Bruised Sole

Dizzleton

Dizzleton

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Can anyone help?

My horse that is usually sound and has good solid hooves has recently been lame. My farrier came out last wednesday and trimmed my horses hooves then reshod him. Admittedly he trimmed them a little short to get rid of a small crack, but nothing major.

The next day he was really tender in his hooves and was hobbling to his field. I rang the farrier who told me to keep and eye on him etc. The following few days he got better and could walk virtually normally again - So I assume he was just footsore from the trimming.

Saturday came round and he was still a little sore on the hard grass / concrete road so I asked the farrier to come back out. The farrier then noticed some bruising on his front right sole near to the frog (Not caused by the farrier) He readjusted his front shoes which made him better.

Now, still today he is sore on that foot. He looks 99% sound walking in the field and on the concrete road but really bobs his head whilst trotting on a hard surface.

FYI - He's turned out from 8 - 7 everyday and stabled on an extra deep bed at night. For 3 weeks it hasn't rained once so the fields were bone dry. Yesterday and today we've had small showers

I've never had a horse with a bruise sole before, so I have a few questions:

1 - How long does it take to mend?
2 - Is there anything I can do that'd help?
3 - Should he be lame on it, or is the lameness being caused by something else?
4 - Should I call the vet out?

Any help would be great!
 
i'm afraid my problem wasnt very similar to yours, but i'll try and help anyway!
i decided to make my mare barefoot, she had very tough feet and seemed alright, she ended up getting bruised front feet though, so i decided to shoe her fronts again. she was quite footsore in both feet. i didnt stop riding her, but only did light walk and trot everyday. she healed in about a week. i dont think there's any need of getting your vet up unless the bruising doesnt go down in a week or so, or if once its gone it continues coming back. you may find if it continues getting bruised then its something to do with the way hes moving or putting too much pressure on it, then it might be a good idea to get the vet out. hopefully this wont be the case and he heals up in no time though.
hope i could help!
 
also might be worth getting some hoof oil/dressing. i use kevin bacon hoof dressing and although it costs around £15 pounds its brilliant, you can put it on every part of the hoof including the frog as it helps to toughen the hoof but doesnt suffocate it!
 
Does the horse have thin soles? What's he being fed?

I wouldn't bother with hoof dressings - Kevin Bacon is essentially lard, so it actually will clog up the hooves and it won't do them any good. The only thing that should go on hooves is water.
 
TwoStroke said:
Does the horse have thin soles? What's he being fed?

I wouldn't bother with hoof dressings - Kevin Bacon is essentially lard, so it actually will clog up the hooves and it won't do them any good. The only thing that should go on hooves is water.
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He's not thin soled, he generally has well formed, solid warmblood hooves.

Currently he's being fed 1 scoop of mollichop and 1 scoop of D&H Build up mix along with an airway supplement. He gets 2 haylage nets a night.

This is the first time since I've owned him that he's been lame and the bruise is visible.
 
That's quite a lot of sugar and starch going in the bucket; this will often have a negative impact on hooves. Where ever possible, I would always try to use fibre as a primary energy source (such as unmolassed beet pulp), with oil as a top up. Starchy cereal mixes and molassed products are on my 'do not touch' list for healthy hooves... though the exception to that is oats, which seem to be well tolerated if fed in moderation.

One other thing to consider; did the farrier thin the sole at all in order to shorten the hoof sufficiently to eliminate the crack? This may have weakened the hooves and made them vulnerable to bruising.
 
JennyConnor said:
Can anyone help?

My horse that is usually sound and has good solid hooves has recently been lame. My farrier came out last wednesday and trimmed my horses hooves then reshod him. Admittedly he trimmed them a little short to get rid of a small crack, but nothing major.

The next day he was really tender in his hooves and was hobbling to his field. I rang the farrier who told me to keep and eye on him etc. The following few days he got better and could walk virtually normally again - So I assume he was just footsore from the trimming.

Saturday came round and he was still a little sore on the hard grass / concrete road so I asked the farrier to come back out. The farrier then noticed some bruising on his front right sole near to the frog (Not caused by the farrier) He readjusted his front shoes which made him better.

Now, still today he is sore on that foot. He looks 99% sound walking in the field and on the concrete road but really bobs his head whilst trotting on a hard surface.

FYI - He's turned out from 8 - 7 everyday and stabled on an extra deep bed at night. For 3 weeks it hasn't rained once so the fields were bone dry. Yesterday and today we've had small showers

I've never had a horse with a bruise sole before, so I have a few questions:

1 - How long does it take to mend?
2 - Is there anything I can do that'd help?
3 - Should he be lame on it, or is the lameness being caused by something else?
4 - Should I call the vet out?

Any help would be great!
Click to expand...



Your horse was lame after being shod.

your horse was sounder, but not sound, after the shoe was removed and reset.

Your farrier found a mark near the frog that he has told you is a bruise. A bruise near the frog would not normally make a shod horse very unsound on a flat hard surface and if it did, resetting the shoe would be unlikely to make the slightest difference.

What colour is the bruise? Dark is usually something that is already weeks old. Is it pink?

The timing of this and what has happened since suggests to me that your farrier either pricked your horse on the day or gave him a nail bind. If he has removed the nail causing the issue then hopefully your horse will avoid an abscess and should be better in a few days time.
 
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cptrayes said:
Your horse was lame after being shod.

your horse was sounder, but not sound, after the shoe was removed and reset.

Your farrier found a mark near the frog that he has told you is a bruise. A bruise near the frog would not normally make a shod horse very unsound on a flat hard surface and if it did, resetting the shoe would be unlikely to make the slightest difference.

What colour is the bruise? Dark is usually something that is already weeks old. Is it pink?

The timing of this and what has happened since suggests to me that your farrier either pricked your horse on the day or gave him a nail bind. If he has removed the nail causing the issue then hopefully your horse will avoid an abscess and should be better in a few days time.
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That about sums it up I recon. It aint what he ate.
 
My mare had an abscess erupt at the coronary band on Easter Saturday, and more gunk came out on the opposite heel bulb this Sunday. By Tuesday when vet came back to reassess she was sound in trot, tight circles and no reaction to hoof testers. However there is still extensive dark bruising to her sole and vet said give her another full week off then work only on a surface for a week – i.e. bruising can take weeks to come out fully.

If your boy had a sore foot from the first episode then had shoe removed and reset it’s not surprising he’s struggling a bit. Think you need to be a bit more patient and give him time to come right as long as he’s comfortable; wish I had as it would have saved me 2nd visit but I panicked after 10 days.
 
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