How long to box rest ?

[maree t]

My daughters Sec A cut her frog on saturday out hunting. It was a flint we think and although it bled a lot initially, by the time we got back to the box it had stopped. We loaded and came straight back to inspect the damage. We cleaned her hoof out and soaked in salt water for about 30 mins. We found a fairly small clean cut. We sprayed it with purple spray and put her in on a clean bed. we soaked again in salt water twice the next day and sprayed again. We have kept her in on a clean bed ever since just checking it twice a day. It is fine no swelling or inflammation so think she will be fine.
I dont know how much to keep her in. we still have snow but it is due to start raining later and last a day plus. We dont have a clean dry area to turn her out on and dont know what to do. I want it well healed but she is a games/hunting pony and is climbing the walls. If I start walking her out to stretch her legs should I soak her foot again or cover it before we go out (gaffer tape etc )

 

[AdorableAlice]

All I would do is let my farrier have a quick look and if he is happy I would turn out as normal and keep an eye on it.

 

[maree t]

Thanks, I am just concerned about how long before it is healed enough. It was quite a small cut but worried about her standing around in wet mud ?
Will it soften her frog and let the germs in ?

 

[Quincy1]

I had a similar issue with my horse and my farrier told me not to move her on any account until the frog had grown back over. Every time I had walked her it rubbed off the new frog growth. Hers was the size of a half penny and took five days to show a covering of black frog and maybe another week to toughen up. I used an equiboot over the shoe to walk her after the first 5 days.
Interestingly my vet had said to keep turning out but wash with salt water. This didn't work at all as she was lame and the frog was soft and wet when she came in.

 

[maree t]

thanks Quincy that was what I was worried about. It is an angled cut so no frog missing but just dont want any problems with it. Think I might cover it and start walking her down the road in a day or so.

 

[Quincy1]

another thing suggested by the farrier was to also keep it as dry as possible once the cut looked clean. I was just brushing off any dirt with a dry towel several times a day. This definitely helped to dry the frog out and toughen the new growth.

 

[Hoof_Prints]

would surgical spirit be any good for this? I heard that it toughens skin and of course would disinfect the area.. just an idea as I've been told to use it on the big hole left over from my horse's abscess