Hoof abscess. Worst one I’ve seen.

pistolpete said:
Vet is coming this afternoon stand down the people who think I’m cruel! I’m not. He’s had four years as a field pet living his best life wanting for nothing and certainly not suffering. Retired at 14 and doing rather well off small incidence aside. He’s had bute too.
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Hope he’s ok after a bit of digging and relief 🤞🏼
 
FieldOrnaments said:
This might be a stupid question but why do abscesses make them so lame? And why do some horses seem to get them whereas others don't? I don't think I've ever dealt with one thankfully, having a horse so lame must be absolutely terrifying
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Having spoken to his previous owner, this is the only abcess my horse has had in 15 years. In his case the ym at the RDA put him on some lush grass with another horse, which also abcessed, but less severely.
 
Makes sense thank you.

400kg pressing on a septic splinter//equivalent must be f+-&ING sore
meleeka said:
The pain is down to pressure. It's a bit like us getting a splinter under our nail, the pus has nowhere to go, so every time you push on the nail, it's agony. Some horses are just prone. Some have better hoof quality than others, so a native with rock hard feet will be less likely to get one than something with softer feet. The weather also plays a part as soft hooves can let bacteria i
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Tiddlypom said:
Was there some pus, albeit not much?

IME tubbing for 10 mins or so several times a day in ambient saline solution is most effective at drawing out pus.
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Yep. I have a soaking boot that I put warm water in. He will happily wear it walking around. Already had three sessions in it. Will pick up some Epsom salts tomorrow.
 
FieldOrnaments said:
This might be a stupid question but why do abscesses make them so lame? And why do some horses seem to get them whereas others don't? I don't think I've ever dealt with one thankfully, having a horse so lame must be absolutely terrifying
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It's the pressure that causes the pain. And if you've ever had an abscess, you will know it hurts like an absolute mofo.

I had a pilonidal cyst once - it was painful before a lump even started to form. When the lump came up 12 hours later I treated it with heat and epsom salts thinking abscess. Another 16 hours later and it was hurting to do anything - I was having problems moving and doing simple tasks it hurt so much so went to the walk in. Doctor confirmed an abscess and said I was doing all the right things and by her calculation would form a head very soon and to keep doing what I had been doing to draw up the infection. She assigned me very strong antibiotics. 24 hours later I was in so much agony I couldn't sit, stand, walk, nothing. Omg the pain!!!!! No wonder why horses are broken lame! At that point it had at least formed a head and I popped it. The amount of puss and blood was incredible. Took 2 days of re-popping to get it all out.
 
My horse had several abscesses during his life, nearly all in the same hind foot.

It must have been towards the end of his ridden life when the farrier said he suspected he had a keratoma in that hind hoof, slow growing and I shouldn't panic about it. But it made sense in that could well have been the reason he seemed to be prone to an abscess.

In fact, the very last one he had was after an encounter with a pig, which ended up with him stepping on his front shoe - that will probably end up as an abscess, I thought as it loosened the nails. It did.
 
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