Abcess advice please?

[Bens_Mum]

I'm livid my poor horse has two abscesses on each fore due to the farrier and his placement of the nails.

Another farrier has come today and made a hole in each allowing them to drain. My horse is a TB with very thin soles and I'm worried about him being barefoot for too long.

I have hot poulticed tonight and he's out in the field with bags and endless duct tape on top.

The farrier mentioned iodine what would others use and recommend? The field is dry and he's not good in on his own so he is going to have to stay out and be treated on the move.

Any advice much appreciated?

 

[YorksG]

When we had one with an abcess this winter, we got a horsecrocz boot, held everything in place and stopped the need for miles of duck tape We use iodene for thrush and have used it on abcesses, usually poultice with epsom salts at first though.

 

[Bare hoof]

I'm livid my poor horse has two abscesses on each fore due to the farrier and his placement of the nails.

Another farrier has come today and made a hole in each allowing them to drain. My horse is a TB with very thin soles and I'm worried about him being barefoot for too long.

I have hot poulticed tonight and he's out in the field with bags and endless duct tape on top.

The farrier mentioned iodine what would others use and recommend? The field is dry and he's not good in on his own so he is going to have to stay out and be treated on the move.

Any advice much appreciated?

Flowers of sulphur is very good

 

[Micropony]

My old boy had the mother of all abscesses at one point. Vet said to hot poultice with animalintex daily until we had 3 clean ones in succession, then dry poultice for a couple of days, then treat with 'blue powder' which is apparently an old fashioned wound powder but good in this situation.

Being out is great, the movement should help it drain better.

Best of luck with it and hope it goes better than my chap's did!

 

[Bens_Mum]

Thanks guys I'm hoping it stays dry for a few days I can't believe he's got them in both fronts I'm livid at the farrier

 

[Micropony]

Friend of mine had similar recently except it also kicked off an episode of stress induced laminitis. Oh, and her farrier was so embarrassed by his mistake that he stopped returning her calls, despite her taking pains not to blame him (not sure the vet was quite so tactful though).

Her view, and I agree with her, was that upsetting as it is, this chap had been shoeing her horses for a good while and she'd been pleased with him and his work. She wasn't about to fall out with him over one isolated mistake - we all make them and we don't do it on purpose. But when he stopped returning calls and the horse was in pain needing remedial shoes fitting, she had no option but to find someone else.

 

[eggs]

I find nappies, or a couple of layers of gamgee if you don't have nappies, very good for giving additional cushioning.

Poultice, vet wrap, nappy, vet wrap, plastic feed or shavings sack, duck tape. A trick I learned from my vet is to make a square of duck tape by cutting pieces 10" or so long and putting them side by side with a slight overlap. Have it to hand - I usually lightly stick it to my thigh - ready to slap on as the final layer.

 

[JillA]

Thanks guys I'm hoping it stays dry for a few days I can't believe he's got them in both fronts I'm livid at the farrier

Then report him to FRC. They tend to close ranks but at least it will be in their stats, and if they get sufficient complaints over time they will have to take it on board

 

[oldie48]

Hi vet from Liphook at recent lecture gave the following advice for abcesses. Don't use animalintex/poultice, it's expensive and pretty useless. If horse will tolerate it soak foot in warm salt water, use nappies and duct tape to protect + hoof boot for turn out. Paint sole of foot with iodine (can't remember why he said this think it cleans and hardens). He also suggested using stockholm tar. He also dislikes the use of epsom salts. He's a great fan of salt water and said chuck all the purple spray, wound powder etc out and only use hibiscrub for cleaning round wounds, never on broken or injured skin.

 

[smellsofhorse]

Movement is the best thing.
So keep him comfortable and keep
the holes clean and allowe him to heal.

There are lots of different things you can use.
Personal choice really

 

[tallyho!]

Personally I would buy big hoof boots for poulticing, not that expensive, and buy one size bigger. Nappies are excellent for abscesses. Try one like the below... website link is just for illustrative purposes. Put the nappy over hoof, then hoof inside boot. Keep out as much as possible as the expanding/contracting hoof will improve blood flow, pushing out the abscess and it will heal quicker. Topical ointments don't really do much as you need the tissue to start knitting back together so don't pack it. Just keep clean.

https://www.kramer.co.uk/Poultice-B...-S&ref=Produktportal/googleUK&subref=430554-S

Why has he got this soles? Was your previous farrier taking too much off? If you're not already, feed a decent hoof supp and take your horse off any grain/cereal based diet.

 

[Janovich]

Echo Tally Ho!...