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limited experience with abcess looking for info.

2K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  WildAcreFarms 
#1 ·
My horse has been off work for about 4 to 5 weeks. he showed up lame in the left front about a month ago. you don't see it at a walk or a canter but only at the trot. My trainer thought it was an abscess brewing but it hasnt come to the surface and hes still lame in that leg.

I don't have much experience with abscess hoofs. doesn't this seem like a long time for the horses to be lame? Should i be looking into other possibilities? and what exactly is involved in looking further. I asked my farrier and he said in his opinion, its not good to try and dig them out because you risk getting a bad infection. with limited experience I'm getting pretty worried.....
 
#2 · (Edited)
Hoof testers should tell the tale. You can pinpoint where the pressure is built up and relieve it. (If it's indeed an abscess) The fact that it's been that long suggests there could be more serious damage. That's a long time for an abscess to brew. But without being there, we can't really say if it's even in the hoof.

Your farrier has a logical theory I guess, but if it blows out on it's own, debris will fill it and then it will likely re-occur. Just my opinion but I like to relieve it and pack it with iodine-soaked cotton. Or put a shoe and pad with medicated hoof packin'
 
#3 ·
thanks so much for the advise

thanks so much for the advise and info. OF course a hoof tester why didn't I think of that!! it seems so obvious now LOL. but that's what this forum is for i guess :)

Do you think i should try to get someone out here to dig it out if it is tender
and we decide its an abscess? just so i know I'm on the right track, I take the hoof tester and just hand squeeze in in different areas of the hoof pinching between the bottom and the hoof wall correct? and if its tender (which would mean the hose flinches or tries to pull his hoof back) then we can assume there IS an abscess... IF not call the vet for xrays?

My normal farrier said hes not in favor of it but i know there are kind of two sides to that debate. having only had one abscess ever i really have almost no practical experience with it. Is that something that a vet would do??
 
#5 ·
My boy had 3 abscesses last winter all in quick succession, and each time they were dug out. I just packed and wrapped his hoof and changed the wrapping every day or two.

I got told dont bother getting your vet to dig it out, they can.. But the two times I had my vet dig it out, they dug a tiny pin ***** of a hole and the abscess came back, the one time my farrier dug it out, he made a decent drainage hole and I haven't had another abscess since.

If it is an abscess, my suggestion would be (for wrapping) some poultice, a nappy, and vet wrap (or duct tape if it's wet there at the moment) that worked a treat each time, always kept him clean and waterproof.

Personally I think it's wierd how your horse is only showing the lameness in a trot, especially this many weeks afterwards. Each time I've seen an abscess the horse has been lame in every gait (though I'm no expert so my opinion is not law!!) I think personally I would get a vet out seeing as it's been going on so long.

Good luck :)
 
#7 ·
Yeah no kidding that's what i thought too and the only other time i saw an abscess the horse was dead lame until it burst, always laying down and stuff. Norman is not really like that. I think I'm gonna make him a vet appt.
 
#8 ·
I'd go for the vet... When Oats got his abcess, dead lame every gait. If it is an abcess, we would always soak it in warm/borderline hot water w/ epsom salt every day, before dressing it like HollyBubbles said ;) Only the hoof with a tiny bit of heel/coronet in there.
 
#9 ·
When my horse got an abscess he was dead lame and only shaking the treat container in front of him would convince him to leave his stall to be soaked :-p

I'd call in the vet to take a look at it. If nothing shows up with the hoof testers, the vet will be in a better position to diagnose what else it might be.
 
#10 ·
hey thanks guys (and gals) for the info. i think the vet needs to be called. I"m tired of waiting. I tend to be someone who doesn't call the vet every time my horse sneezes. I do think it's weird too that he seems only lame in the trot. hes definitely NOT lame at the walk, like the other abscess i saw and even if hes not taking that lead in the canter, still you would expect to see SOMETHING.

We had Arabians growing up and i don't know if we were just lucky but i have ZERO experience with lame horses. we had SO many and never had one pull up lame SO its a learning curve for me.

thanks again and wish me and Norman luck :)
 
#11 ·
My horse is recovering from an abscess, he wasn't "lame", no he was OMG I am dying and I am NOT moving from this spot. Literally, my BO's husband put him in his stall for the night, came to let him out the next morning and found his dinner un-finished and a 3-legged immobile horse.

My Vet dug it out. Risking a bigger infection was better than a non-eating, non-moving horse and the Vet was able to sedate him while he worked because wasn't about to let anyone carve up his sore foot. Vet came back multiple times over the next two weeks and kept it medicated and wrapped. It's still wrapped with a betadine gauze inside and the Farrier comes Sunday to re-shoe him with pads.
 
#12 ·
hey Delfina thanks so much for sharing your experience. that was pretty much my only experience too. a horse that was three legged dead lame.

everyone kept telling me "it's an abscess it will work its way out"

Even my vets office told me this.

however as I'm studying and reading online i feel like it is a suspensory injury.
we free lounged the horse and i have read that once a horse has this type of injury you can never lounge him again.

I'm just hoping i can get him back to sound as we were really making progress in out training!!! i just feel like crying I'm so frustrated.

thanks for your input :oops:
 
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