deb_l222
Well-Known Member
Firstly I must apologise as I only seem to come on here when I'm at my wits end but this time things really are getting desperate!! I also need to say that, when you read the timescale involved with my boy, he hasn't been lame all this time (I would never do that to him).
Right, brace yourselves, this could be a long post lol. I need to find a way of waterproofing my boy's hoof to stop dirt and debris and general mud getting up inside a relatively small defect in his hoof and I was wondering if anyone had any experience of any products that are available out there. The product/s would need to go on the sole of his foot and would need to be extremely strong as my lad is over 18hh and (at a guess) pushing up to 900kg in weight. He would also have a farriers pad and shoe on as well as extra protection (we've done this before).
The problems first started 18 months ago (he hasn't been lame all this time) when he presented with what we all thought was JUST a simple abscess - if only we knew lol. Anyway, the abscess was initially treated as you would do normally (popped and poulticed etc) and he came sound again very quickly.
To cut an extremely long story short, Tommy would stay perfectly sound until it rained heavy and the fields got muddy, then he would abscess again immediately. X-rays revealed nothing of any significance so we duly poddled off for a CT scan which showed 2 keratomas near the midline of his hoof. In May of this year he had surgery to remove the keratomas, which was successful but he was then on box rest until the hole in his hoof had grown out - this took us to October of this year (his feet grow really quick).
Following the surgery he was allowed out into a tiny paddock for a bit of R&R and he was perfectly sound so I started to believe the nightmare was over but of course we have had a very dry summer......................
By the middle of October the defect in his hoof had totally grown out and he had been re-shod 3 times since the surgery (with no pain evident at all) so he was allowed out into a 'big boy' field. He was fabulous for one whole week until the rain came and straight away he abscessed again!!!!
His army of vets, at this point, kind of gave up as did I to some extent but my farrier (who is fabulous) said it looked like the tiniest bit of hoof wall separation, maybe half an inch and in the grand scheme of my boy's feet this is tiny!! What this separation does though is allow muck and dirt to track up to the sensitive parts of his hoof and that's what sends him lame. Anyway, he had a go at waterproofing his foot and it worked and he's just spent the last 7 weeks paddling in the mud with NO lameness whatsoever.
Unfortunately though, he had his feet redone last Friday and he was lame again the first time he went back out (he's fine now - he comes sound really quickly once it can drain again) so we're now looking for another product that may be stronger.
His foot will never 'knit together' correctly again and we'll never know what caused the separation to occur in the first place - could be the keratomas, could be the very deep midline groove he has in both back feet (sadly a lot of heavy horses have this) but I will give him a chance, if there's one left???? The irony of all this is that his feet are in immaculate condition, thanks to my brilliant farrier - even the 'poorly' foot is really healthy.
I am also realistic and I will let him go to the pasture in the sky if all avenues have been exhausted. We're not far off this option now, hence my post. I can keep him perfectly sound if he's inside all the time but, as much as he loves his stable (he does LOVE his stable), he also likes being outside with his mates and I can't deny him that for the rest of his life.
Oh yeah, hoof boots are hopeless - they just don't make them big enough for him!!
Any help or advice would be more than welcome and apologies again for the length of the post.
Right, brace yourselves, this could be a long post lol. I need to find a way of waterproofing my boy's hoof to stop dirt and debris and general mud getting up inside a relatively small defect in his hoof and I was wondering if anyone had any experience of any products that are available out there. The product/s would need to go on the sole of his foot and would need to be extremely strong as my lad is over 18hh and (at a guess) pushing up to 900kg in weight. He would also have a farriers pad and shoe on as well as extra protection (we've done this before).
The problems first started 18 months ago (he hasn't been lame all this time) when he presented with what we all thought was JUST a simple abscess - if only we knew lol. Anyway, the abscess was initially treated as you would do normally (popped and poulticed etc) and he came sound again very quickly.
To cut an extremely long story short, Tommy would stay perfectly sound until it rained heavy and the fields got muddy, then he would abscess again immediately. X-rays revealed nothing of any significance so we duly poddled off for a CT scan which showed 2 keratomas near the midline of his hoof. In May of this year he had surgery to remove the keratomas, which was successful but he was then on box rest until the hole in his hoof had grown out - this took us to October of this year (his feet grow really quick).
Following the surgery he was allowed out into a tiny paddock for a bit of R&R and he was perfectly sound so I started to believe the nightmare was over but of course we have had a very dry summer......................
By the middle of October the defect in his hoof had totally grown out and he had been re-shod 3 times since the surgery (with no pain evident at all) so he was allowed out into a 'big boy' field. He was fabulous for one whole week until the rain came and straight away he abscessed again!!!!
His army of vets, at this point, kind of gave up as did I to some extent but my farrier (who is fabulous) said it looked like the tiniest bit of hoof wall separation, maybe half an inch and in the grand scheme of my boy's feet this is tiny!! What this separation does though is allow muck and dirt to track up to the sensitive parts of his hoof and that's what sends him lame. Anyway, he had a go at waterproofing his foot and it worked and he's just spent the last 7 weeks paddling in the mud with NO lameness whatsoever.
Unfortunately though, he had his feet redone last Friday and he was lame again the first time he went back out (he's fine now - he comes sound really quickly once it can drain again) so we're now looking for another product that may be stronger.
His foot will never 'knit together' correctly again and we'll never know what caused the separation to occur in the first place - could be the keratomas, could be the very deep midline groove he has in both back feet (sadly a lot of heavy horses have this) but I will give him a chance, if there's one left???? The irony of all this is that his feet are in immaculate condition, thanks to my brilliant farrier - even the 'poorly' foot is really healthy.
I am also realistic and I will let him go to the pasture in the sky if all avenues have been exhausted. We're not far off this option now, hence my post. I can keep him perfectly sound if he's inside all the time but, as much as he loves his stable (he does LOVE his stable), he also likes being outside with his mates and I can't deny him that for the rest of his life.
Oh yeah, hoof boots are hopeless - they just don't make them big enough for him!!
Any help or advice would be more than welcome and apologies again for the length of the post.
