Puncture wounds in hooves

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fairhill

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Chloe stood on a nail yesterday and has a lovely puncture wound in her foot
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It's a new injury for me, so has anyone else's horse done this?
How was it treated?
How long did it take to heal?
Any complications I should be looking out for?

Thanks
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My horse did this.I immediatly cleaned it out so no dirt got in,then poulticed it for a week,then after that purple sprayed it for quite a while after.She was ridable after a week from injury.I think the key is treat it early andthen you are ok.Have you started treating it yet?
 
Thanks, that's good to know.

She's got some antibiotics and a poultice on. I can't decide whether to use intrasite or spray on it once I've finished poulticing.
 
Has your vet seen the horse? How deep did the nail go?

If you are lucky then the wound is not deep and will heal in time. Sometimes abscesses will develop following this type of injury.

If you are unlucky and the nail penetrated deeper then this can result in infection of the structures of the foot which is serious and requires agressive treatment. This injury usually results in severe lameness.

With this type of injury, radiography of the foot with the nail in place can give a good idea of how far the foreign body has penetrated and the prognosis. Any penetrating injury is potentially serious and is worth investigating early on to minimise the risk of complications.
 
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Has your vet seen the horse? How deep did the nail go?

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She's not seen the vet yet, and to be honest I'm not sure how deep the nail went in.
I haven't seen the injury yet - wasn't at the stables last night, so got a text from my mum, and thought I'd better be prepared when I go up tonight.

Knowing our recent run of luck it won't be straightforward
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You really do need to get the vet out. This happened to a horse at our yard who ended up at Newmarket as he got a very deep rooted infection. You can't afford to mess around with puncture wounds and the like. You don't know how deep they go, and whether they have caused any internal damage. Sorry to be a doom and gloom merchant, I'm sure everything will be fine.
 
Agree with that, get the vet asap. Puncture wounds can be dangerous as the wound can seal leaving infection inside the hoof. Have you got the nail so you know how far its gone in?
 
Thanks for the advice. The nail was attached to a block of wood, and it looks like Chloe's deep clefts have ensured it didn't actually penetrate beyond a few mm (if that). We've been very lucky
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I would at least get the farrier to have a look at it.

My horse got a puncture wound in the sole from the toe clip of a twisted shoe. The farrier pared away the hole to open it up, as a big clean hole that can be kept clean is better than a small hole with trapped dirt in it.

He packed cotton wool in the hole soaked in pevidine. It grew out in a few weeks with no complications.
 
Three words

GET THE VET

Seriously punture wounds could case so much damage its unbelivable, some horses may never be brought back to work or worse. If your lucky then you will be fine but get the vet out ASAP and make sure there are no nails or other dangerous foreign bodies lieing about where they can cause harm. Good luck
 
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