Abscess or overreach injury?

[Myotto]

Anyone got any tips for differentiating between a foot abscess that has burst out through the front left heel bulb and an overreach injury. My horse wears overreach boots so we assumed the wound on the heel bulb was from an abscess as quite a bit of smelly stuff came out of it on poulticising. However, nearly two weeks on my horse is still not sound and his heel bulb is still extremely tender. The farrier came to take the shoe, pad and gel off today to look for a secondary drainage tract but couldn’t find anything. Bizarrely, my horse really perked up once the shoe was off! Going to poultice again and see if anything else comes out. So frustrating.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

What does the vet think?

 

[Barton Bounty]

Heal the abscess without the shoe on and you will finally get somewhere

 

[Myotto]

What does the vet think?

Farrier thinks it’s an overreach and vet won’t come out until we’ve tried poulticing without a shoe on.

 

[dorsetladette]

we had one who blow an abscess in the heel bulb (quite high up) weeks of polticing and on and off bute saw him'still not quite right) and then the farrier finally found a small piece of wood (from woodchip turnout pen) had gone up the side of his frog. Once this was removed we continued to poltice and hot tub for probably another week and he came sound. He wasn't the most patient patient so polticing was a quick 'get it off' and 'get it on' job so we didn't spend a lot of time poking and proding, we might have found the woodchip ourselves if we had been able too.

 

[Myotto]

I've had another look at the picture from when the abscess or ? injury happened. It looks like there is redness on the other heel bulb too.