Exposed live sole

A

alisonpook

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 January 2006
Messages
197
Visit site
Following investigations for an abcess and possible underun sole my old Cushings horse has an area of live sole protruding through the sole just inside the white line. Fortunately the sole has not underun and there was very little to find by way of abcess but the live sole is extremely tender although part protected by his shoe. Has anyone any thoughts on how to help this live sole toughen up or is just a question of time. The horse is currently on box rest for bruised thin soles so have been spraying the exposed area with a dry povidone iodine powder and putting a thin layer of gamgee / duck tape over the are to prevent shavings and muck going in. Any thoughts very welcome.
 
What your doing is about all you can do.. Personally I wouldnt be putting iodine on it as you can damage the cells, It just need times to heel.. A cheeper option to gamgee is cheep tesco nappies, Keep it well padded and well covered and give it time.

If it starts to get damp, stand the horse on clean dry concrete without the padding for a period of time each day.

Lou x
 
Hi EllieP.

I had exactly the same situation last year when my horse had a small puncture wound on her sole which was opened up by the vet. Unfortunately the sensitive sole seemed to start to 'over-grow' at this point, and it started to stick out of the hole, and she got VERY lame.

Eventually this is what cured her....

1. smear a dollop of stockholm tar/coper sulphate mixture over the hole in the sole.

2. cover with a clean cotton dressing secured with vetwrap.

3. baby's nappy

4. hoofeeze poultice boot.

The copper sulphate stops the over-growth (also used to stop proud flesh), the tar makes it stick to the right place, and prob also encourages the sole to grow.

My horse went from about 6/10 lame in walk, to 100% sound in just over a week and a 1cm hole in her sole had almost completely healed over in that time.

We had tried to keep the shoe on originally, but in the end had it taken off for a week so that we could get at the area completely.

Any other questions feel free to PM me, but we (eventually) had a very happy conclusion.

Fiona
 
Many thanks for the replies. Very much appreciated. Nappies purchased and boot on order. He is a treasured old horse that I have had since he was 5 - he is now 30 - and I found it very difficult in the first week to see him struggle with so much pain despite being on x4 bute a day. Hopefully we are now slowly on the mend.
 
No problem.

The tar/CuSo4 mix was def the best idea my vet has ever had. It completely stopped the overgrowth of the sensitive sole, and the nappies/boot protected foot while it healed.

Good luck

Fiona
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top