YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ASK A VET OR FARRIER (OR BOTH) TO ATTEND YOUR HORSE WHEN DEALING WITH LAMENESS OR ABSCESSES. THEIR HELP IS ESSENTIAL WHEN BRINGING YOUR HORSE BACK TO FULL HEALTH.
Signs that your horse has an abscess.
- Intermittent lameness - looking OK and then not looking OK another day.
- Sweating - with lameness, usually, but they don't always sweat.
- Sensitivity to hoof testers - not always does this one work because heavies don't always like to cause a fuss, Samson for example liked to pretend he was fine when hoof testers were used on him.
- Laying down, pained eyes with a bottom lip hanging.
What is an abscess?
An abscess is an infection in the hoof. It is caused by bacteria entering the hoof through the sole which then the body tried to fight with white blood cells creating pus. The hoof capsule cannot expand and the pus puts pressure on the sensitive tissues until the abscess bursts and the pressure is released. Usually the abscess bursts through the sole, which in my mind is the better outcome, but sometimes they burst through the coronary band.
Where is the abscess in the hoof?
To tell this you must look at the walk in the lame leg first, sometimes you can see that they are choosing to take the weight off of the back or front of the hoof, sometimes they are easier up hill which would show its towards the back of the hoof.
Touch is important, feel for heat in the sole and around the hoof wall, this will narrow down the search area.
Hoof testers will pin point the area if your horse reacts to them and flinches to the pain when pressure is applied to the area. Sometimes a similar test is used by knocking gently with the back of the hoof pick on the outside of the hoof wall to see for a reaction. Sometimes they react largely it is a good idea to know your horse well and wear a hat to protect yourself or get a professional ( vet or a farrier) to do this for you if you are unsure.
Your farrier / trimmer should come out and take a look at the foot. I personally always call my farrier first for hoof issues, they have trained in this and they are specialised to hooves, they also know my horses hooves really well because they are regularly trimmed so they know if there is something different or a problem showing. Sometimes if it is near the surface it can be burst and relieve the pressure ready for the application of a poultice to remove any left over pus. Sometimes the abscess is deeper and after initial inspection nothing will be found and your farrier / trimmer may need to return again after poulticing if it is not bursting by itself.
Poulticing.
The rules of poulticing for normal sized horses are to use a hot poultice for up to 3 days by which point the abscess would have burst and then you go on to dry poultices before spraying and plugging daily till healed. Sounds simple but in reality heavy horses have big, hard feet and it takes a while for an abscess to find an outing to burst sometimes. This is an example from my latest abscess with Fred from April (last month), I keep a diary in case I need to tell my Vet or Farrier what I have done during an abscess.
Wednesday - noticed Fred was lame I checked his legs and found no reason for lameness and he had come in from the field the day before fine, running and happy. No sweating. I asked the farrier who happened to be on the yard to check his front hoof. An area of infection was found. The foot was trimmed and the area of infection dug out but no abscess found and he was still lame. I hot poulticed twice once after the farrier left and again at night.
Thursday - Still lame, no sweating - the poultices came off relatively clear no large amounts of pus or infection seen. I poulticed twice once in the morning where he was then turned out into a small area to graze on his own. I poulticed again that night. Morning poultice clear, Fred still lame. Asked the farrier to return the next day.
Friday - Fred still lame, no sweating. Farrier came and looked for infection and followed a track. A small amount of pus but nothing definite and no abscess found. The farrier could not look any further but the area was now clearer to poultice. Hot poultice in the morning and at night.
Saturday - Morning poultice shows sign of pus. Fred still lame but slightly happier in himself. No sweating. Hot poulticed twice again once morning once night.
Sunday - Hot poultice twice again once morning, once night. Still showing pus. Fred still lame.
Monday - Hot poultice twice again once morning once night, showing more pus. Fred beginning to improve.
Tuesday, Fred still lame but the poultice has less pus. Decide to do a hot poultice in the morning and a dry at night to look at the poultice.
Wednesday - Dry poultice comes out looking almost clear. Dry poultice again for the rest of the day to keep the area clean and again at night. Fred looking less lame but still slightly lame.
Thursday - Dry poultice once in the morning and left off at night but sprayed with foot master purple spray to keep the area clean.
Friday - found a rock wedged in the hoof where the abscess was - removed and luckily seems to have caused no damage. Cleaned and sprayed with purple spray once in the morning and once at night. Looking less lame again, still slightly there.
Saturday - cleaning and spraying twice daily. ( would wedge with cotton wool with spray but the holes too wide for wedging.
Sunday - Cleaning and spraying twice daily
Monday - cleaning and spraying twice daily - no signs of lameness.
Tuesday onwards - continue to clean and spray till the hole refills.
In this example of Fred he was lame for a week and a half and I hot poulticed for far longer than 3 days. This isn't suitable for all horses and you must take into account the health of your horses hooves, Fred has incredibly strong hooves so they did not soften at all over these days. I worried at times that it was taking a long time for him to recover from the lameness but I have had horses lame for around 2 weeks before with an abscess but if you are worried you should call a vet. Sometimes the poultice didn't stay on overnight, sometimes your horse will purposely pull them off with his teeth, its very difficult to get them to stay on for the required time and when they get them off they then step in muck and you worry about infection but as long as it stays on a while it has done its job. Poultices should be changed at least twice a day if its on for longer than 12 hours it could cause infection rather than clear one. This example above was around 3 weeks ago now, I am still cleaning and spraying daily and will do till the sole has healed and filled in the left over hole.
I personally do not like to Bute or give painkillers to my horses when they have an abscess because I feel the pain stops them from doing anything stupid which could lead to more harm being done and further bruising. I also do not give my horses antibiotics with them if they are straight forward abscesses and my horse has no underlying issues because antibiotics can make an abscess heal over and then they come back a few days / weeks later, to me it is better to let them drain first, this being said sometimes once drained or being drained your horse may need antibiotics if it is in an odd place, has developed an infection or if the abscess has gone up into the foot or your horse has developed a pedal bone infection. This is how I feel personally, your horse is your horse, always do what you feel is best and always ask a vet or farrier for advice if you are concerned and be prepared to change to the circumstances every day when your horse is lame.
Applying a poultice.
For this you need:
A poultice, a shop brought one either hoof shaped or the sheet type.
Hot water, very hot but you can put your hand it in and it come out steaming. You dont want to burn your hands or horse but its pointless if its luke warm.
A self adhesive crepe bandage (any colour you want, all look fabulous but you wont see much of it unfortunately.
Duct tape. (good duct tape, it sticks better!)
Patience of a saint and the strength of Thor.
If you are using the sheet type of poultice I cut this into 3 along the fold lines from it being packaged. You don't need the whole sheet at once. If you are using the hoof shaped ones I sometimes cut these in half but most of the time they are tiny, I'm not actually sure what kind of horse has a hoof that small but they are good for sticking down the side of the frog and generally whole cover an abcess area well.
Put the poultice into the hot water.
Pick out the foot well and scrub with clean hot water (dont contaminate the water the poultice is in) and a hoof brush so the foot is clean.
Gently press excess water from the poultice whilst still holding up the hoof. Do this quickly so the poultice is still hot. Press into the area of the abscess if you know where the abscess is or cover the whole hoof area until you do know (this is when a sheet poultice is better).
Use the crepe bandage to go around and under the hoof, keeping the poultice in place. Make sure the bottom and up the hoof wall are covered, you will need the whole crepe bandage.
Still keeping the foot up, cover the bottom of the hoof with strips of duct tape, rip it as you go leaving good tails going up the hoof wall either side, make sure you cant see any bandage on the bottom.
You can now put the hoof down. Go around the outside of the hoof wall with the duct tape covering all the tails. Make sure you go high but not above the hair line (and hopefully without catching any hair in the bandage or duct tape) and not too tight but sticking well. Make sure the back is covered around the bulbs or it will slip off like a slipper.
Lift up the hoof again do three strips covering the toe from bulb to toe. This is reinforcement. Then two pieces in a cross. This stops the strips separating. Then put the hoof down and go round the tails from these extra strips and there you are done.
Your hope is that you can keep it on till you replace it, but the likelihood is that it wont and sometimes that's a good thing because they take a lot of effort to pull of. Your main hope is for the poultice to stay on till it gets cold. Then it would have done its job and drawn out anything it can. You'll have to do this at least twice a day for a few days. Don't worry if it does pull off or wear through, no matter how clean your stable is they will guaranteed step in muck once it comes off and worry you that they will get an infection. Just replace it at least twice a day and do not keep it on for longer than said on the packet. Remember if your not sure whether to finish try a dry poultice and see what you get. Always ask for veterinary or farrier attention if you are worried but it will get sorted!
- You may be worried it will be slippery with the duct tape boot. I did too at first but they are lame so not running around and in a clean stable also it will wear through as they move around and most of the time they will lay down. I've also had rubber matting whilst doing this and I have never had a problem but always assess according to your horse.
- It is almost guaranteed that an abscess will appear on a public holiday or a Sunday when the shops are closed. Always have a stock of poultices, crepe bandages and duct tape in your first aid kit. They last as long as you have them so always worth having ready and you will be so glad you were prepared.
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| The end result. |
http://www.horsetrust.org.uk/grants/advice-centre/f/foot-abscesses/
http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-health/horse-hoof-abscess-17265.aspx
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