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Any clue what is wrong with his hoof? (Red frog)

19K views 82 replies 35 participants last post by  hermonine 
#1 ·
My moms horse has been limping and refuses to put weight on this one leg, walking on his tip toes. I cleaned out the hoof (best I could for a quicky job), hosed it down, and this is what I found. A blood red frog on his back right leg. Never seen this before. Any clue on what it is going on?

 
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#4 ·
So dry bandage and call the vet. Thanks. My farrier did trim him a few weeks ago, I wasn't present and he has a new assistant (maybe something went wrong there). He always has a slight limp for he has an old injury on his other back leg making him walk weird overall. On top of this this injured leg is majorly toed in so he always walks weird on it anyway and to add onto that he has really bad arthritis so needless to say when we saw him miss stepping a few weeks ago we did not think too much of it for that is normal for him, he is never not miss stepping. This week he started walking worse which grabbed our attention that something else could be going on now as well. When I cleaned his hooves these few weeks I did not notice the bruising due to all the dirt covering it, only after hosing it down today did I see this. Poor old man, it was already hard walking, now to add this onto it all. Thanks for the help I will do as you advised.
 
#6 ·
It looks to me like the farrier pared the frog off. Doing that is not uncommon in a shod horse but shouldn't be done with a barefoot horse. Did you push on it? If you didn't, you might want to next time you're out there. If necessary, use your hoof pick to push on it. If he's flinchy about it, I would likely call the vet. If he's not flinchy about it and there's no heat in the foot/leg, I would probably take a wait and see approach. He might have stepped on a rock after the farrier visited and busted a vessel in there and bruised it. If that's what happened, then it's possible he could abscess.
 
#8 ·
It looks to me like the farrier pared the frog off. Doing that is not uncommon in a shod horse but shouldn't be done with a barefoot horse. Did you push on it? If you didn't, you might want to next time you're out there. If necessary, use your hoof pick to push on it. If he's flinchy about it, I would likely call the vet. If he's not flinchy about it and there's no heat in the foot/leg, I would probably take a wait and see approach. He might have stepped on a rock after the farrier visited and busted a vessel in there and bruised it. If that's what happened, then it's possible he could abscess.
He is barefoot and my farrier usually does a great job with no problems. This is the first time anything bad like this has happened making me wonder if it was his new assistant that did this. His last assistant he had cleaned the frog out with that scrapper thing while he did the rest. It makes sense that if the frog was cut short then he stepped on a rock he could of broke a blood vessel.

I do not have hoof testers but I did squeeze the heel, pushing in on it, and he did not flinch. I also did not feel any abnormal heat in the leg or hoof, no swelling in the leg either, which is a relief. So far we just dry bandaged it and are going to keep him on stall rest and see how it goes. Thanks for all the help!
 
#12 ·
That kind of looks like a thrush infection that went really bad... like maybe turned into something much worse? But I'm not sure.
 
#13 ·
I think you should call your farrier and vet ASAP. That doesn't look good, and almost looks intentional but it could just be the way the picture it showing up for me.
 
#17 ·
^Definately^, and I'd be calling the farrier while the vet is on the way to boot! That looks bad, and by golly, if I were a farrier and had a possibly incompetent assistant (only an assumption), I'd want to know. Despite that, I'd get it checked immediately - so glad you discovered it, poor boy!

**Loosie?!?! :)
 
#15 ·
I wouldn't soak just yet. Is he more comfortable with the bandage? If so, then he needs to grow frog, that's all. if he's lame the same with bandage, it could be a bruise or abscess. He could theoretically have found a piece of glass in the ground and sliced the frog off... I've seen that before, just not that deep and bloody.
 
#23 ·
When I saw the OP's pic, my first thought was "Why did someone cut that poor horse's frog like that and so deep?" My next thought was, "Why isn't it actually bleeding?"

I don't think that is ripped off -- it's too clean and sharp. It really looks like it was cut purposefully and I'd be mighty ticked off if that is indeed the case.

I would not be inclined to soak it. If it's been cut, it needs to heal and toughen up. Soaking it will soften it. I would keep it clean and apply antibiotic cream on it. Probably/possibly put a diaper on it with duct tape. Every day, at least once - wash and rediaper. If no improvement in the first 36 hours, I would call the vet and farrier.
 
#26 ·
They definitely cut his frog too short. I wouldn't be too worried- my horse stepped on a broken glass bottle on a trail ride. I pulled the glass pieces out of her hoof and hand walked her home. Only once I was home I realized there was another piece in her frog that I didn't see, as it was in deep. The vet had to come and debride her frog. She used iodine to disinfect the hoof, said to soak (in iodine) I think. That was many years ago so I don't remember all the details, but my mare was fine.

Overall, I wouldn't be too concerned, but I would call the vet and ask if you should soak it or not.
 
#27 ·
Well, my moms horse is doing better. We had to double pad it (like a pillow), keeping it all together with vet wrap and a piece of duck-tape but he is starting to put pressure on it and walk. I saw him take a few normal steps the other day which is a relief. Stall rest is doing him good but it is going to be a long recovery till it grows back. Thanks everyone for all the help!
 
#31 ·
To me, it looks like they trimmed right down to the frog coruim! In dissection class, we overtrimmed hooves on cadavers to expose the frog coruim, or cell producing sensitive structure of the frog. It is very red, slightly spongy, has nerves, and bleeds when you cut into it.

Ouch! I would get a new farrier.

It feels really really soft but it is not bleeding outside just bloody red internal in the frog. I have had this farrier for awhile now and he always does such a great job, trimming my horses with no problems, this is the first time something bad has happened. I find it very ironic it happens right when he gets a new assistant. He had his old assistants cleaning out the horses hooves and cleaning up the frog with that hoof knife thing before the farrier trims them. I think the new assistant messed up bad on my moms horse. His other back foot looks worse with more hoof and frog missing, I was surprised he showed no signs of limping and/or pain on that one was well.
 
#32 ·
Nope we have not tried to get ahold of my farrier yet. So far we have been just busy with trying to get him all healed up first. Also, it's a pain just trying to get ahold of my farrier. He is very popular and is always booked and very hard to get ahold of.
 
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