Bruised soles

SNORKEY

SNORKEY

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Hi, My horse trod on a stone whilst having a canter along a track a couple of months ago, and since then he goes lame every now and again if I ride him on our stoney Bridleway, he's fine all other times.
Ive checked his soles for bruising but with all the mud even after cleaning his feet I cant really seen anything.

Does anyone know how long a bruised sole lasts for?
 
SNORKEY said:
Hi, My horse trod on a stone whilst having a canter along a track a couple of months ago, and since then he goes lame every now and again if I ride him on our stoney Bridleway, he's fine all other times.
Ive checked his soles for bruising but with all the mud even after cleaning his feet I cant really seen anything.

Does anyone know how long a bruised sole lasts for?
Click to expand...

I see this as a three parter :-) first are your horse's soles pigmented (ie dark) either completely or in patches. A dark coloured sole often won't show bruises - certainly not nearly as easily as an unpigmented sole.

Second - it may be that your horse's soles have become thin and he is struggling with the stones because of this.

Alternatively if the back of the foot is compromised - ie imperfect frog, contracted heel that can be painful when they tread on stones.

How long does the lameness last? Is it a few ouchy steps or several days of reluctance to go forward or ?

Re the how long does a bruised sole last for? Like us the discolouration of bruising hangs around much longer than the pain. But for a horse if the sole is particularly thin there may be damage to the internal structures underneath - the pain of that can be significant and quite long lasting.

So my big questions for you are: How thin are your horse's soles? Is the frog perfect, intact with a good callous and substantial body? And can you describe the lameness in more detail?

All the best
 
SNORKEY said:
Hi, My horse trod on a stone whilst having a canter along a track a couple of months ago, and since then he goes lame every now and again if I ride him on our stoney Bridleway, he's fine all other times.
Ive checked his soles for bruising but with all the mud even after cleaning his feet I cant really seen anything.

Does anyone know how long a bruised sole lasts for?
Click to expand...

Have either your farrier and or vet looked at the foot for you?
 
If its an ongoing issue, I'd have his feet xrayed. I just recently did this with my boy who had been intermitently lame and he has been diagnosed with thin soles. Both the vet and the farrier said its been very common where I am (west coast of Scotland) this year because of the wet wet wet winter!

Once you know what the problem is, you can start treating it. I bought my boy a pair of hoof boots for over his shoes when hacking out atm just to protect the sole whilst nature does its work. :)
 
My horse has bruised her soles twice. Both times she has been lame for about 24hrs. The second time she was on three legs by the time I got her home. Cold hosing and rest usually sorts it out.

If your horse is still lame a long time afterwards, then there is another problem. My mare was like this one summer, and I think that her feet were too long. I also think that she may have had the initial signs of laminitus due to rich haylage - one of the ponies had it at the same time..

Definately a time to speak to your vet and/or farrier if it is ongoing.
 
My horse who likes to loon about the field bruises his foot about once or twice year. He can be lame for about 5 days and I find that turning him out helps. I have had the blacksmith and vet check him and they say its nothing to worry about.
 
Noodlebug said:
My horse who likes to loon about the field bruises his foot about once or twice year. He can be lame for about 5 days and I find that turning him out helps. I have had the blacksmith and vet check him and they say its nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...

However, the OP's horse has recurrent lameness......

It really is a no brainer in a situation like this. You get the vet out to do an assessment of the horse - instead of (perhaps) posting on here..
 
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