hot hoof...???

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blackhorse37

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took my boy for a hack this morning and on the first trot he didnt feel right, he had a slight "nod" however this disappeared after a few strides and he felt totally sound. i decided to keep the hack short and had another short trot where he felt 100%, then a few yards from home i had to trot on to get into a gateway to avoid a lorry and again he had a few "off" strides.

When i got back to yard i felt him all over and the only thing i could find was heat on his front nearside hoof (inch below coronet band) and heat in his sole.

My initial thought was abcess..what do you think? We have a stony drive so i also wonder if it could be bruising of the sole but the intermittant lameness confuses me (its very low grade) He didnt object at all to me tapping his foot/sole etc. Im so worried as we have had sooo many problems! (obviously i will call vet/farrier if no better tomorrow)

Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated!
 
Not sure really, it could be an abcess just forming, if it is it will probably be worse tomorrow, might be worth poulticing overnight just to see if anything comes out though it is unlikely if the abcess is deep. Does he have a strong digital pulse there at all? (measure just below the fetlock at the back, generally it is quite hard to feel a pulse here so if you can feel a strong one it means there's pain in his foot). Would definately keep an eye on it (which I'm sure you will). Hope he's ok.
 
My first thought would be abcess, too - does he have a history of them at all? As there's heat in the foot I'd be calling the vet, though. Is he shod? If not there's no harm in poulticing right away. If he is you'd obviously have to get the farrier out.
 
In my experience, hot hooves can indicate an abscess, a corn, a bruised sole or laminitis ... we've had them all.

As Paint it Lucky says, have you checked his digital pulse?
 
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