How to tell: trod on a stone or pus in the foot?

catembi

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Trev came in from the field lame. No heat, no swelling, pretty sure it's in the foot. If walked from halt, the first few steps are quite lame, but by step 5 or 6 he's pretty well okay.

Being a thin soled TB, I thought he'd probably trodden on a stone, so I've left him for a day or 2 to see what happens. He is no better & no worse. I haven't had a TB for ages (starting to remember why...) so how long should it take to recover from a bruised sole, & how would I know if it's an abscess?

He did have an abscess, but it was in the other foot & from treading on a toe clip while being shod.

I'm not trying to avoid calling the vet, but there is literally NOTHING to see, no heat in the foot, no raised digital pulse, so I'm not sure where they'd start really.
 
I would poltice. If its just bruising, this will help bring the bruising to the surface and if its an abcess it will hopefully draw the pus out.
Also, I believe that bruising can lead to an abcess, so another reason to poltice. If he is no better in a day or two, call the farrier, as he'll be able to find and dig out the abcess. You may still need the vet for some pain killers, and just a general "yep, its just an abcess".
When my TB had an abcess, we had to have her xrayed as it was her 2nd one in the same foot, in only a few months. Luckily, nothing internally wrong, just typical TB feet that needed reshaping.
Has your farrier mentioned anything about the shape of your TB's feet?
 
Farrier co-incidentally came out the day after he went lame, which was good timing cos otherwise I'd have wondered if it was due to shoeing.

He hasn't said anything in particular about the feet. They are quite good for TB feet. The farrier noticed he was lame, but that's about it.
 
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