Hoof absesses - causes and prevention!??

[Hels_Bells]

My horse had a hoof absess last February which sent him quite lame and he had to have a couple of weeks off work and bute from the vet to treat it.

Then my (then) farrier commented that he had had another one late in the summer and that a crack would probably form later on which he would fill when the time came. He had displayed no lameness with this one.

After doing a couple of hours hunting this morning he had opened up a decent sized crack in his hoof (he knocked a fence at one point today which could be the cause). He is perfectly sound and my new farrier is coming to look at it. But I suspect this is either from the absess that the old farrier mentioned or worse, a new one that has occurred.

My boy has pretty good feet, he keeps his shoes on well and rarely loses one, they aren't cracked at all and look generally healthy. He did have badly cracked feet when I got him and often lost shoes far too early, but has been fine for nearly 3 years now. But 2 absesses in a year is two too many!! How do they occur and what can I be doing to prevent them occurring!?

(For info boy is currently fed on 12hr good grass turnout, overnight ad lib haylage plus two daily feeds of alfa A oil, baileys #4 cubes, sugarbeet and baileys stud balancer).

 

[Ginger Bear]

Hoof abcesses can be caused by a horse treading on a sharp object or a stone & bacteria getting in or from bacteria & moisture getting into the hoof..google it there's probably lots more causes. My vet sells a hoof hardener that is also anti-bacterial which you paint on the sole & frog twice a week. I started with this when my boy had an abcess & no more since. It's really strong stuff & if you get it on your skin it burns! I pay about £14 for it & it lasts ages & well worth it!

 

[Hels_Bells]

Thanks GB, wow that sounds like great stuff - do you think they would be willing to sell some to me and post it out?? Unless it is a commercial product I could get elsewhere? I will probably wait until I hear from my farrier but if he thinks such a product will help I may PM you for details if that's ok?

 

[Ginger Bear]

I've just called my mum & she said it's the vets own product. When I go to the yard a bit later, I'll see if it's got the ingredients on it & let you know what's in it so you can discuss with your farrier. I reckon it would be worth speaking to my vet & see what they say about posting it to you. If you go to www.blaircourt.com all the contact details for them are on there..

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Would that be Sugardine ? A mix of Iodine and sugar, you own vet can probably supply you with some.

 

[Hels_Bells]

Thanks GB and HR - I'll take a look into it!

 

[Ginger Bear]

i had a look but only a prescription label on it. I doubt it is sugardine as it says toxic & not to get it on skin??

 

[brucea]

(For info boy is currently fed on 12hr good grass turnout, overnight ad lib haylage plus two daily feeds of alfa A oil, baileys #4 cubes, sugarbeet and baileys stud balancer).

Quite a rich diet - he must be doing a lot of work to need that. Perhaps a switch to a hay based diet without the cubes and balancers may help?

I have a pet theory - no science at all - just years of observation and seeing patterns ..... horses that have a quantity of molasses in their diet, whether indirectly through feed containg molasses or paericularly molasses licks, appear to get more recurrent abscesses and take longer to recover from them.

Like I said, no science, just a pattern I've seen over the years

 

[Hels_Bells]

Quite a rich diet - he must be doing a lot of work to need that. Perhaps a switch to a hay based diet without the cubes and balancers may help?

Well he is an eventer and a very poor doer so does very well on this diet. I would love nothing more than a hay based diet (for ease from a time perspective and for my wallet's sake) but unfortunately this is the only way I can keep weight on him over winter. V interesting comment about the Molasses though!!

 

[Daisychain]

Have you tried allen and page calm and condition? Its more fibre based no mollases etc. I have a 17hh tb eventer who is a poor doer if not watched, he has ad lib haylege which is of mixed grasses, 1 scoop of a& P which is soaked and split into 2 feeds, 1 scoop of soaked whole oats, omega oil, brewers yeast and seaweed. I find it very cost effective to, bag of a&p last about 2 weeks around £10 a bag.

He has fab muscle tone, beautiful shiny coat. I used to feed condition nuts for years, not a patch on what im feeding now. (have had lots of tb poor doers!) All the supplements are much more natural and do not contain synthetic vitamins etc.

 

[brucea]

Well he is an eventer and a very poor doer so does very well on this diet. I would love nothing more than a hay based diet (for ease from a time perspective and for my wallet's sake) but unfortunately this is the only way I can keep weight on him over winter. V interesting comment about the Molasses though!!

Possibly think about using things liks the linseed meal as part of his feed, and also Coolstance Copra meal as alternatives?

I have an ISH that tends to shed off a lot of weight in winter - he does not get on with cereals, but I have found that he does OK on oats that are sprouted. Bit of a faff as you have to keep 3 buckets going, but it works for him. And no fruit loop behaviour when they are sprouted.

 

[Hels_Bells]

Thanks so much for the advice on feeding. I would love to feed him on calm and condition but he was on it when he first came to me and it just did nothing for him. I switched his diet from Alpha A, c&C and sugarbeet to, baileys #4, alpha a oil and sugarbeet plus some pink powder and healthy hooves (at the time he had awful feet too) and he just hasn't looked back condition wise. However, back then he did also have an awful bad back which I don't think helps a guy keep condition on!! I'm tempted to give it another go, but then nothing more difficult than trying to get weight back on one it's been lost!!!

Interesting re Linseed and Copra, I will certainly look into them. I never really have a problem with fruit loop behaviour which is lucky - in fact on the advice of the feed company I had him on racehorse mix in the summer as he was in such hard work and he was still pretty chilled out.

ANYHOO... had the farrier out day before yesterday and he said it's not an absess it's seedy toe... so am just about to post regarding seedy toe as it's completely new to me, but I know there are arguments that diet can play a part there too so will be interested to get some feedback! Thanks for the advice though!