Heel abscess --another update

[jerseyrose]

My mare picked up a nail last fall. It was lodged in the cleft by the frog and stuck into the heel. It was a short, fat roofing nail ( where she got it??) and came out easy and she was sore for a few days then right as rain. Fast forward to FEB.

Farrier is out, leaves mare a little long as he is concerned about ground actually freezing and them being sore after a trim.

Weather stays mild we are riding regularly. Call farrier early due to mare now too long. He is super busy , not sure when he can get out here. I keep riding anyways as she is fine .

Riding in the bottom ground, trotting she steps on something and is immediately lame at the trot. I stop and she walks out just fine. As for the trot, head bobbing lame. We walk home sound.

She was really sore the next day. I checked her legs and they were clean, feet were fine, called my farrier and tell him I need him out asap. I buted her and next day she is 100% better.

Farrier finally got here, trims her and finds no reaction to pain anywhere. I figure she has an abscess brewing as she is definitely holding 1 front foot differently, so I just let her be for a while.

See her running like a maniac in the pasture, she looks fine. I saddle her up and she walks beautifully , head bobbing lame at the trot and prefers to canter. Called my vet and due to recent flooding (2x) he is booked solid for 3 weeks.

I see her frogs are soft and kinda squishy as well as her heels? I order some Durasole and apply as per directions. It works beautifully and last Tuesday I picked up her foot to clean it and I see a hole in her heel bulb/ foot that wasn't there the night before. Same foot and placement as that nail was.

I have been free lunging in the pasture and lightly walk/ trot riding her for the last 5 days and she is almost 100% back to normal. It took 6 weeks+ for that abscess to fester and burst.

My first mistake was letting him leave her long in Feb. I think he leaves her too long normally. I should have known better. Why is long toe low heel so common with these guys


All this to ask if anyone has dealt with a heel abscess and if this sounds like a normal progression and healing??

[corrae]

bump.....

[suzorse]

I have only had abscesses in the sole , did have one from a rock next to the frog , I use icthamal and pack the foot with it , place paper towels over that ,then vet wrap and last duct tape , it should pull anything else out , let the wrap wear off
Suzanne

[elsie]

The abscess progression is perfectly 'textbook'....even if it wasn't identified.

I like how you kept doing everything exactly as you should have as the abscess did its nasty job.

Perceptive owner. Lucky horse.

[jerseyrose]

Jun 1, 2017 19:19:16 GMT -5 suzorse said:

I have only had abscesses in the sole , did have one from a rock next to the frog , I use icthamal and pack the foot with it , place paper towels over that ,then vet wrap and last duct tape , it should pull anything else out , let the wrap wear off
Suzanne

I would wrap but with the placement it stays dry and clean and I worry about rubbing on the heel bulb and irritation. I do keep corona on it and it looks good.

elsie

Thanks!!

[lively]

Had this happen back when we had Piggy (minus the riding) . Packed her with drawing salve. Healed fairly quick. Just hosed it between applications.

[jerseyrose]

UPDATE

Farrier was out last week to trim and she has been sound ever since including extended trotting on hard ground. To answer my own question:

It takes a LONG time for a heel abscess to completely heal , but it does

[jerseyrose]

UPDATE-- I think we have another abscess brewing. I can find NOTHING with her leg at all and no reaction from her and I have squeezed , poked, prodded that leg. The other thing is that it appears to be her other leg this time.

Sound at the walk and she walks out as normal, but lame at the trot. She was fine on Sat but after running and bucking in the pasture she was off and more so today. No swelling or heat anywhere.

My farrier comes on Friday and I plan to have him see if he can see anything.

[eljay]

I'm dealing with this right now. For about 2-3 weeks she was lame then not. Fine one day head bobbing the next, flat out hand galloping two days later and the next can barely put her foot on the ground. The vet was out and did the hoof tester two days later and got no reaction even though she went over the entire hoof 2-3 times. She put her on bute and I watched her for another week. When was still doing the off and on lameness after the week was up, the vet came out to take x-rays and do a nerve block to see how that turned out. She used the hoof tester on her and she reacted this time. This is a good month after she first showed signs of lameness.

She dug down on the sole and found the abscess. I've did a wet wrap diaper/vet wrap/duct tape boot with daily changes for five days. A second abscess appeared on the coronary band just above the first and burst a few days ago. Today is the first day that both the top and bottom have been dry and not smelled. The poor girl is being stalled because it's been raining every few days and our paddock is a muddy mess. She walked and trotted sound today for the first time since this started.

I hope things get sorted for her. It's no fun, that's for sure.

[jerseyrose]

Oct 9, 2017 16:16:35 GMT -5 eljay said:

I'm dealing with this right now. For about 2-3 weeks she was lame then not. Fine one day head bobbing the next, flat out hand galloping two days later and the next can barely put her foot on the ground. The vet was out and did the hoof tester two days later and got no reaction even though she went over the entire hoof 2-3 times. She put her on bute and I watched her for another week. When was still doing the off and on lameness after the week was up, the vet came out to take x-rays and do a nerve block to see how that turned out. She used the hoof tester on her and she reacted this time. This is a good month after she first showed signs of lameness.

She dug down on the sole and found the abscess. I've did a wet wrap diaper/vet wrap/duct tape boot with daily changes for five days. A second abscess appeared on the coronary band just above the first and burst a few days ago. Today is the first day that both the top and bottom have been dry and not smelled. The poor girl is being stalled because it's been raining every few days and our paddock is a muddy mess. She walked and trotted sound today for the first time since this started.

I hope things get sorted for her. It's no fun, that's for sure.

Your post gives me hope . We have been so dry the ground is like concrete. She has always had wonderful feet, so I don't know what is going on all of a sudden. I have to wonder if it is because of the "long toe low heel" issues I had with my previous farrier in addition to him never getting here on our 8 week schedule. She was more ouchy today, but walked out willingly to the pasture when I opened the dry lot gate. I will give her the last of the bute I have if she seems overly tender tonight.

Good luck with your horse too.

[eljay]

jerseyrose I've been thinking about what you said about the long toe. Before this started Rainy's feet were as long as they have ever been here. It makes me wonder if there isn't some kind of connection between that and the abscess. This morning she was sound enough to let me pick up her other front foot. The bandage is off and I have hoof packing in the hole on her sole. If all is well tomorrow I'm going to try picking out her other feet. They haven't been touched in a month. It makes me feel all oogy to not have it done, like if I've gone on vacation and found I've forgotten dental floss.

[jerseyrose]

eljay

My mare was longer than she had ever been too when she stepped on something and started all this, so I have no doubt there is at least some connection. My new farrier has his wife do the scheduling and I can choose they day. He also does an excellent job so I am hoping eventually we can get her straightened out.

She was less ouchy today. I must confess I haven't been as attentive to her feet cleaning either lately

[jerseyrose]

UPDATE

Farrier came out today and did her feet and found nothing in them that would cause lameness.

He then moved upward and found a very slight swelling on her right knee. Compared to her other it was a tiny bit bigger. I never looked at the knee! I was focused on the ankle and cannon bone/ tendons....

He then trotted her and you could see her not quite bending it all the way and swinging her foot to the side a bit and while lame it wasn't terribly bad. Explains why she would occasionally rest that foot a bit , to keep the weight off that knee. She isn't hesitant to move out though, if asked.

I will bute her a few days and see if it improves and if not will call my vet on Monday.

[jerseyrose]

It is never easy to figure it out unless it is a flesh wound. My farrier said " I wish they could just tell us where it hurts". I think everyone who has ever owned an animal thinks that way.

[jerseyrose]

UPDATE

After 6 weeks of nothing but being on pasture and eating, my mare has been sound on her right knee for a week .

On Oct 16th I called my vet for a lameness exam but he wanted me to bring her in since X-rays are only done at the clinic. Since at that time she was so sore I was reluctant to trailer her all the way there ( curves, big hills etc) and worried she might do more damage. I also decided since my only option in the recovery department was turn out ( can't afford surgery, don't have a stall for total confinement) I decided to try that on my own and see what happened and if she had no improvement by the time farrier is out again we would trailer to the vet.

I gave bute for 3 days and then fed a months worth of " Buteless". About half way through the supplement with no improvement, I researched foods that might cause/ increase inflammation and found that an imbalance in the omega 3 to omega 6 ratio in the diet can be a factor.

I had been feeding BOSS for skin & coat and that is abnormally high in Omega 6 .

2-3 weeks ago I stopped feeding the BOSS cold turkey and went to a flax supplement for the omega 3's hoping to balance it out.

About 2 weeks ago on a very frosty morning I let them out of the dry lot and watched as they both came unglued and did " ariels above the ground" type stuff. My mare appeared to be getting better and I knew the answer would be that night when I made her trot after that mornings antics.

She was still " off" that night but dramatically improved from what it had been.

I made her trot last week at liberty for a few strides and she looked good. I have made her trot the last few evenings and she appears to be sound. No head bobbing, but she is fat now so not moving as fluidly and lightly as normal

I am so hoping she is on her way to her old self. I will let her rest until my farrier comes on the 7th. That way he can watch her as well. It will be interesting to see if her hoof growth has evened out. He took a lot more off her bad leg last time meaning she was compensating for pain and had a lot more toe on that foot.

I so want to ride my mare! The weather has been wonderful and we have 80 flat acres of newly harvested crop land just begging to be ridden on!!!! I tried riding my daughters mare but I don't enjoy it as she is just too small and well, she isn't MY MARE!

[heidialpine]

Glad she is doing better. No advice though. I have horses but have never had issues with lameness. Is she the horse from your profile picture?

[jerseyrose]

Nov 27, 2017 20:49:33 GMT -5 heidialpine said:

Glad she is doing better. No advice though. I have horses but have never had issues with lameness. Is she the horse from your profile picture?

Yes she is. I've never really dealt with lameness either until this last year.