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Stone Bruise/Abscess

4K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  Smilie 
#1 ·
Can an abscess caused from a stone bruise break out at the coronary band?

The ranch has a horse that the vet felt had a stone bruise. Very very very lame on left front. Gave a shot, and medicine to take orally daily plus soaking in Epsom salt daily.

An eruption of some sort about 2 inches long has appeared at the coronary band.

O'wow. Just read on another site from a search that when it tracks up and out of the coronary band the horse can be off for several months.

I was surprised it could track up that far. I guess it goes up the white line and then out??
 
#3 ·
It goes out the place of least resistance. If that abscess is not drained at sole level, the only place it can exit, is at the coronary band, after working it;s way up the hoof wall. Certainly can't beak out through the hoof wall!.
Systemic antibiotics do very little, if anything, for a hoof abscess, as it can't penetrate to the infection
 
#7 ·
Certainly can't beak out through the hoof wall!.
I thought I had read posts here where an abscess did blow out the hoof wall? Must be my memory as I can see with the strength of the wall it'd take a lot of force.

If we're speaking about *just* a stone bruise to the sole, to healthy(but perhaps unconditioned, extra sharp rock...) feet, then I'd say not. Point of least resistance will be the sole or wall junction. BUT abscesses at the coronary are often due to ill health, separation, etc, not just because of an 'accidental' bash to the coronet or such. When there is separation/damage all the way up, the 'track' of least resistance may well be up.



Because of above - it's often not a 'simple abscess'.
Yeah, there is actually a little more to this story. About a month ago Trigger came up lame. He had a large knot on the side of his front leg about half way between his hoof and knee. It had a healed cut on top of it. I led him slowly, very slowly, to the corals at the ranch house. About 1 mile. Turns out they had doctored the cut in the past but it did not have the knot.

Hauled to the vet (we're 50 miles from the nearest grocery store). The vet took x rays and saw nothing inside the 1/2 fist sized lump. Put on antibiotics and rest. Horse got fine.

Few weeks later I saw him really lame. This time it was going to hake 2-3 hours to get him to walk a mile so he was trailered in to the ranch house.

Took to another vet, he was out of town on the previous visit, and he said 99% of the time when a horse came up that lame it was a stone bruise. Not sure what oral med he gave him plus soaking in epsom salt. (how does epsom salt get in there to do anything?)

Saw him yesterday and he had the wet/some bloody strip along the front of his coronary band and he was actually walking pretty good but still favoring it some
 
#4 ·
the tb i ride had that happen. I was packing his feet with iodine and epson salt and putting boots on him. It blew out a thursday night while at the show grounds (we brought him along because we had already paid the show fees and he needed to be on stall rest and be monitored closely anyhow) And the next morning he was sound (miracle of miracles) and we showed him that day. Although I think we just caught a lucky break with that one.
 
#5 ·
Once the pressure is gone , by the abscess blowing, many horses will be sound immediately
If you ever hammered your finger nail, needing to have a hot needle burn a hole in that nail, to relieve the pressure, you will appreciate how that pain is relieved, when the abscess blows
 
#6 ·
Can an abscess caused from a stone bruise break out at the coronary band?
If we're speaking about *just* a stone bruise to the sole, to healthy(but perhaps unconditioned, extra sharp rock...) feet, then I'd say not. Point of least resistance will be the sole or wall junction. BUT abscesses at the coronary are often due to ill health, separation, etc, not just because of an 'accidental' bash to the coronet or such. When there is separation/damage all the way up, the 'track' of least resistance may well be up.

O'wow. Just read on another site from a search that when it tracks up and out of the coronary band the horse can be off for several months.
Because of above - it's often not a 'simple abscess'.
 
#11 ·
If we're speaking about *just* a stone bruise to the sole, to healthy(but perhaps unconditioned, extra sharp rock...) feet, then I'd say not. Point of least resistance will be the sole or wall junction. BUT abscesses at the coronary are often due to ill health, separation, etc, not just because of an 'accidental' bash to the coronet or such. When there is separation/damage all the way up, the 'track' of least resistance may well be up.



Because of above - it's often not a 'simple abscess'.

Form my experience, and from any vet I have talked to, if the abscess is not drained at sole level, even on horses with perfectly tight white lines, that abscess will migrate up and drain at the coronary band

From this link:

Hoof Abscesses in Horses | TheHorse.com

Similar to treating pimples, the basic abscess treatment strategy is to open it and let it drain. Some will even pop on their own, often after traveling up the hoof to the coronary band or heel bulbs where the wall is thinner and easier to break through.
 
#12 ·
From what I'm gathering, it must be that the Epsom salt soak softens up the coronary band which hastens the breaking out of the infection and pressure resulting in immediate pain relief.

I think I got it.

When we were looking at it a ranch person said it'll probably come out up here in the hair. And then someday when being trimmed for being shod there will be a hole it the hoof where it was.

This person knows a lot but is not real clear sometimes. I thought it sounded way off but I guess it was right on. Maybe it's just me that doesn't understand real clear sometimes.
 
#14 ·
I think I remember reading on here where the hoof wall is opened up to drain an abscess. Unless my memory is failing me, how does a vet/farrier determine where to open the wall?

And can an abscess be caused by a blow to the outer wall? Or only to the sole?
 
#15 ·
What is attempted, by vets and farriers here anyway, is to open up the abscess at sole level,and/ or draw it out at sole level, by soaking and other drawing agents like animal lintex
If that is not successful, and that abscess moves higher up, it will eventually blow at the coronary band
I agree with Loosie, that abcesses are often related to a white line that is not tight, allowing bacteria in, but at the same time, according to link I posted, bacteria can also be introduced into a traumatized area by circulating bacteria in the blood stream. Yes, I know blood is supposed to be sterile, but that is always not true, and bacteria in the blood stream don't always escalate to septicemia.
I should know, as having knee replacements, there is always the danger of having bacteria gain access to those knees, through dental procedures, and other things-hence the precaution of taking antibiotics before any dental procedure, by joint replacement people
I do know that I have had abscesses blow at the coronary band on horses with perfectly tight white lines
The stone bruise, cause the trauma , that sets up the condition for any opportunistic organisms to set up shop, but of course, some stone bruises remain sterile, and resolve
Anyway, there is always the urgency , and not just for immediate pain relief, to have an abcess drain at sole level, before it migrates too far up the hoof, to be drawn out/drained at sole level, doing damage in relationship to length of time to burst out on it;s own
 
#16 ·
From link after this paragraph


.What is a Hoof Abscess
A hoof abscess is a localized bacterial infection in the sensitive structures of the hoof. Purulent fluid (pus) is produced as a reaction by the horse’s body to the infection. The pus accumulates between the keratinized and germinal layers of the hoof wall. Since the hoof cannot expand, the increased pressure of pus collecting within the hoof capsule causes significant pain.

The pus will take the path of least resistance to relieve the pressure and if left untreated, will usually work its way up the hoof wall, breaking out at the coronary band or the bulbs of the heel.

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