Newly barefoot and abscess

[Goldenstar]

Thank you all very much for taking the time to reply. I think I actually feel slightly less negative now and I will stick with it for a little longer. My original plan was to keep her barefoot until the spring and then rethink it all - but I have the confess that the appearance of an abscess at her heel had me ever so slightly going into melt down.

You need to chill says the panicfinder general , talk about kettles and pots !!!

 

[tallyho!]

You need to work at it being a charismatic cult leader is not supposed to be easy.

What was I thinking...

*enrols on cult leader beginners course HND*

 

[devonlass]

This could go viral.... Are you sure you want to do this???

What if it mutates May as well just put head between knees and kiss @rse goodbye now i reckon,especially is my lad's ongoing abscess if anything to go by,epic proportions of doomsdayness (ok I know that's not a word,but it sounded good in my head).

OP I don't think it's necessarily anything to do with being newly barefoot,more likely something missing diet wise and hoof is compormised or maybe just one of those things.If the type of abscess that's historical by the time you see it,thank your lucky stars and try not to worry about it.Only thing would be to make sure nothing else get's in the hole of course,can you plug it if you're sure it's done and dusted and nothing left to come out??

My lad has been barefoot pretty much his whole life (6.5 yrs old now),and generally has very good feet,handles most activities etc.He is however very sensitive to changes in grazing and it will show most dramatically in his feet.

Currently have our first symptomatic and most troublesome abscess.I say symptomatic BTW because like your girl he had a hole that was clearly where one had burst out couple of years ago but was historical by the time I saw it and never caused him any problems.
This one has been going on for about a month and is driving me nuts

I am certain though that like others have mentioned it is purely related to diet and poor hoof health due to it.
I put him on a new part of paddock couple of months ago that was very lush (most of my grazing is to be fair,but I generally avoid putting him on the really good or rested parts,but no choice on this occasion,due to all the rain rest of paddock was trashed) and his white line went splat and crumbled.I assume from stress to the laminae?? Soles also dropped but not sure if this was significant in terms of the abscess,but shows the degree of how foot can be affected by just a short time on an inappropriate diet.

Coped fine,never sore on it even when riding,but holes in the white line and bare feet are not a good combination.Something got in and here we are several weeks down the line,poulticing and penning (have no stable so have to make do with a cattle pen!!) in a desperate attempt to get rid.

Ponio is happy in himself and most keen on all the pampering and food on tap,I am not so happy it has to be said,having to now add slave to pony to my ever increasing list of things to do

So I would say make the most of trouble free abscesses,and know that i and many others I'm sure are most envious!!

Not sure if relevant or helpful but I am now feeding high purity mag ox and healthy hooves feed which has biotin,zinc,copper and magnesium in it.Too early to say if had any effect,but worth trying I thought with the difficult grazing conditions this year.

Just to add confusion to the mix though my welsh cob who only had his shoes off few months ago has great feet and despite being on the same grass has had no issues what so ever.Go figure lol

 

[Barefoot Endurance]

My horse has been barefoot for 3.5 years, no abscesses (shod for 8 before that!). We compete at endurance (as you might have guessed) and did 280 competitive miles this year plus hundreds and hundreds of training miles, we have 18 rosettes from this season, 12 endurance, 6 jumping (SJ and XC).

I truly believe that only compromised hooves get abscesses, stretched white lines, thin soles, flat soles, poor caudal hoof, contracted heels, long toes, under run heels...

The only way to improve hooves is to move on them, boot and pad if you need to but get moving. Also movement is best for abscesses to help them exit, never let your vet 'dig' for one!!!

 

[unicorndreams]

Concavity started to arrive just after six months it's eight and a half now and I can really see it once the last of the flaring has resolved itself they will look good the break over is shifting round to the front and back .
Last month he cast his fore frogs quite concerning if you have not seen it before the more I watch this horse the sadder I am about the ones I have let down in the past.

Ah that's interesting! My mare has been barefoot for just 4mths and I can see signs of improvement, however this last couple of weeks her frogs have started to look really 'messy' - treating for thrush as a precaution but perhaps its just the natural shedding - phew that's a relief

*I think* ve've had one small abscess - I didn't notice any signs of heat/lameness etc in that leg but she now has a small hole on the heel. Just keeping it clean for now as she's doesn't seem in the least bothered by it. Its easy to get over anxious about these things, I just treat it, apply a large dose of common sense and 'listen' to my horse to tell if she's comfortable or not.

 

[Goldenstar]

Ah that's interesting! My mare has been barefoot for just 4mths and I can see signs of improvement, however this last couple of weeks her frogs have started to look really 'messy' - treating for thrush as a precaution but perhaps its just the natural shedding - phew that's a relief

*I think* ve've had one small abscess - I didn't notice any signs of heat/lameness etc in that leg but she now has a small hole on the heel. Just keeping it clean for now as she's doesn't seem in the least bothered by it. Its easy to get over anxious about these things, I just treat it, apply a large dose of common sense and 'listen' to my horse to tell if she's comfortable or not.

I thought it was thrush at first but could not see how it could have suddenly got that bad without any pain anyway prized it up a bit and could see ' new ' smooth looking frog underneath so texted my very patient trimmer who said that happens like this sometimes and called in for a look it came off over a few days leaving the new one exposed still weedier than I would like but one day perhaps I will be happy.

 

[TigerTail]

OP - its not a cause for meltdown, its an opportunity to learn Welcome to hoofgeekdom

Had one abscess in 4 bf horses in 3 years. This was due to her being v late trimmer, trimmer vanished, so had flare bit of dirt got in and went up the coronet band Horse was lame for a week til it blew and has been sound ever since.

Last feb it was here

Somewhere in the middle

Now its here - nearly at the bottom