Horse owners are no strangers to scrapes and cuts on their buddy’s legs. The tight skin in this area prevents most of these wounds from being stitched or sutured closed. So they have to heal on their own, which takes time — if it happens at all.

Here’s where skin grafts, with their healthy blood supply, can give the healing process a leg up. A strip of donor skin is removed from an area with plenty to spare — like over a horse’s belly or under the mane. That site is then sutured closed. Then small discs punched from the donor skin are placed on the freshly prepared leg wound. If all goes well, the graft’s blood supply connects to the underlying circulation within five days, and the graft is fully attached by day 10.

Skin grafting involves an investment of care and money, but the results can be nothing short of amazing.