Nail Bind Experiences

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Jsye

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Hi all

I've just moved my horse to a grass livery yard so he can live out due to his bone spavins. It's too far out for my regular farrier so I've switched to the farrier that the yard uses. He had his feet done on 27th or 28th I think, and was fine, then was lame a few days later. We suspected abscess and so was poulticing for 5 days but nothing came out.

Another liverys farrier happened to visit the yard on Friday (06/11) and had a look at him for me - he said straight away he suspected nail bind and so took the shoe off and sure enough there was a 'misplaced' nail and out followed some puss which had clearly built up underneath. Since then I've been soaking his foot in warm water and epsom salts and re applying a clean water proof poultice padded out with a nappy. He's currently still lame, going to give the vet a call today to see what they advise, but is this normal for nail bind? I always thought as soon as the abscess burst they would go sound.

He's definitely improved and looks a lot happier in himself. The poulticing has also made his sole go soft which I suppose isn't helping as he has relatively poor feet anyway (please dont tell me to go barefoot - already tried for a good year but he has cushings too aswell as being a TB and shod from a young age. He's had his back shoes off but front will remain for the time being)

Any experiences/advice will be much appreciated

Thanks
 
The nail has probably caused some bruising to the area of sensitive tissue that has then developed into a small pocket of pus, it may take a few days to heal as it is a while since it was caused, nail bind if picked up quickly does usually resolve almost immediately as does an abscess once burst but with your horse you have a combination of two minor issues, if the abscess has drained fully I would use a dry dressing now and stop soaking to allow the foot to dry out.
 
Thanks - sorry forgot to add it's been dry lintex that I've been putting on since having the shoe pulled off. I've also been soaking in epsom salts, then drying the hoof before applying the new dressing. He was still lame yesterday, will speak to yard manager and see how he is today.
 
Just to add to BP's advice, cushings will give feet, even good feet, challenges. My lad developed abscess after abscess when he was first diagnosed with cushings.

Their immune system just does not work as effectively as it should and minor infections can and do get out of hand quickly.
 
Jsye said:
Hi all

I've just moved my horse to a grass livery yard so he can live out due to his bone spavins. It's too far out for my regular farrier so I've switched to the farrier that the yard uses. He had his feet done on 27th or 28th I think, and was fine, then was lame a few days later. We suspected abscess and so was poulticing for 5 days but nothing came out.

Another liverys farrier happened to visit the yard on Friday (06/11) and had a look at him for me - he said straight away he suspected nail bind and so took the shoe off and sure enough there was a 'misplaced' nail and out followed some puss which had clearly built up underneath. Since then I've been soaking his foot in warm water and epsom salts and re applying a clean water proof poultice padded out with a nappy. He's currently still lame, going to give the vet a call today to see what they advise, but is this normal for nail bind? I always thought as soon as the abscess burst they would go sound.

He's definitely improved and looks a lot happier in himself. The poulticing has also made his sole go soft which I suppose isn't helping as he has relatively poor feet anyway (please dont tell me to go barefoot - already tried for a good year but he has cushings too aswell as being a TB and shod from a young age. He's had his back shoes off but front will remain for the time being)

Any experiences/advice will be much appreciated

Thanks
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You need to swap over to animalintex and mix iodine with sugar. Iodine will draw out any infection and keep the area clean and the sugar will allow the area to harden instead of being soft. Mix the two together to form a porridge like consistency and spread it over the foot and then dress as normal.
 
Thanks guys - it is animalintex I'm currently using. I've got keratex hoof hardner but wary about putting it on whilst there is an opening in his sole so I've give that a miss. Will look into iodine/sugar mixture to disinfect/harden.

How long should I expect him to be lame for before becoming concerned? He's never had an abscess whilst I've had him (3 years) so this is my first experience with them! Trying to get the farrier out again at some point to put his shoe back on but I don't want to do that until he is sound if I can help it.
Sorry for sounding like a right numpty I just worry about him so much, it's even worse now I can only visit him at weekends (long story but yard is too far from me to visit daily, he is checked every day by yard manager)
 
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