Abscess in (barefoot) hoof wall?!

[Lem26]

My horse went barefoot around 8 months ago now. Around November we noticed she was becoming more sore than usual and when the trimmer came she removed a little sole and found that my mare had had an abscess that had never burst.
For the past few weeks she has been slightly lame in trot and we have been cleaning her central sulcus thinking it may be thrush however I have washed her feet fully today and found she has (what appears to be) an abscess in her hoof wall There is a dry opening (difficult to describe, looks like a cut!) on her hoof wall and it is slightly raised and it looks like there is something inside. I tried to take pictures but it didn't show up well.
I can't believe we haven't noticed this before now but she is out most of the time and consequently her feet are muddy, which must have masked it, however she does come in every day and have her feet picked out.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? I'm not sure whether to try poulticing it? I will probably call the vet tomorrow to ask her advice as it's in such an odd place! Any thoughts appreciated and sorry this is so long!

 

[Bikerchickone]

I'm not an expert by any stretch but I've heard that horses who are barefoot have tougher soles and so any abcess would be more likely to break through at the coronet band than the sole. I'm afraid I've never seen it though so can't tell you any more than that. Hope your horse is better soon. Xx

 

[Lem26]

Thanks for that bikerchickone, I am hoping that is the case and that it isn't too abnormal.

 

[amandap]

If it's a horizontal slit, I am sure it will be an abscess exit hole that burst at the coronet and is growing down the hoof wall. It will continue to grow down and out as the wall grows. There isn't any need to do anything but a bit of wall may break off when it gets to the bottom.

 

[Oberon]

I'm not an expert by any stretch but I've heard that horses who are barefoot have tougher soles and so any abcess would be more likely to break through at the coronet band than the sole. I'm afraid I've never seen it though so can't tell you any more than that. Hope your horse is better soon. Xx

Look who's just swallowed the BF bible

Abscesses will take the path of least resistance and the clever hoof will often guide abscesses to the coronet band, where it will do less damage to burst.

Abscesses are like splinters. It depends where you get them. You can have one that sits in your finger for a week and you barely notice, or you can get one that you feel immediately.

I've had my trimmer point out where an abscess had exited in the hoof - and I was hacking the horse on the roads but never noticed any issue. I was horrified

 

[Gucci_b]

My mare had an abscess on her hoof wall over 2 weeks ago now, she is also barefoot and has been since being 5 months in foal. The foal is now 11 months old and brought my mare into work a few months ago now. I thought I would see how the mare went before getting back shoes put on, and after the abscess in the back foot have decided to get shoes put back on. The abscess started in the hoof wall, I called the vet and the vet located the abscess and we dealt with it, a week later the abscess broke though the coronet band, she is now on antibiotics for 5 days and doing well.

 

[dafthoss]

I have a picture of a suspected one that the yellow pony had if you want to compare? Not sure if it was an injury to the coronet or an abcess though. It never caused him any problems and is now growing down the wall. He never went lame or any thing and carried on working well on all surfaces and I felt really bad for not realsing he had one .

 

[cptrayes]

Folks you cannot get an abcess "in" the hoof wall, it is dead tissue, it cannot abscess. The abcess may be breaking through the hoof wall, in which case it may be something very nasty called a keratoma and you should call a vet. Abscesses left to break out on their own will nearly always come through the bulb of the heel, the coronet or, less often, the frog or join of the frog to the sole.

Antibiotics are normally contra-indicated for foot abscesses. One of the poster's vets has prescribed them, perhaps for good reason, but please don't ask your vet for them for a foot abscess, it can cause nasty complications by allowing the infection to reseal inside the foot.

 

[cptrayes]

My horse went barefoot around 8 months ago now. Around November we noticed she was becoming more sore than usual

This worries me and I think you should consider changing your trimmer or even shoeing your horse. Your mare should not have been "sore" at all after 8 months and something was wrong if she was, sorry

 

[Meowy Catkin]

This hole in the hoof was an abscess that burst out of the coronet band (it had grown down with the hoof growth).

 

[Bikerchickone]

Look who's just swallowed the BF bible

Abscesses will take the path of least resistance and the clever hoof will often guide abscesses to the coronet band, where it will do less damage to burst.

Abscesses are like splinters. It depends where you get them. You can have one that sits in your finger for a week and you barely notice, or you can get one that you feel immediately.

I've had my trimmer point out where an abscess had exited in the hoof - and I was hacking the horse on the roads but never noticed any issue. I was horrified

Lol, I just happened to be at Rockley the other week when someone asked Nic a similar question! Don't know about swallowing the bible, more regurgitating the bits I've heard ;D

 

[Lem26]

Thank you for the replies everyone

I have a picture of a suspected one that the yellow pony had if you want to compare?

This would be good if it's not too much trouble. I'm not sure how to sort pictures onto here.. Could you PM it? Thanks for the offer!

This worries me and I think you should consider changing your trimmer or even shoeing your horse. Your mare should not have been "sore" at all after 8 months and something was wrong if she was, sorry

I know it's not good. We have had issues along the way.. She is a very sensitive soul and she has very contracted heels so I'm guessing this is painful for her as they (very slowly) open out. We have realised she was sore after trims, so we have now stopped having her trimmed (since December) and we have found she self trims fine as we do mostly roadwork. She has also had thrush, and the abscess in November, so we have not had an easy ride and I have thought about putting shoes back on plenty of times however her foot confirmation has improved so much I really don't want to. I think once this abscess is out the way she will (fingers crossed) be on the way to being fine!

 

[Lem26]

This hole in the hoof was an abscess that burst out of the coronet band (it had grown down with the hoof growth).

Thank you that is interesting.. My mares sort of bulges out, it isn't a hole and is just below her coronet band so I'm thinking it is still waiting to burst out.

 

[cptrayes]

Thank you that is interesting.. My mares sort of bulges out, it isn't a hole and is just below her coronet band so I'm thinking it is still waiting to burst out.

Lem I'm sorry but abscesses do not make the actual hoof wall bulge before they blow. The swelling will be in the coronet band, not the hoof wall. You either have something very nasty going on like a keratoma or what you are seeing is thickened growth from a previous coronet band injury/tread/bruise which is growing down. If your horse is definitely lame because of the lump then I think you need to get a vet out to look at it.

 

[Lem26]

Lem I'm sorry but abscesses do not make the actual hoof wall bulge before they blow. The swelling will be in the coronet band, not the hoof wall. You either have something very nasty going on like a keratoma or what you are seeing is thickened growth from a pervious coronet band injury/tread/bruise which is growing down. If your horse is definitely lame because of the lump then I think you need to get a vet out to look at it.

Yes will be calling the vet tomorrow. I am slightly worried it might be a keratoma but I'm hoping it's, as you say, something old growing down. She is only very slightly lame in trot and is happily trotting and cantering about in the field, but I don't really know anything about keratoma's, so I do not know how lame they make them. It just looks like an abscess to me, but I am no vet/hoof expert, clearly!

 

[dafthoss]

His never bulged out he just had a small hole appear thats now growing down.
Heres the first one I have of it

and here it is now, he is standing funny so his foot looks a diffrent shape but its not really.

 

[Lem26]

His never bulged out

Thank you for posting those, helpful to have something to compare it to. Unfortunately it looks a bit different.. I can't even get pictures now as I am back at university for the week!