Weanling lame on foot - suspected abscess

M

MCP030405

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 November 2023
Messages
50
Visit site
So my poor weanling arrived on the 9th.

4 days after she came she began going lame.

Called the vet out and got an appointment for day 6 of the lameness - Wednesday just gone, she seemed to be significantly better anyway.

Vet thought it likely a bruised sole, heat in hoof only.

All good, happy days.

Today she's come in and now is reluctant to put the foot down so I'm of the opinion it's an abcess and call my farrier.

She will stand on it but where before it bothered her not a bit, today she's clearly uncomfortable and not happy when any pressure is applied to the hoof.

Farrier is out of town till Wednesday for Christmas (absolutely fair enough!!) And suggested a poultice till then.

as we're now on day 9 of the lameness but day one of it being like this so I'm just concerned about waiting 5 days for him to come or if I need to make emergency plans to find another farrier who can come out straight away?

Weirdly never had to deal with an abcess so I want to do it right and not put her through days of pain.

Going out to get the poultice supplies tomorrow, would you turn out a weanling with a poultice on or keep her in?

I just know keeping her in means my other 2 need to stay in and they really hate it
 
My foal had something similar and he had a tiny stone stuck up his hoof
Farrier had to dig it out
 
I know I'm a maverick but I would neither poultice it nor keep her in. Wet mud makes a fantastic poultice.

People will tell you it risks infection, but the reason abscesses are so difficult to treat with antibiotics is that they encapsulate themselves off from the blood supply. It's why they don't usually bleed when they pop. Also it's already infected and the urgency at the moment is to get it open and stop the pain.

But please do what your vet advises.
.
 
I’d always prefer a farrier over a vet to dig out an abscess, as vets tend to be butcher the foot with their over enthusiastic digging 😳, but unless you can get hold of another farrier this needs a vet visit.

It’ll be an OOH call out anyway for the next 4 days, horse do pick their moments, don’t they.
 
I am in the wait and see camp. Abcesses can brew for a couple of weeks before tracking out. Unless they are very close to the surface they can reseal and recur if not fully drained. I once had a baby that sprung an abcess a month from 6-14 months old, he saw a bucket and would lift each leg in turn, wondering which one I was going to tub now.
 
rabatsa said:
I am in the wait and see camp. Abcesses can brew for a couple of weeks before tracking out. Unless they are very close to the surface they can reseal and recur if not fully drained. I once had a baby that sprung an abcess a month from 6-14 months old, he saw a bucket and would lift each leg in turn, wondering which one I was going to tub now.
Click to expand...

You surely wouldn’t leave a yearling 3 legged lame with Christmas coming up and the prospect of getting someone that could help it getting harder by the day?
 
I would be very wary of having a vet dig about in a weanling's hoof. We had an Appy youngster who developed an abscess a few months after we bought her. Vet came, had to sedate her, made a big hole in her hoof and throughly upset her to the point that years later she is still wary of having a man deal with that foot. It took hours of work with many farrier visits to get her comfortable with having her feet trimmed.
A different horse entirely, different vet tried to find out why Clydie mare was lame, no obvious reason. Farrier was also on yard, he immediately found and relieved an abscess in each hind hoof. Abscesses usually resolve themselves with plenty of movement. I would wait and see until after Christmas tbh.
 
TheMule said:
You surely wouldn’t leave a yearling 3 legged lame with Christmas coming up and the prospect of getting someone that could help it getting harder by the day?
Click to expand...
The vet has already seen the horse. Abcesses need time to develop enough to drain successfully. The vets round here are open again for normal callouts on Wednesday. I doubt that the vet would warrant the foot to be a life/death emergency.

Once the abcess blows the pain will go.
 
How is she today, OP?

It is not ethical to leave any horse, let alone a weanling, barely weight bearing for any significant length of time.

Yes, I’ve had horses on 3 legs before with a foot abscess, but each time I’ve poulticed the foot and the abscess has blown less than 12 hours later. I’m always on standby to get professional help in if it goes on longer.

Any decent vet will come out to a horse on three legs, especially a young horse. Though as stated above, I’d prefer a farrier’s input.
 
Last edited:
I wouldn’t mess around with a potential abscess on a foal. Bruising can result in a deep abscess. I’d be wanting the abscess drained ASAP and X-rays if the foal wasn’t much happier on the foot within a day or so of it being drained.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top