Brian and Kylie Rutledge from Wambin at Quilpie were horrified to find their child’s pony “Tiffany” in the paddock with this gaping wound to her flank.

She was running in a large paddock so they could only guess at what she had hit. The wound had already been attacked by blow flies and we guessed it was approximately 3 days old. The wound was very deep. We believe had it gone another 1 or 2 cm deep she would not have survived.

“Tiffany” was given antibiotics, pain relief and covered for tetanus.

The edges of the wound had contracted back and it was impossible to suture them back together (they gaped by about 20cm). Instead we cleaned the wound and placed a drain. Then we placed large tension sutures supported by wads of swabs to pull the edges together to a more acceptable 7cm. Debrisol was used initially to help debride the dead tissue and Silvazine to encourage the tissue deficit to fill in with proud flesh.

As with most upper body wounds that are managed well, “Tiffany” healed quite quickly.

This photo was taken 8 weeks after the initial injury.

“Tiffany” has continued her successful show career.