[Alter58]

Posting as alter for a valid reason.

I didn't notice this on my horse's hind hoof until today. I have been away from the horse world for some time and now Im scratching my head about what this is. The horse was recently purchased from a warm, wet environment and moved to an area that is pretty dry. Is this a result of a change in climate, ie. dry and cracking? Is this an abscess that ruptured? The horse is not sore or off and doesn't react to pressure on the area. The only photos I find online that look similar are abscesses but I don't know how I wouldn't have noticed it until now.

Any ideas on how to proceed? Farrier is coming out at the end of next week for routine shoeing (adding back shoes) but I don't really want to wait until then for an opinion. I could call the vet out but I figured it would be OK to check here first for opinions since the horse doesn't seem to be in pain.

PHOTO HERE

Thanks

[phoebetrainer]

It looks like a blown abscess - from a while ago. When the farrier's at your place, he may have a dig in and around your horse's heel, just to make sure that there's nothing there.

I once had a horse who had a heel which was waaaay worse than that - had blown and healed and re-blown etc. She was never lame, never reacted to hoof testers. One day I was picking her feet out and dug the hoof pick into the groove between the frog and the sole. Something didn't feel quite right and I used my hoof knife to do a bit of digging and pulled out a nail!!! It had been in there for months!! Horse wasn't worried in the least. Nasty looking heel grew out properly after that!

[Rick Burten]

Could have been from an abscess venting but my first thought was that it is an overreach injury.

[Chestnut Run]

I agree it looks like an overreach, aka grabbing a heel. I would scrub it up with some soap and then coat it with some triple antibiotic ointment.

Sheila

[Alter58]

An overreach injury on a back foot? I thought overreach injuries were when the hind foot strikes the front foot repeatedly. Is there something else you'd call an overreach injury that is not what I thought it was?

[nextyear]

Looks like a injury to me, I suppose you really can't consider it a overreach but I have seen plenty on hind heel from the horse backing into something, stepping into a rut or another horse coming up behind them and stepping on them, then in that case it would be a overreach....

[Rick Burten]

My bad, I completely missed the 'hind' part of the original post. Regardless, it still looks like and overreach injury often looks so it could well be as NY offers, the result of an environmental injury caused by unknown contributors. I'd probably clip the hair away, scrub it with a betadine scrub, and treat with something that drys it. If the horse is not lame and/or there is no heat, swelling and purulence, I wouldn't worry about it.

[nextyear]

My bad, I completely missed the 'hind' part of the original post. Regardless, it still looks like and overreach injury often looks so it could well be as NY offers, the result of an environmental injury caused by unknown contributors. I'd probably clip the hair away, scrub it with a betadine scrub, and treat with something that drys it. If the horse is not lame and/or there is no heat, swelling and purulence, I wouldn't worry about it.

Blue Lotion works great to dry up in that area because it soaks into the wound area and stays on, not the spray though use the kind that gets all over your hands, for some reason that works better.

[Alter58]

Thanks everyone. I went back this morning and gave it a good cleaning. It's definitely not hurting her at all, but it also doesn't look like a blown abscess now that I got a better look at it in brighter light. Looks like she cut herself on something. She's been coming in with some minor scratches and scuffs on her legs so I'm guessing the guilty object is out in the pasture somewhere. I'm off to look for it.

I don't feel so bad for not noticing it now. She probably only got it the night before last since it still looks relatively fresh.

[Chestnut Run]

OOPS! I missed that back foot part too. Still looks like a cut type thing to me though.

Sheila