Rural Heritage December 2025/January 2026

A handy liquid antibiotic that is easy to give.

point of the shoulder. He was a little sore and slow to lead for a day or two but was never lame. At first, I didn't think much of it. About the third day it started to swell and was quickly quite a bit bigger than a soft ball under the skin. I eventually had a veterinarian look at this injury twice. The first time was less than a week after it started. I would have waited a little longer, but the vet was already coming to look at another horse for a pregnancy check, and I never try to waste a vet visit. At this point, the skin had not broken, but it was a little warm to the touch and getting tight and firm. He was also running a fever of 103 degrees F. Here is one of the first things I learned while treating this. Our vet told us that a horse will increase in body temperature from a pain response alone and it does not automatically mean the injury is already infected. The vet looked with an ultrasound and found that the large mass was fluid filled. As it was less than seven days since injury, our vet concluded It was pretty ugly for a couple weeks. It looked like he was hit with a cannon ball.

Running the hose straight into the wound was great. Kept it cool and clean.

December 2025/January 2026

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