Chipped pedal bone?

pines of rome

pines of rome

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My boy has been very lame, he is a barefoot horse and at first I thought it was lami, so brought him in straight away, but it then looked more like an abscess, one hot foot, filled leg!

Called the vet out and he also thought abscess in the toe, he made some holes but nothing came out, said to poultice it! This morning he was in agony, vet came again, but still no puss to be found!
He decided to xray and he has found that he has chipped the tip of his pedal bone and it is probably infected, although there still could be an abscess there as well!
He has put him on strong painkillers and antibiotics and is to stay on boxrest atm
He is quite optimistic for a good outcome in time!
Has anyone else had to deal with this ?
 
Not personally no. But on one yard the YM horse had it happen twice. It's not 'common' but it is common enough. Not in barefoots but shods. Yours is the first barefooter I've heard of. Tends to happen with thin soled horses. Hence the use of hoof boots being particularly important. I've emailed you.
 
Our young arab did this - it is very common in growing youngsters apparently, particularly when they like to do handbrake turns at speed in the field.... But the vet was very very very optimistic about the prognosis which was a bit hard to believe when the poor little chap was so lame (and rare for a vet to be so certain about the outcome too). He was fine though - we yarded him on a soft surface for a few weeks and slowly he came right. You could see a flared spot growing down on the hoof - it was quite fascinating. His foot looks normal again now and he's back to the handbrake turns again....sigh....... I found it helpful to keep a diary of how lame he was vs how much bute he'd had, as it was hard to be objective and see the improvement that was happening.
 
Yes my vet seems to think he will recover, but he is very lame, trying not to put any weight on that foot at all, which does make me worry that he could get weight bearing laminitis in the other foot! I think mine did it being stupid in the field! It is good to hear yours made a good recovery, but my boy is 13 now so maybe it will be harder for him!
 
I think part of the reason the vet was so positive was our chap's age - his bones were still soft as cheese and growing, which is part of the reason the bone chipped in the first place, but the vet was confident it would just remodel as if nothing had happened. I think sometimes if they do over-strain themselves the bone is actually weaker than the ligament (even in an adult horse) so they end up with the bone chipping rather than a ligament strain. I hope your boy is OK xxxx
 
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Does the vet say there is a separate piece of bone matter ? (which would have to be reabsorbed or removed)
Have they managed to get a look at the soft tissue to rule out bruising
I would ask about putting frog support on the other foot, depending on the health of the existing frog
I have assisted in 2 broken P3 ops both ended up being back in full work, one horse 17 the other 4
The blood supply is the main factor in correcting the break, it needs to be of good quality and in plentiful supply, we did not shoe either foot, but did have frog pads on the opposing foot for support.
 
The vet has not said that the xrays showed a separate piece of bone, but he is treating for infection! he did not say to put a frog support on the other foot, but just to keep him on a thick shavings bed ! I have got hoof boots though cavallos and equine fusions, so I could put one of those on the weight bearing foot?
 
I think a boot on for a long period of time can be detrimental, I would suggest taping on a foam frog support, taking it off for 3-4 hours and soaking the foot in a Milton solution then letting it dry.
You may find that the other hoof is fine on the shavings, but just keep an eye open for any signs of excessive weight loading.
I am sure it will all come good.
 
Yes, I have had two horses with broken pedal bones. One had only 6 weeks box rest and the other 6 months! Both recovered back into full athletic soundness. It is very painful, but also one of the best prognosis for broken or chipped bone, mainly because the hoof has it's own 'cast' which supports the healing. I'm sure he will go on to make a full recovery.
 
Thank you Wagtail, that has made me a feel a bit better! He just looks so dreadful atm and I don,t think I could let him go through all this pain if there was no hope of him recovering! He can stand on it, but as soon as he wants to move he looks like he has a broken leg!
 
My friends two yo did this galloping into a rutted frozen gateway it was a long job six months in the stable but he's five now and working .
 
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