Abscess woes, part 1 million.

[Circe]

Hi
I thought you might be interested to see my boys foot.

The first farrier's work

The first hoof wall resection ( I know that its not technically a resection )

During the time he was suffering abscess he had Xrays, which showed he needed further hoof removing. I was advised to clean his feet with either betadine or hydrogen peroxide, then pack around the resection with copper sulphate ( hence the blue covering )

The same foot 9 months later.
I had / have to be fanatical about his feed and I try to keep the feet as dry and clean as possible. I despaired at times, and sometimes I wondered if he would ever be fully sound.
I also felt guilty for allowing this to happen to my boy. Never again.
Kx

 

[Circe]

Sorry, I've just seen how big a couple of the photos are
Kx

 

[amandap]

No WLD or IR, just a bad farrier that changed the angle of her hoof.

I think stress from prizing on the wall can be a factor. You have to ask why is the hoof wanting to run forward, why are there constant event lines, why constant abscesses? The farrier obviously didn't help matters but I think there is more going on than just bad farriery. Of course you know your horse best, my thinking is from my experiences with my horses and what helped with similar problems.
Good luck.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Wow! Very interesting photos Circe.

I think stress from prizing on the wall can be a factor. You have to ask why is the hoof wanting to run forward, why are there constant event lines, why constant abscesses? The farrier obviously didn't help matters but I think there is more going on than just bad farriery. Of course you know your horse best, my thinking is from my experiences with my horses and what helped with similar problems.
Good luck.

Thanks for your reply. I'll try to explain the situation a bit better.

The hoof didn't 'want' to run forwards. You can see how it was trying to grow down at the correct angle even in the worst photo.

The hoof that she has grown since the new farrier has come, is really good quality hoof. The abscesses that she had recently (it was a re-abscess - if that's a word - in the old abscess hole, which had originally popped out of her coronet band but had grown down as the hoof grew) stopped at this line of new growth, they didn't go up into it. Once the new growth has fully grown down, so that her whole hoof capsule is good hoof, everything should be so much better.

I wish that you could see the hoof in real life, a few photos don't convey everything that you can see in real life.

He (sacked farrier) had also changed the shape of my old mare's and the filly's hooves. The old mare was sorted after one trim by the new farrier, the filly is taking longer, but is nearly there.

I am confident that there isn't an underlying 'other issue' with the chestnut mare. I will of course bear it in mind if she still has trouble once the hoof capsule has grown out (although both the vet and new farrier believe that she should be totally ok once this has happened).

 

[amandap]

Here's some photos of the same hoof.

Before I moved.

To me in this photo the toe is long and the heel long and a bit under run, there are multiple event lines. I'm not a professional and just saying what I see which may well be incorrect. I'm assuming this pic is from before the sacked farrier took over, apologies if this is incorrect.

I'm sure the new farrier will get the hoof under control, the new angle does look better in the recent pic and I wish you luck. I'm not trying to be argumentative and know looking at photos (especially by a non professional like me) is difficult to get a true impression. Thank you for your patience.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I'm not upset in any way by what you have said.

I just feel like a flippping idiot who bought the sacked farrier's excuses for far too long (I hadn't been happy and I should have acted on it far sooner).

That photo was taken in 2008. I moved and therefore had to get a new farrier in 2010.

Her hooves weren't perfect before I moved, but she never had a single days lameness (she cut herself a couple of times but nothing more) and had no abscesses.

I should have taken photos of my filly's hooves when I first got her. She had mahoosive event lines from weaning. Far bigger than any on the chestnut mare's photos. Of course they caused no trouble, weren't sinister and just grew out with the hoof.

 

[amandap]

I'm not upset in any way by what you have said.

I'm glad, thanks for that.

I just feel like a flippping idiot who bought the sacked farrier's excuses for far too long (I hadn't been happy and I should have acted on it far sooner).

I constantly feel like a flipping idiot. lol The more I learn the more idiotic I feel when I look back.
One thing I have learned is don't panic. Keep working away and learning and as long as things are going in the right direction it's good.

Don't beat yourself up about the farrier... I'm sure many of us have been in similar situations. Hindsight is a wonderful thing as they say. I'm sure your horses will be fine with your dedication and a decent farrier.