[horse_poor]

After one of the more craptacular weeks I have had in a long time (and yes I know, it is only Wednesday) I get a call at noon from the BO saying Rothina is lame in the back left.

She says no tendons seem to big, there is no heat, etc., and she suspects an abscess. Luckily, the farrier happens to be there and she says he will look at her.

Friend from the barn calls and says farrier dug as far as he could for an abscess, did not find one, and suspects it is either a bruise or an abscess brewing deeper down. She is reportedly not three legged lame, but definitely lame and sensitive to hoof testers on the outter edge of her sole up by the frog/heel. Farrier says to wait it out and see if 1) an abscess pops out, or 2) bruise resolves itself. He says I can soak it if I want.

I have not had to deal with an abcess in years. Two other horses have abcesses at the barn right now-something in the water??

I am stuck at work and cannot get out there until later, which is driving me crazy! So my question is this: if it is indeed an abcess, how long before it rears its ugly head? And if it is a bruise, how long before it goes away? I am sure it depends from horse to horse, but I guess my main concern is, how long do I give it before I get Dr. Hottie out to investigate something further? I am relieved her tendons show no injury, but I do worry about suspensory, etc. injury.

And the even bigger question is: is it at all possible for this horse to go longer than 6 months without doing something to make herself lame? *tearing my hair out*

[EqTrainer]

She is so gifted

I would do the Animaltex poultice pad after a good long soaking in hot water and see what happens. Darn her. Has your checkbook just recovered or had you scheduled something - heck, even just scheduling a ride might be enough to make her lame these days, huh?

Horses!

[horse_poor]

No, checkbook has not recovered-it just provided my car with complete new back brakes. However, one of girls at the barn just started half leasing her, effective on Sunday. So, that I am sure why she is lame. She has great timing.

The last time I used the Animalintex pads, I was not impressed. Had more luck with packing the hoof with wet bran/epsom salts and wrapping it in a diaper.

But now, I just sit and wait, for something to either happen (abcess blows) or not happen (bruise goes away).

Just the other night while talking to the owner of one of the other abcessing horses I said "I have not had to deal with an abcess in forever..."

[EqTrainer]

Just the other night while talking to the owner of one of the other abcessing horses I said "I have not had to deal with an abcess in forever..."

What on earth were you thinking?!!! She heard you and promptly found a rock to grind her foot onto!

[ChocoMare]

Oy vey Never a dull moment with that thar mare!


Anyway, I borrowed this from Misty Blue:

To bring out an abcess fast, use your favorite draw (epsom salt paste or icthymol, etc) and pack the hoof with it. Then cover the draw with a piece of sheet/pillowcase/old t-shirt/whatever and stick a thermacare heat wrap pad on the bottom. Add diaper, vet wrap or duct tape or however you finish wrapping a hoof and then turn out in a small paddock or round pen with hay strewn everywhere. Walking around instead of standing still and munching hay seems to help get that abcess moving. The Thermacare head pad keeps the draw moist and hot for 8 hours...makes it like soaking a hoof for 8 straight hours in hot water without having to stand in a bucket that long or keep the hoof soaking wet that long.



And this from Four Mares:

If you have a natural foods store or a store that carries homopathic treatments get some Calc. Floricae. Give 8 tablets a day. You can also add Silica in the same dose. The best way to give it is to dissolve it in a syringe of water and squirt it into your horses mouth. But you can also just toss it in the horses grain.

[horse_poor]

I have a feeling that this is indeed an abcess but it will not rear its ugly head for several days--will def. give the Thermacare dealio a try-I wonder what is the longest you can keep it on?

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

This may not help you much...what really helped Ted's abcess last January (which brewed as I developed bronchitis, thank you very much, and he lost the right front shoe but got an abcess on the left hind) - cold mud.

Right now, we have sun baked desert in the pasture, not cold mud. Possibly hose down and chill a small area? Rothina deserves no less.

[horse_poor]

Geek-like she would stand in it Why would she do anything that is good for her?

The girl half leasing her soaked her this afternoon and she was reportedly good.

I am hoping I will know better tomorrow what the deal is.

[dauntless]

I consider myself to be the tragic queen of abscesses, having dealt with three since Christmas.

Hot animalntex covered in epsom salts has ended up being my favourite draw. Worked super super quickly.

My biggest issue was keeping the hoof wrapped. I kept him in a round pen in the hopes that the movement would push out the pus. I did animalintex, then vetwrap, then (and here was my winner) a big square of a camping tarp. After this, I put aprox 4 layers of duct tape in the shape of a horse shoe. On top of that, I did about another four layers of duct tape that covered the entire sole of the hoof - alternating vertically and horizontally. Before I finished, I did another several strips of tape across the toe. Lastly, I wraped the outside of the hoof with duct tape to catch all the little ends. I could keep this on for 48 hourse which I was very proud of!

[EqTrainer]

Dauntless, you deserve an award for that!

[goeslikestink]

you know if a horse was lame in hind leg doesnt mean to say its an abcess waiting to pop -- and altho our fartriers are different to yours yeap i can say that as so far i have no trust in the usa farriering if i was out there bbut big but
why let him dig a hole in foot when nothing there and then say he cant find anything--
for exsample -- my raspberry she went lame on front olong time ago and she had a shoe on -- i called a vet out but by the time he was due she had gottenover it -- but to late to cancell so went ahead with the vet--

now this vet of out of my practice and was knida new-- so he comes cant find anything i say thats ok didnt espect you as shes now sound but just wanted conformation ( now i knew she was sound and like isaid was to late to cancel appointment)

so he he took her shoe of at first i didnt reaslise what he was doing and he said i think its under the shoe -- ok i say-- next thing i looks over rasps neck and was shocked to see what he had done to her foot-- so i told him stop

and then i said right go back to the surgery iam not happy with what you have done to my mare all i wanted was conformation and you in return have butchered her fooot to point she bleeding now she is lame-

i did to report him have the senior partner come out and explained to him what happen plus i had piccys - and he waived my fee and addressed her foot himself -- since then i dont have indians i only have the cheif..

my point is that taught me a very good lesson if its lame to wait
see what happens dont go jumping in thinking its abcess all the time
could be something completely different-- and now like me you propbably have ahole to look after becuase it lame -- but you havent got the real issue of the orignal lameness

which could be anything from a kick out in field or a stumble to twist or strian a mussle - - anything

[Appassionato]

Tis the season for abcesses I'm afraid. The Belgian has another one, although his always hapen to the fronts. He crawls a little like a caterpillar right now, poor guy.

You can try soaking it, but if your horse already has kinda soft feet, I would avoid soaking it due to causing softer feet. I would just use your fav drawing concoction and let time do it's thing.

[horse_poor]

It appears her hoof is sensitive for about a two inch line along the edge of the crevice to her frog on the outside, starting at the pointy end of the frog going back towards the heel. She is not shod in the back and when she walks, she will put the foot down but pick it up quickly again. So, I shall go stock up on vet wrap, epsoms, and diapers-I already pulled out my giant wheel-o-duct-tape.

Cannot figure out why three horses have bruises/abscesses at the barn. According to the farrier, no other barns are having problems. The ground was semi hard until we got a ton of rain this past weekend. We now just need a horse to come up with a bruise/abscess in the hind right and we will have all four legs covered.

Stink-I would not have had the farrier dig if he had not been able to pinpoint an area on her sole that was sore. He only dug a little bit to see if he could find any yuck or even redness indicating a bruise. Her leg was/is cool and tight and there is no indication of any soft tissue injury. And when a huge sudden lameness comes on without any indication of soft tissue damage, I tend to think there is something cooking in the hoof. When she bowed her tendon, she was only so slightly off at the walk and I do not think any one not familiar with her would have noticed it. When she was pulled outo f the pasture yesterday, she was obviously off on that leg at the walk, even to an uneducated eye.

App, I am hesitant to soak a whole lot due to her having typical TB feet. Although, for a TB, she has pretty good feet. I think I will stick mainly with a bran/epsom hoof packing.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

horse_poor, while Ted has pretty decent hooves for a TB, I was soaking sometimes twice a day (yes, in bitter cold January, followed by a wicked case of bronchitis). Didn't seem to mess with him. He is on MVP's biotin 22X.

He lost a shoe in May, but the ground was fine and so no ouchies. I suspect it was a bruise from the weird rocky shapes the muddy ground froze into. In your case - a branch from a storm? A rock? Aliens? Petrhap's Rothina's manicurist (NOT the farrier) didn't autoclave her cuticle thingies?

Unless...does she get extra treats when ouchy? These TBs are very smart, I tell you.

I soaked epsom, with a bit of the lysol, then icthamol and poultice. Not like it stayed on, but my efforts were with the best of intentions. And followed by cold mud.

[goeslikestink]

bran good do it as hot as you can get it then see what happens

[horse_poor]

Talked with the farrier at noon today-he said he strongly suspects it is NOT an abscess and is likely a bruise. He has cautioned me about a lot of soaking sense her soles are soft to begin with and a lot of soaking will make them softer. He is suggesting the sit and wait option, which I HATE. So, I am leaving it be for now.

I asked why so many horses with bruises-none of the others have had an abscess blow so he is suspecting bruises in all of them. He thought the stomping from flies combined with the hard ground is the culprit. Which is odd because there seems to be less flies than last year.

Geek-she is a pretty honest mare and does not get treats on a regular schedule. If she shows that it hurts, it has to hurt A LOT.

[EqTrainer]

I think Geek was joking... your horse is a legend these days!

If it is just a bruise, he is right. Odd place for one tho'. I would ask him if she had any hoof wall separation there. Did you say inside, or outside? Any flare there? I have seen rim bruises from shoes like that but she's not shod. Hmmm. Very odd.

GLS - we don't really have bran here like you do in the UK.. bummer huh?!!

[horse_poor]

If you are looking at her sole, the ouchy area is from the "triangle" part of the frog and runs about two inches along the outside of the frog "crevice" on the side to the outside. Make sense?

I am sure if Rothina figured out ouchiness=treats she would be all over a new drama career.

[horse_poor]

OK quick question...would Sore-No-More on her sole help if it was put on and wrapped? I really cannot stand to sit and do NOTHING!

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

what about toughener if it's a bruise (to prevent further outbreaks)?

Sole paint? ----it's what..iodine and...phenol? Shoot. I forget.