Sooner or later, it’s bound to happen. Your horse comes in with a wound that needs attention. Do you know the best first-aid approach for your horse’s needs?

"A wound to your horse’s body can take the form of an abrasion, puncture or full thickness skin cut," notes Glennon Mays, DVM, clinical associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

"The body has its own marvelous mechanisms for healing injured tissue," states Mays. "Following the trauma, the body sends white blood cells to the injured site to clean up the damaged cells and fight infection. These white blood cells rid the wound of dead cells and bacteria. This expelling of non-viable cells can be seen as either a clear or slightly yellow discharge."

The first thought at the sight of this oozing is to dry it up, however, the white blood cells need moisture to continue their healing work, explains Mays. If additional moisture is needed, an antibiotic topical ointment can be applied