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[RC] Hoof abscesses - Judi DalyI could probably write a book on hoof abscesses. I
have a horse who had recurring abscesses in a hind
foot. After nearly 2 years, I got an x-ray and found
out he had a deteriorating coffin bone. He had one
operation to debride the bone, and the foot wouldn?t
heal. About a year later, we took him back for
another operation. After follow up x-rays, they said
he was fine, put a shoe and a pad on his foot and told
me to ride him. 8 weeks later, he abscessed again.
That was in July. He still has a hole in the bottom
of his hoof that is draining, and as long as the hole
is open, he is sound and doing very well?even on the
very hard trails. Neither my vet, farrier or the vet
at OSU know what to do, so I?m on my own. I decided
to ride him without a shoe (OSU wanted a shoe) since
he never needed shoes in the past. I feel that
keeping the foot as normal as possible will help it
act normally. So far, it has worked. The draining
had gradually diminished, and someday, it may stop.
Anyway, with several years of abscessing, I have tried
it all. Definitely, it needs to drain, and the sooner
the better. If it pops out of the coronet band, you
may end up with a hole on the face of the hoof that is
very hard to keep dirt out. The hoof bottom is much
easier as you can stuff it with a cotton ball. Get a
vet or farrier who is aggressive about digging it out.
Iodine didn?t work, Ichthamal was easy, but it didn?t
do the trick. Soaking with Epsoms wasted a lot of
time, though the soaking later helped to keep the hole
open when it wanted to seal. My favorite was
Magnapaste. It helped to dry up the abscess the
quickest and was the easiest to use. You need a good
hole to stuff it in, though, and you can?t use it too
long or it will dry out the hoof. The vet didn?t seem
to worry about that, but my farrier was concerned.
To keep a foot clean for a long period of time, an
equine slipper is fantastic. You can get them from KV
Vet. I would wrap with a little vet wrap and put the
slipper on. Later, when I had a hole in the face of
the hoof, I didn?t even bother with the vetwrap.
These things are very durable.
Last, a normal abscess should not take long to heal.
My horse always bounced back in a week once we got
good draining, and I would give him another week for
good measure. Hand leading during recovery encouraged
it to drain.
Most important?if you have continual problems or it
takes too long to heal, insist on an x-ray even if
your vet or farrier tell you it is a waste of time. I
had both. I wish we would have diagnosed his problem
earlier. It may not have gotten as it did, and a lot
of heartache may have been avoided.
Judi
?Good trail horses are made?not born.?
www.trailtraining.bigstep.com Home of my free
e-newsletters for the pleasure trail rider and my new
book. ?Trail Training for the Horse and Rider.? The
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