Hopping lame horse.

[only_me]

Mine had a HUGE abcess who presented like yours. All fine one day then next morning was found hopping lame in field with no weight bearing. Assumed abcess, couldn't find any reaction to hoof testers but hot tubbed and poulticed - nothing. Vet couldn't find anything in hoof but did find sore around stifle area so we assumed it was ST from him mucking about in field.

Box rested for couple days on bute, much better and weaned off bute. Sound for a couple of days with no bute. Next day absolutely hopping lame again; but this time we found a sore spot in hoof. Dug and found a huge hole with 2 tracts, so hot tubbed and hot poulticed twice a day for a week. Then dry for couple days. Then nothing, horse completely sound. Got shoe back on and into field. Fine for couple days. Then he was hopping lame again

Dug in a bit more, found a third tract off the huge hole. Repeated poutlice twice a day for 4 days then once a day and hot tubbed. Cost me an absolute fortune!!!!
Seemed no better so rang vet as concerned may need to drill hole into foot. Then a small bulge appeared along coronet band. So poulticed that. Didn't open so we opened it ourselves. Small amount of pus.
Poulticed again for 4 days (all wet hot!) and then 2 days dry.
We finally think it's all out; after nearly a month of poulticing!! He got his shoe back on yesterday so hoping pressure has gone so no pain lol.


You can use hot damp bread (white) to poutlice if can't get aminlintex. I poutice with amilintex (or kaolin if I can get it), nappy on top, shavings bag and then vet wrap and duct tape on top.
Definitely recommend hot tubbing (hot water and epsom salts, put horses foot into it for 20mins, needs to be as hot as can bear) before poulticing

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

OP sorry if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs, but when people say "poultice for 3 days" they mean changing it every 24hrs (some people will change it every 12hrs, but I never have and nothing has died yet). I like Animalintex but have also known poultice made with kaolin and bran in a small canvas bag which is then taped round the hoof.

 

[only_me]

OP sorry if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs, but when people say "poultice for 3 days" they mean changing it every 24hrs (some people will change it every 12hrs, but I never have and nothing has died yet).

I changed every am/pm due to size of hole and reluctance of pus to come out lol. Also meant i could hot tub twice a day. Once i was sure 90% of stuff was out only did one a day poultices

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I changed every am/pm due to size of hole and reluctance of pus to come out lol. Also meant i could hot tub twice a day. Once i was sure 90% of stuff was out only did one a day poultices

It probably works better to do it twice a day, I've never had a bad one to do so I've never needed to try it. I only mentioned it because the OP said she knows nothing about lameness/poultice and I knew a horse once where the non-horsey person left in charge had literally "poulticed for 7days" as per the vets instructions and not thought to chang it once, you can imagine the state of the wound when the owner returned :eek3:

 

[fattylumpkin]

I don't know if it's 'normal' for an abscess not being a vet, however my horse did once get one. She came in from the field completely lame on one leg and unable to use that foot, but never reacted to the hood testers. The farrier had a bit of a dig but only found bruising. Next day she was almost normal. I rested her and carried on watching for signs. A few days later I arrived to find that the heel between the digital cushion and the hoof wall had split and there was a massive open wound there! That's where the abscess must have come out. It took a relatively long while to heal and had to be kept wrapped and taped constantly. Otherwise she seemed fine and hasn't had anything similar since

 

[sport horse]

'tub' the whole foot in hor salt water to draw the abscess - even if you cannot see it. 'Tub' means get a bucket of hot water (hot but so that you could put your hand in it without 3rd degree burns) add a cupful of salt and put the horse's foot into the bucket and leave it there for a good 5 minutes - or until the bucket has flown across the yard in one direction and horse another! Some are good some not so. Then poultice - you can use animalintex if you have one, warm water and bran or even warm honey with a dressing over and bandage onto foot.
I live on a flint/clay soil so we gets loads of abscess and it sounds very likely.

 

[MDB]

Is she still on bute? If so, that can mask symptoms of many sorts of lameness.

Any signs that an abscess might have blown? I've got one that doesn't even go very lame - just a bit off - and weeks later you spot a hole in the hoof. My friend's mare acts like her leg has broken.

She had bute yesterday evening and is due another dose shortly. Cannot see any signs of an abcess blowing out so far.

 

[MDB]

Can you see a gooey line or crack at the coronet band? You will have to look very closely at this early stage as it will become more visible with time, but if it has burst at the coronet band she should be much sounder or even completely sound shortly. If it has burst there, the hole will just grow down with the hoof and isn't anything to worry about.

Nope. Nothing visible at all. She is still protecting it by not evenly weightbearing on both fronts when either standing resting or walking. But you have to look closely. She did burst into trot (caused by my other horse in the field having a hooley - they are both out but the lame horse is cordoned off in a very small area with access to her shelter and water but nothing else) and in trot she has a slight head bob. Yesterday I thought she had broken her leg the way she was holding it and literally hopping around.

 

[MDB]

If you are in Spain, try what my French vet recommends. Linseed seeds, warm them in warm water pack the sole and bandage. I keep Animal Lintex in my first aid box as well as vet wrap. Much cheaper bought on line from the UK.

That is great thanks. Do i grind the linseeds first or just soak and apply whole?

 

[MDB]

OP sorry if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs, but when people say "poultice for 3 days" they mean changing it every 24hrs (some people will change it every 12hrs, but I never have and nothing has died yet). I like Animalintex but have also known poultice made with kaolin and bran in a small canvas bag which is then taped round the hoof.

No, you are not teaching granny to suck eggs. This is all new to me. I assumed that it would be changed daily. But thanks for clarifying.

 

[MDB]

It probably works better to do it twice a day, I've never had a bad one to do so I've never needed to try it. I only mentioned it because the OP said she knows nothing about lameness/poultice and I knew a horse once where the non-horsey person left in charge had literally "poulticed for 7days" as per the vets instructions and not thought to chang it once, you can imagine the state of the wound when the owner returned :eek3:

Thank you. Had horses for 3 years now but never had a lame one before so this is all new and somewhat scary.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

She had bute yesterday evening and is due another dose shortly. Cannot see any signs of an abcess blowing out so far.

Bute is an anti-inflammatory painkiller, so will mask the signs of any lameness (lame generally means in pain) and also suppress infection. That's why it's not the best thing for an abscess. If the bute and antibiotics cure it completely then great, but if they don't, the infection will rumble on for ages with various degress of lameness, until it bursts out or is dug out. Leaving the abscess unmedicated speeds up the process of it bursting out.

I guess your vet was unsure if there was infection from a leg wound rather than a hoof abscess, bute and antibiotics would be standard treatment for that (I'd try cold hosing, walking in hand to reduce swelling and poulticing first in that scenario, but obviously if the horse comes in from the field on 3 legs you need a vet).

 

[MDB]

Bute is an anti-inflammatory painkiller, so will mask the signs of any lameness (lame generally means in pain) and also suppress infection. That's why it's not the best thing for an abscess. If the bute and antibiotics cure it completely then great, but if they don't, the infection will rumble on for ages with various degress of lameness, until it bursts out or is dug out. Leaving the abscess unmedicated speeds up the process of it bursting out.

I guess your vet was unsure if there was infection from a leg wound rather than a hoof abscess, bute and antibiotics would be standard treatment for that (I'd try cold hosing, walking in hand to reduce swelling and poulticing first in that scenario, but obviously if the horse comes in from the field on 3 legs you need a vet).

He was unsure whether is was some kind of field injury, or an abcess. He told me to cold hose the foot. He is due to come back tomorrow, so I will check with him first about hot tubbing since that is essentially the opposite of cold treatment. I showed him the video from this morning and he was surprised that once the nerve block wore off, that she was moving as good as she was. But from all of the comments on here, I am guessing that Bute and antibiotics could improve things from that point of view, although the downside being that may delay the natural progress if it were an abcess.

 

[MDB]

UPDATE.

Thanks to all those who answered my post. Thought I would give an update just over a month on.

After the vet came and nerve blocked on the initial assessment my mare was walking and trotting soundly. We expected the nerve block to wear off, and her go back to hopping lame again, but after 48 hours she was still a good 75% better.
It has been a month now. Antibiotics were stopped after 5 days. Bute after a week. She continued to improve although some days she would appear a bit more ouchy than others. No abcess ever appeared. She has been out in the field all this time and I would say is a good 95%+ better. Not visibly lame although I still feel not quite 100%. So looks like it was most likely a field injury. She will have another month off before we reassess whether we restart ridden work.
Thanks again to all those who offered me advice.