A HORSE owner has praised a local vet after a seemingly minor wound on her 20-year-old Thoroughbred concealed a 10cm metal hook buried deep in his muscle.

Vet Keesjan Cornelisse was called to examine Baz near Gunnislake after owner Mary Framptom-Price spotted a horizontal laceration on his hindquarters.

Although the wound appeared relatively small, Keesjan was concerned it was deeper than it looked. His suspicions were confirmed when he felt something hard beneath the skin and discovered the hook.

After sedating Baz and giving pain relief, Keesjan carefully enlarged the entry wound and removed the hook with forceps, before then cleaning wound and closing it with sutures.

Keesjan, of Penbode Equine Vets in Holsworthy, said it was among the most unusual foreign bodies he had removed in his 32-year career.

“We are often sent images of wounds by horse owners, and a vet visit is usually recommended if the wound is large, bleeding profusely, very dirty, contains a foreign body or is near a joint or tendon sheath,” he said.

“Baz’s laceration didn’t seem that serious at first glance, but there were a few things worrying me about it. Even though I had my suspicions, I couldn’t have imagined what was hiding inside the wound. To say I was completely surprised to find the hook is an understatement.

“It goes to show how important it is that wounds are carefully checked, even seemingly minor ones.”

The hook was one of four attached to Baz’s field shelter, although exactly how he became impaled remains a mystery.

The vet said the blunt-ended hook, coated with rubber, would have required considerable force to penetrate Baz’s skin and muscle
The vet said the blunt-ended hook, coated with rubber, would have required considerable force to penetrate Baz’s skin and muscle (Submitted)

Keesjan said the blunt-ended hook, coated with rubber, would have required considerable force to penetrate Baz’s skin and muscle – and added that its position on the shelter was lower than the height of the wound, meaning Baz would have had to push down onto it.

“I guess we’ll never know what happened, but I am very pleased that the wound has healed nicely,” he said. “Five weeks after his accident, Baz was able to be lightly ridden again, and is happy and sound.”

Mary, 78, still enjoys hacking the former racehorse and has chronicled Baz’s journey from racehorse to happy hacker in children’s books with writer Jane Thomas. Baz features in three Stories from a Cornish Stable books.

Since the accident, Mary has removed all the hooks from the shelter.

She said: “The wound looked fairly minor and never in a million years could we have guessed that there was a hook inside Baz’s quarters.

“The hooks have been here for years, so what happened is a complete mystery. I’m so grateful to Keesjan for being so thorough and attentive and for recommending that the wound needed checking. It could have caused serious complications.

“He has been my vet for many years, and I know that I can trust him and he’ll always do the right thing for Baz and the ponies. Baz and I have a lot to thank him for.”

Penbode Equine Vets, part of the Penbode Pet, Farm and Equine Vets group, has cared for animals across Devon and Cornwall for 185 years.