Farrier can't find abcess or bruise, any other ideas please?

Nickles1973

Nickles1973

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I'm getting to the point of desperation with my horse and could really do with some positive ideas from HHO's wealth of experience of these things. My horse became lame the day after he had new shoes almost three weeks ago. I initially had the farrier back twice who couldn't find anything specific so I then had a visit from the vet. She confirmed which foot was definatley causing the problem and pointed to bruising around the heel area. Still no improvement 1 week on so this morning I've had the farrier back. He has taken George's shoe off and could find just one specific area that reacted to hoof testers, but after paring away could find no sign of a bruise, abcess or corn. He's told me to poultice for a couple of days and will return on Wed to reasses. His passing comment was "I suppose he could have fractured his pedal bone" 8-( The area that reacts to hoof testers is on the inside of his ns front towards his heel. Has anyone had experience of something similar that can give me some hope of ever having a sound horse again because at the moment I'm in panic mode! The internet is not great for people like me as I'm already imaginning he's got navicular and I don't know how I'd cope with 6 months box rest for a fractured pedal bone. He's already turning into a serial killer after 2 weeks in.
 
Follow the farrier's advice but add hot tubbing twice a day to poulticing the whole sole and heel twice a day for a week and see if anything "pops" - this should bring the bruising out or an abcess if there is one. Try that first then if no joy then get the vet out and xray feet..
 
My old horse came in lame the day after being shod, had blacksmith out same as you had shoes on shoes off and all the tests done, we were stumped as to why he was lame, my horse had no swelling, no heat, no cut, nothing.
Turns out he had fractured his splint bone, think he must have had a kick in the field, he was totally sound after 6 weeks rest. :)
 
it could be a deep rooted abcess, my mare had one last year and it took weeks for it to come out and i had vets and farriers look at her, they couldn't find an abcess or anything and presumed lami and cushings.
agree with hot tubbing and poulticing though as it will help draw anything to the surface but at the same time if it isn't an abcess or bruise then it won't harm.
 
I went through exactly the same with my unshod 2yr old over New Year. He was slightly lame, vet came out, reacted to hoof testers so dug a hole and poulticed, but nothing came out. Three days later he was crippled, vet back out, box rested, more foot dug away, nothing. Vet advised us to consider x-rays as it could be a fractured pedal or navicular bone. Unfortunately our yard doesn't have electric so we agreed to box rest for a few more days whilst we made arrangements to borrow facilities. Finally three days later there was pus :) It took another two weeks for him to come sound.
He's now been back out 24/7 for a month and is very happy. The vet and farrier said sometimes they take 3 weeks to burst. If I had the facilities to x-ray the vet would have done so earlier but we took the wait and see approach as the outcome would have been box rest which he was already on.
Good luck, fingers crossed it is just a deep seated abcess.
 
riding_high said:
it could be a deep rooted abcess, my mare had one last year and it took weeks for it to come out and i had vets and farriers look at her, they couldn't find an abcess or anything and presumed lami and cushings.
agree with hot tubbing and poulticing though as it will help draw anything to the surface but at the same time if it isn't an abcess or bruise then it won't harm.
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agree with this, keep hot tubbing. My lad has had one for 5 weeks before it came out his foot and I was starting to get in a panic, could off kissed the farrier when he finally found it. Fractured pedal bone was also mentioned to me which makes you panic a bit. Have you felt his pulse in fetlock? If it's pounding it's def in his foot.
If it's deep seated it will take a while and my boy is left with a huge hole in his foot.
 
Has the horse got plenty of width and support on the heels of the shoes?- personally, in my honest opinion I'd get a vet out whose opinion you trust and get them to check foot balance and x ray as well.

Could be a foot balance/heel pain thing- we had the misfortune a few years or so ago, to have used a Farrier for a short while until he got the boot- who literally had cut my horses heels off and didn't take any notice of me explaining how my horse likes and needs to be shod- he had dumped his toes ever so short-everyone that saw his feet were dumbstruck!they were a real mess- The xrays showed that the farriers *ahem* not very good shoeing had started tipping my horses pedal bone backwards- he had heel pain in all his feet which caused secondary probs with his back, pelvis,hocks and also saddle fit, it was a nightmare but we got it sorted!

Good luck, hope it's easily resolvable for you.
 
Thank you for your replies and support. I have utmost confidence in my farrier. He has shod George for the last two years and untill now other then the occaisional lost shoe I have never had any reason to call his expertise into question. He also come highly recommended and is exceptionally busy which backs up his reputation.
I have tubbed his foot and poulticed it with epsom salts and will do the same this evening. His hoof is quite hot and although not fast I can feel a definate pulse in his fetlock. (But not in the good one) I wonder if this is because his shoe is off and he is very sensitive or could it be because having his shoe off has relieved some pressure and a good sign~????
Either way I'm going to call the vet this afternoon for their advice.
 
Hot tub and poultice it... Absecess can be stubborn beggars to fine and or get rud of but softening his sole will help ;)

If it is a fractured pedal bone, rest is the best thing for it, which you are already doing so you won't be doing any harm by waiting.
 
Get an Xray done. It'll only cost around £100 and at least you'll know if there are any fractures - also I think Xray's can show up abcesses.

If nothing comes up, it may be a tendon or ligament in the hoof... which isn't great news.
 
If there is a strong pulse into that foot you are probably looking at a deep seated abcess. I'm going through that at the moment, my horse had a huge abcess and has had to have so much of her foot cut away she is in for about a month :(

Keep poulticing and hot tubbing, get vet out again to have a look again.
My horse was refered to the RVC and that is who dug deep enough to find the pus. i had her xrayed too, just to make sure there was nothing more sinister there.

My vet bill is over £1000 for this so far... Thank god for insurance!

Also, don't poultice with epsom salts for too long, they are great short term but can start to erode the foot after a while.

Hope you get it sorted soon.
 
Vet has phoned me back. She's happy for me to carry on with tubbing and poulticeing till farrier comes back on Weds. If farrier still finds nothing then she's going to organise nerve blocks and x-rays. Fingers crossed it won't come to that. She has suggested that she doesn't think it'll be tendon/ligament but could be a bone chip/fracture. My insurance won't cover me for anything tendon/ligament related so I'm hoping that she's right.
 
I reckon prob deep seated abcess. Agree with poulticing but don't use animalintex for more than 3 days running. Hot tubbing is great for bringing out bruising BUT be careful. What you don't want is the abcess travelling upwards and breaking out on the coronet band as a quittor as this can affect future horn growth. It is not the end of the world so don't panic but it is better if it can be drawn out from the bottom. Soetimes though you just have to wait and see.
 
Tubbed his foot again this evening, he was much better at standing in the water so I'm hoping that means its making him feel better. His hoof was seriously hot and I'm sure the pulse in his fetlock was more noticable (tho not necessarily bounding) so I'm keeping everything crossed that I will be doing some good with the hot poulticing. Thanks again for all your replies and support. I have just heard news that one of my best friends Mums has been diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time and it is now in her lungs which sure puts my woes into perspective.
 
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