Yearling colt recovers after 'playing rough' results in serious injury

Ex-professional carriage driver Debbie Wicks (née Cowdery) lives in rural north Cumbria and these days has just three horses, which she enjoys in her leisure time alongside a busy career as an online marketing consultant.

Overwater Kestrel is an eyecatching, athletic yearling colt, part bred Hanoverian and currently standing at 15.2hh, although he is expected to mature at an imposing 16.2hh-17.0hh. Debbie bought him from his Cumbrian breeder in early spring and he has been happily enjoying the company of her 7-year-old sport horse stallion Prince of Durness out in the paddock, whilst getting on with the serious business of growing up.

Kestrel on the day of
injury, May 6th, 2017

However boys do play rough, sometimes too rough and it’s nearly always the little fella’ who comes off worst. So when Debbie went out to check her horses on May 6^th, all looked fine from a distance, but as she got closer, she could see blood running down Kestrel’s neck and that he had sustained a puncture wound on one side of it. “It was probably caused by his field companion, my stallion Prince, as they do get hold of each other’s necks when they play, but Kestrel has so little muscle as yet, hence the injury.”

Debbie brought him into a stable for a closer look, then called out her vet, who flushed the wound and removed some muscle that had been bitten through, before stitching the tissues together very neatly. “He had to stay in his stable, on box rest”, explains Debbie, “so I immediately started to use my ArcEquine microcurrent unit on him for a three hour daily treatment.”

The day the wound burst open
May 12th, 2017

“For a few days, things looked good, but on May 12^th, the wound burst open due to necrotic muscle tissue. My vet came out again and at that point, there were two significant holes into which the vet could put his fingers! This time, he rinsed out the wound with an iodine solution and left it open to drain, without any further stitches. I was left to flush it four times a day with a weak iodine solution in a squeezy bottle.

“He told me that it was going to take months to heal and warned that it could develop into a case of fistulous withers, which didn’t sound good. However I’ve had very significant success with microcurrent therapy and continued his daily treatments with my ArcEquine unit, as Kestrel still had to be kept inside. I also started using Manuka honey, but that was all.

Kestrel on May 26th, 2017
with trouble-free healing
well advanced

“Initially Kestrel had been on antibiotics, because of the chance of infection, along with an anti-inflammatory, but I know the ArcEquine is also very good at relieving pain and he didn’t even have to finish the course of ‘bute prescribed. However I did have to give him feed and water at a raised level, as he wouldn’t bend his neck down to the floor in the early stages of healing.”

Debbie kept in touch with her vet by email and text, sending regular photographs of Kestrel’s neck,, but it wasn’t until June 7^th that the vet visited again, for the purpose of routine vaccinations. “He couldn’t believe how well it had healed”, remembers Debbie with a smile. “He said – oh it has to be eight weeks since it happened - but I said no, it’s only been a month!”

June 23rd, 2017 and Kestrel is back
out in the field having forgotten all
about his injury

Explaining about her use of the ArcEquine microcurrent unit, Debbie said; “I’ve been involved with a lot of horses all of my life and I have never encountered a piece of equipment like the ArcEquine. It achieves such amazing healing results with the wide variety of injuries and traumatic accidents that happen all too regularly to horses and ponies. Anyone considering buying one needs to just evaluate the purchase cost against potential savings in ongoing equine healthcare costs – and the amazingly positive effect it has on wellbeing. I think it’s an essential piece of kit for every horse owner to have in their arsenal.”

Debbie Wicks and Overwater Kestrel,
now back to full health

As for Kestrel, well he’s already forgotten all about it and is back out again grazing in the paddock and just being a healthy, happy yearling colt again.

To find out more about ArcEquine microcurrent technology, visit www.arcequine.com or contact 01580 755504.

Find out more about microcurrent technology for human use at www.arc4health.com and www.arc4sports.com