rectum.

Stethoscope This will help you monitor your horse's heart and lungs before the vet arrives. You must have proper training on this device if it is to be useful. The heart rate can be taken on the facial artery located across the angle of the jaw. It helps to have a watch with a second hand.

Plastic Gloves Disposable plastic gloves to help prevent cross contamination between you and your horse.· Emergency Phone Numbers. Include your vet and a horse knowledgeable friend.

Flashlight In case it’s after dark or to help illuminate those hard to see places.

Phone numbers A card with your veterinarian's phone number and a phone number of a close horse friend you can rely on in case of emergency.

We filled our tote with all these items, minus the stethoscope which we borrowed from a friend for the evening. We will pick up one at our first chance. In addition it was brought up that a dose of bute and banamine would also be helpful, with the warning not to give the medicine without a vets permission. We live about an hour away from an equine vet, therefore, having the meds on hand to administer with their permission can help the healing process begin.

Do you keep a first aid kit for your horses, and if so, what other items do you include?

Also, as we were looking through our 4H project books a few items they listed seemed strange to me. So any insight on why you would include the following would be appreciated: Coppertox and Vicks vapor rub