[ecasey]

I took these pictures today but don't know how to post anything but the links.

Is this a blown abscess or a cut in the hoof wall or something else? It's not warm to the touch and the horse is not lame at all, nor has she been.

https://flic.kr/p/p1DusR

https://flic.kr/p/pi6B9o

https://flic.kr/p/p1CsDV

https://flic.kr/p/p1CupP

And how do I treat it if at all?

 

[smrobs]

It looks to me like an old abscess blowout. Judging from how far down from the hairline it is, it probably happened at least a couple of months ago. I wouldn't worry about it, but you might talk with your farrier about keeping it trimmed to not overload the section of hoof directly below it. If it bears too much weight, it is entirely possible that a large section of the hoof wall, where it has detached around the blowout, could break off, leaving a gap in the weight bearing part of the wall.

Even if that were to happen, it's unlikely that it would cause problems, it would just look terrible until the broken section grew out.

 

[verona1016]

It could be where an abscess burst, but abscesses don't blow out the side of the hoof wall- they come out at the coronet band and then the "hole" grows down. That far down the hoof wall it would have been 4+ months ago. Unless this horse is new to you, you probably would have noticed it long ago

I don't think I've ever seen a bruise form like that below an old abscess hole, which makes me lean towards it being where the horse hit his foot against something solid and at least somewhat sharp. That and just how long and even the abrasion is. It doesn't look like it got too deep based on the photos, so I'd probably just leave it alone, given that the horse doesn't seem uncomfortable, and ask the farrier about it next time he's out to trim.

 

[NorthernMama]

Actually, I had an abscess blow out partway down the wall. Weirdest thing, but that's what it was and it absolutely did not start at the coronary band and grow down. I'm a bit obsessive about my horse's hooves and see every little thing.

My horse wasn't lame for a step and it was so weird I even asked my trimmer. She confirmed - a blowout in the wall itself, not the coronary and grown out. She also said it's unusual, but she has seen it from time to time.

OP - abscess.

 

[tinyliny]

if an abcess were to blow out of the hoof wall, below the coronary band, would it not make a vertical line? I mean, since the horn tubules run vertically, it makes sense that if a break were to occur due to pressure, it would be on a vertical line, where the pressure escaped out between two tubules.

the bruising on that is odd.

was your horse lame at any time recently?

 

[jazzy475]

That probley blew out at cornary band and has now grown out so is further down the hoof wall now. My gelding blew out an abcess at cornary band a few months ago its a vertical line thats now a 1/4 of the way down hoof wall.

 

[ecasey]

I clean her feet pretty much every day. This thing wasn't there yesterday at all! And she hasn't been lame a day since I bought her, back in January.

Does that change anyone's answer? If it's a cut I guess I need to hunt around in her paddock to see what could have caused it because it didn't happen when I had her out. I cleaned her feet before I put her away for the day and it wasn't there.

 

[NorthernMama]

Tinyliny - I thought it was odd too the first time I saw it and had the same thought as the OP, but indeed it does happen this way.

OP - I know what you are thinking - it makes no sense. I spent all kinds of time as well looking for a place that my horse could have cut herself that way. But, look at the foot. A cut like that makes no sense. She would have had to drag her foot just so along something VERY sharp or smack it sideways into something. Neither is reasonably feasible. It IS an abscess that just blew 1/2 down the wall.

When my mare's grew out, I didn't have any trouble with it as it neared the ground. Her feet are well trimmed and your mare's look good and short as well. I doubt you'll have any trouble.

 

[ecasey]

Yeah, her feet are kept trimmed religiously. So I guess I'm just going to keep it as clean as I can (ha ha good luck with that with all the rain we've had lately) and keep an eye on it.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[smrobs]

Yep, since it wasn't there the other day, I agree that it's an abscess that blew out in an unusual place. Some horses have no lameness at all with abscesses and you don't even know they had one until it bursts and you find them with a crack like your mare or goop running out of their hoof.

 

[stevenson]

she needs the frog trimmed. , looks very thrushy could have been she clipped it on a fence or rock . That looks to have been there for a while, looks newly rasped, and looks like she has had on shoes in the past, and the nail holes have not grown out.

 

[ecasey]

she needs the frog trimmed. , looks very thrushy could have been she clipped it on a fence or rock . That looks to have been there for a while, looks newly rasped, and looks like she has had on shoes in the past, and the nail holes have not grown out.

Her frog is not thrushy, however, it could do with some trimming because it has a lot of tags coming off right now. I attribute this to the weather going back and forth between really hot and dry and downpours. Her frog doesn't know what to do with itself.

The cut on the hoof appeared on the day I posted, so it wasn't there "for a while".

Her hooves are newly rasped because she just had her hooves trimmed about 10 days ago.

She's never worn shoes in her life, and she's 12.

I guess that just goes to show that you can't tell everything from a photo.