Abcess in rear hoof?

One of the horses blew an abcess in his left rear hoof. He's not lame, doesn't seem to have any heat in the area. Best way to treat?

Usually you don't have to do a thing once the abscess blows out. However you can soak in ACV/water or wrap(my pref) in a duct tape boot with Epsom salts and Betadine scrub(or sugar/iodine solution). Something to draw out any remaining goop.

Ok cool, should I keep him stalled then or turn him out? There's no mud cause most everything is frozen.

Since the abcess has already blown out, it's pretty useless to do anything with it now, there won't be anything to "treat." =]

I agree that you can soak it some. We use a feminine pad with duck tape on it if its muddy, but you should be ok as long as he's not lame.

Yup, totally surprised us all. He got trimmed yesterday, acted ouchy during the trimming but the farrier didn't find any reason for it. Grooming him tonight I noticed it. No oozing, no heat, no lame, no ouch.

Well at least its not lame or ouchy :) First time it happened to my family we were on a trail ride adn had no idea what it was. My dad had to ride my mother's horse who hated men to go and get the trailer...turns out we could have rode him out with a pad and duck tape...needless to say that is now part of our emergency kit...lol. Glad to hear its not bad :)

I really should add that to the first aid kit!

Here's a pic of it tonight:

I don't stall horses for abscesses. Movement is important in the healing process. I just make sure nobody will make them move more than they are comfortable moving when they are in pain. Not all abscesses cause pain, btw.

My mare had two acesses come out of her frog with normal shoeing. She was lame, but because the pad on her she had bruised her sold a little. After they came out I called the vet. He said epsom salt wrap is a good idea for the first 12 hours, but after that there isnt much you need to do. He said turnout is fine as long as the wrap stays on at least a few hours. Luckily I've never had a heel or coronet abcess, just ones coming from the sole. I usually clean them off if the get dirty and that's it.