HELP PLEASE!

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clairel

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I have just got back from yard, after bringing horses in etc. (I finish work at 9) and the big horse was crippled lame.

Had a look around and he had a huge nail in his frog, about an inch in, and when I took it out the last 1cm had blood on it.
Now he was instantly a little relieved when I removed it (as you would imagine) and I did all the usual, gave it a thorough clean, hydrogen peroxide, and poltice.

Will ring both the farrier (although don't know what he will be able to do as it was almost at his heel in the frog) and vet (for antibiotics) tomorrow... but is there anything else I should do?

His leg was quite puffy also so he is bandaged up, to support his legs overnight.

Thanks...
 
Bute maybe if you have some for the puffiness.. This happened to my horse and the vet told me that its good if theres some blood as it washes out any debris. We were advised to "tub" our horses foot, i.e. warm water with salt in and horses foot stood in it for as long as she would let us keep it there. This was to help draw out any other dirt. She wasnt lame on it and had to stay in for a few days to keep dirt etc out. The nail in her foot was embedded horizontally from the back of the heel towards the toe of her hoof. We saved the nail to show the vet. She made a good recovery Im pleased to say.

Good luck and hope the horse is ok
 
Thanks, I had thought of hot tubbing it this evening but he was quite distressed and didn't want the hot water to cause any extra inflammation this evening.
Will start tomorrow though.
 
Sounds like you have done everything that can be done
smile.gif

Vet will probably want to give a tet shot aswell as antibiotics!
 
Ditto Hadfos...the poultice will be the most important as will draw any dirt out....possible cold hose the leg tomorrow if still puffy...fingers crossed...
 
Sounds like you have done what you can for tonight. Don't panic too much about it, and get one or both vet/farrier out asap tomorrow. My old pony got a nail in the frog and farrier said it's more painful while it's in there, but better long term than having it in the sole. Can't remember why now though, it was a long time ago! Pony was fine in a few days.
 
I know of a horse that stood on a nail that went straight up into the sole and the outcome was not good. It penetrates the delicate area and can do more damage
 
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Hopefully his tet is up to date with his flu vaccines but will double check with her in the morning.

Thanks

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My lad always was...but for some reason even though upto date they always gave him a tet shot
crazy.gif

always peesed me off as i paid for tetanus x2 on a couple occasions
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Hi Clairel,

I'd written a whole thesis on this, but website got bored + kicked me off!! (Point taken!)

Firstly - good that nail was in frog (fleshy area, good blood supply, unlikely to have penetrated joint capsules)

Secondly - great that you're so on-the-ball, got vet + farrier involved (farrier is horsey foot expert, vet is general expert unless horse specialist)

I strongly suspect that both will recommend hot tubbing and poulticing (i personally wouldn't say to cold hose, as we're not dealing with a soft tissue injury here, where we want to reduce inflammation. Same comments apply to bute, although 'bute + box rest' seems to be the 'cure all' now, just as the Victorian sanitariums were for people like me!!

Re tetanus + soles - vet may well want to do x-ray to see how far nail has penetrated, + if it involved any joint capsules. Giving a fast-acting tetanus jab is standard procedure in any penetration wound, as a precaution - maybe we should all challenge drug companies on their research? (If only we knew all....)

Wishing you + the horse my sincere best wishes, + i'm sure he'll be ok, here's hoping, love BS x
 
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