Nail through frog/bulb of heel

Cazzah

Cazzah

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Brought my lad up tonight about an hour ago and was picking his hooves out and was horrified to find he'd got a nail about 3" long right through to the bulb of his heel entered from the rear of the frog. He wasn't lame and didn't seem bothered in the least!

As it was clean through and easy to remove I have pulled it out. I then bathed it in salt water for a while to clean. There was very little blood but it looked fresh - don't think it was there when I popped his feed over at about 6 but can't be 100%. I've then but some antiseptic gel on it and poulticed. He's kept at home and I have a very small paddock so I've put him in there tonight and the ground is dry (finally!)

He's not bothered at all by it and stood good as gold whilst I sorted it but I'm just hoping that I've treated it properly. I would most defintely have called the vet if lame or if it was through a more forward part of the hoof. His tetanus is fully up to date. I'll check on him in a couple of hours.

Have I done the right thing? Does anyone have any experience of such an injury and how long do you think it will take to heal?

Obviously if he becomes lame or it doesn't look right the vet will be out straight away.
 
POULTICE AND KEEP IT CLEAN AND DRY!!!

For at least a week!

Have seen this happen to 2 horses. One is a write off and the other is fine. The 1st one went to hospital with it still in the foot, the other the vet removed and cleaned and poulticed and then told us the next 24 hours were critical. If it went lame then the joint could be infected (which is what happened to the 1st). Of course bones/tendons etc cto an also be damaged.

The 2nd one never went lame and was in for about 2 weeks until the hole had dried and closed up.

It is a very serious injury. I don't want scare you but please be careful! I would actually ring your vet and have at least a phone conversation with them.
 
I would also ring your vet to discuss. Sounds like its gone up through the DC/LC, and is probably not near the pedal/navicular bone/ddft, but the vet may want to prescribe anti biotics to prevent infection getting in.
 
Please ring the vet to discuss. My boy had a piece of wood enter his frog which was only noticed and removed by the farrier, we poulticed, kept clean and stabled but he still got an infection that very nearly cost him his life. He had xrays to check that the infection had not entered the joint, had a fair amount of hoof removed and was on intramuscular antibiotics for 5 weeks followed by powdered ab's for a further week to clear up the infection. Luckily he made a full recovery :)
 
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As others have said, this is a really serious injury - even if you feel it looks OK. Please call your vet. I have a friend who's horse had a similar injury it became very, very ill afterwards and she nearly lost the mare.
 
I've inspected, soaked in salt water and re-poulticed this morning - still sound and wound clean. I've spoken to the vet and described exactly the site of the wound - its the side of his frog approx 3cm from back of foot and the nail has entered at an angle and come out the bulb of the heel.

She has advised that the course of treatment I have done is the best and to keep it clean and poulticed to draw anything out. She advised no panic unless it changes and is coming out in the morning to review and will administer antibiotics if required then. She'll be out before if he shows any swelling or distress. On the plus side she has confirmed that it has hopefully missed all major parts of the foot (and the fact he is still sound and bright also suggests this) and that if there is a good place to get a nail in this is it. Keeping everything crossed.
 
Cazzah said:
Brought my lad up tonight about an hour ago and was picking his hooves out and was horrified to find he'd got a nail about 3" long right through to the bulb of his heel entered from the rear of the frog. He wasn't lame and didn't seem bothered in the least!

As it was clean through and easy to remove I have pulled it out. I then bathed it in salt water for a while to clean. There was very little blood but it looked fresh - don't think it was there when I popped his feed over at about 6 but can't be 100%. I've then but some antiseptic gel on it and poulticed. He's kept at home and I have a very small paddock so I've put him in there tonight and the ground is dry (finally!)

He's not bothered at all by it and stood good as gold whilst I sorted it but I'm just hoping that I've treated it properly. I would most defintely have called the vet if lame or if it was through a more forward part of the hoof. His tetanus is fully up to date. I'll check on him in a couple of hours.

Have I done the right thing? Does anyone have any experience of such an injury and how long do you think it will take to heal?

Obviously if he becomes lame or it doesn't look right the vet will be out straight away.
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Hate to upset you but you did the worst thing possible by removing the nail yourself. Please call you vet straight away to administer post care.

Ideally you should have made sure he wasn't weight bearing on the limb by holding it up and waiting for the emergency vet. There are vital structures under the sole of the foot, and depending on the direction and depth a foreign body has gone into the foot depends on whether your horse will be viable or not. Its crucial to leave any foreign body in a wound, especially in the case where it could be blood loss by sealing the wound/vein/artery. In the case of the foot, the vet will need to see the angle of the nail to know what structure deep inside the foot has been possibly affected, and in some cases what antibiotic to treat it with, whether an xray is necessary and whether hospital treatment is more beneficial. If you pull the nail out and leave a mark to show where it was this still doesn't convey much information to the vet when they arrive.

I had a similar thing with my horse, luckily the nail was only about two inches deep and looked like it had potentialy penetrated the sole of the foot by the frog at an angle which thankfully meant it hadn't penetrated through the sole afterall. But it was only because I knew I had to leave the nail in that the vet could tell all of this without having to xray.

To this day people still insist letting their farriers tie up outside my stable despite me asking them not too unless they sweep their clippings up because of this risk as I believe this is how my horse picked it up in the first place.

I know this is a bit different but I will never forget the girl that came onto this forum saying her friend had hired an arena somewhere to jump and her horse had landed after the jump gone very lame, was none weight bearing and it transpired that a 3 inch nail had gone through its foot. I beleive it was pts at the scene as there was nothing that could be done as determined by the vet and was in tremendous agony. Poor thing. How tragic. They reckon the nail must have come of a wing of a fence.
 
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Vet been out. Good news! As suspected the nail had just gone through fatty tissue at the back of the heel. The poultices have had a small amount of discharge but the wound itself appears to be clean. Course of powdered antibiotics prescribed and advised to keep poulticing for a couple of days and then if clean turn out as normal. Should be back riding in about a week.

We've been very lucky as the nail was near the back of the frog and has gone through at a very slight angle missing everything important. Phwew! :)
 
Cazzah said:
Vet been out. Good news! As suspected the nail had just gone through fatty tissue at the back of the heel. The poultices have had a small amount of discharge but the wound itself appears to be clean. Course of powdered antibiotics prescribed and advised to keep poulticing for a couple of days and then if clean turn out as normal. Should be back riding in about a week.

We've been very lucky as the nail was near the back of the frog and has gone through at a very slight angle missing everything important. Phwew! :)
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Glad to hear this - but these types of injuries can end up being fatal so please anyone reading this get your vet out sooner rather than later.
 
Had this happen to my highland, got vet, polticed and crossed fingers and luckily he was ok. How he found a nail no idea, what a worry for you. Hope all continues well
 
Can be very serious saw 1 horse transported to a vets with nail still in but bandage around foot to prevent nail penetrating further prior to x.ray (owners told not to remove nail) cause if it had penetrated the navicular bursar would have had to of been rushed to Liverpool for them to remove the nail and flush the joint. Hope your horse is ok.
 
Cazzah said:
Vet been out. Good news! As suspected the nail had just gone through fatty tissue at the back of the heel. The poultices have had a small amount of discharge but the wound itself appears to be clean. Course of powdered antibiotics prescribed and advised to keep poulticing for a couple of days and then if clean turn out as normal. Should be back riding in about a week.

We've been very lucky as the nail was near the back of the frog and has gone through at a very slight angle missing everything important. Phwew! :)
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Glad everything seems ok. :)

On a slight tangent, I'm interested in the description of the tissue at the back of the heel as 'fatty'. Is this what the vet said? It shouldn't be fatty in anything but a young foal, it should be tough and fibrous. I do wonder about vet's knowledge of the horses foot, sometimes!
 
TwoStroke said:
Glad everything seems ok. :)

On a slight tangent, I'm interested in the description of the tissue at the back of the heel as 'fatty'. Is this what the vet said? It shouldn't be fatty in anything but a young foal, it should be tough and fibrous. I do wonder about vet's knowledge of the horses foot, sometimes!
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Vet is Dutch so perhaps explains the 'translation' issue - assuming what she meant was that there are no critical bones etc in the route that the nail took.

I fully appreciate how lucky we've been - horse has been sound throughout and an absolute star to deal with. Poulticed for 4 days then turned out without using udder cream on exit wound. He also had a 7 day course of antibiotics and am pleased to report all well - tiniest indication of a wound but all healed, no pulse and no heat.

So, whilst that crisis now appears to be over (fingers and toes crossed!) he has now managed to rip his shoe off the other hind foot and a good chunk of hoof with it. Farrier this time........horses, eh - who'd have 'em?!
 
Cazzah said:
Vet is Dutch so perhaps explains the 'translation' issue - assuming what she meant was that there are no critical bones etc in the route that the nail took.

I fully appreciate how lucky we've been - horse has been sound throughout and an absolute star to deal with. Poulticed for 4 days then turned out without using udder cream on exit wound. He also had a 7 day course of antibiotics and am pleased to report all well - tiniest indication of a wound but all healed, no pulse and no heat.

So, whilst that crisis now appears to be over (fingers and toes crossed!) he has now managed to rip his shoe off the other hind foot and a good chunk of hoof with it. Farrier this time........horses, eh - who'd have 'em?!
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Farriers............... who would pay them. go with the barefoot taliban and be done with it!
 
Miss L Toe said:
Farriers............... who would pay them. go with the barefoot taliban and be done with it!
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Haha, now that's taking the thread in a whole other direction ;)

FWIW I have a little PB welshy who's barefoot forever and my TB had them off for 8 months whilst I was pregnant and has the hinds off every winter. They're on for studding up when competing over summer.
 
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