Why would my barefoot horse suddenly develop lots of abscesses?

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Morgan123

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Just wondering what factors you'd be worried about in this case. My horse has been barefoot for eight years, had maybe two abscesses to start with, then nothing for years. In the past 12 months he's had six that i've known about, and he's pretty brave so I wouldn't be surprised if there are others I haven't found.

He's barefoot and lives out for the most part on good, varied ground, and gets a hoof supplements and magnesium in spring. The two farriers and vets I've had say he has awesome feet in terms of hoof quality. Nothing changed immediately prior to the onset of the abscesses.

what sorts of things would you be worried about in this case?
 
Thank you! Interesting. I am careful to check he is getting enough of everything he needs (will double check the zinc) but I just can't work out why they'd come on so suddenly.... it's odd. There must be something different going on but I am not sure what I should be worried about.

To be fair this one could be put down to the wet ground and a coincidence but next time I'll have a long discussion with my vet i think.
 
Morgan123 said:
Thank you! Interesting. I am careful to check he is getting enough of everything he needs (will double check the zinc) but I just can't work out why they'd come on so suddenly.... it's odd. There must be something different going on but I am not sure what I should be worried about.

To be fair this one could be put down to the wet ground and a coincidence but next time I'll have a long discussion with my vet i think.
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Your horse may have a copper deficiency that is causing him to have abscesses,have a word with forage plus and read on there site the story of Teddy two shoes ,linseed is also very good for hoof health.
 
My horse has amazing feet, been barefoot most of her life and is now early twenties. Last year she suddenly flared up with abcesses having never had one in her life! Within days she was on box rest with 3 feet poulticed. Due to the severity that this came on we checked her for everything- she had blood work done and came back positive for mild Cushing's. I also had x Rays of all her feet and thank god she didn't have laminitis. I decided early on not to treat the Cushings and I manage her through diet alone and so far so good!
 
Echo the 'Forage Plus' advice OP! My barefoot boy up until being on FP Winter Hoof Health Balancer, had been prone to a couple of abcesses a year (and always when the weather had turned wet and nasty). Never had one since being on the FP balancer!,...and fingers and hooves crossed we never will ;)
 
Hmm ok I'll hvae a look, thank you. His feed is forage based (he doesn't have any mix or anything, only happy hoof plus supplements and linseed) and he does already have linseed! But perhaps something isn't balanced. Interesting though thank you.
 
lol, we are keeping Forageplus in business :D I also have one who had apparently very nice feet, but our record was ending the winter with 6 abscesses, two simultaneously in different hooves. He was already on a good mineral supplement (the ProHoof one from eBay), but it seems he (or our grazing) needed the extra oomph of the high copper/zinc in the Forageplus. I am still astonished it made such a difference (went from needing boots to hack out about 5 months out of 12 to never needing boots, and from having grumbling central sulcus thrush to big fat healthy frogs without changing anything else, and - touching wood- no sign of any abscesses since).
 
He's on happy hoof with a biotin supplement which also includes zinc and copper as far as I remember (though i'll check the quantities), linseed, and turmeric.
 
do you mean "happy hoof" the feed or is that a name of a supplement. If it's the feed it probably won't be enough zinc and copper.

My horse was kept on exactly the same as others and suddenly had a spate of 4 abscesses none of the others did, yet they eat the same hay and were on the same regime. I never got to the bottom of it and was pulling my hair out. Someone told me about "teddy two shoes" on the forage plus site after reading that I emailed Sarah at forage plus and she advised about supplements. This was a few years ago, since them we had one but that was because the bars overgrew and folded over trapping dirt. Could that be whats happened in your case?
 
Happy hoof isnt actually that great for feet, and biotin is next to useless as a stand alone supplement. You want a supplement with NO iron and high balanced levels of copper and zinc. Forage Plus, Equivita and Progressive Earth all do them.
 
I had an unshod mare with really great feet. When her PPID started to progess one of the first signs was repeated abscesses. In her case even Prascend wasn't enough, but it may be worth looking into for yours. Caught early it is much better controlled. Fingers crossed. Otherwise, another vote for a no iron, decent supplement. Mine all get Pro Balance or Pro Hoof and have great hoof quality and big, strong frogs. If you can get the diet right then you'll be able to rule out medical issues with a bit of luck.
 
Not sure where you are but I think due to no freezing in the south last year (don't know about north) that the grazing has changed a lot due to all the rain. I noticed my boys feet going quite coconuty shell like in the new growth for a few months from about last February, nothing else changed. May be a factor , may be not!
 
Just thought worth mentioning poss keratoma as you said White line issue or is that just general flaring do you think? Are feet truly as good as vet thinks as they prob see some right rubbish! I would also do a ppid test so I knew
 
I had two abcesses in both fronts when my horse was on full livery on a wood pellet bed. The wet wasn't taken out daily and she was a box walker there so quickly scuffed the top off to stand in a damp bed all night (and day if it was bad weather). She always stood in her bed if she was in the stable as the other horses were behind her.
I now have her on a dry shavings bed, manage her bed myself and I've had no further problems.
 
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