My horse has a hoof abcess...?

Question

Last sunday evening I noticed that my gelding was slightly off at the trot, but brushed it off because he has the tendency to be a bit of a wimp and pull off a limp to get out of work. By tuesday he was dead lame at even the walk, and I finally got my vet out this morning and he found an abcess southeast to his frog. He cut it out slightly, enough so that a small amount of dark liquid began seeping and then just told me to soak it twice to three times a day in warm water and epsom salts, and gave me an oral antibiotic.

My previous gelding has had a few abcess' before so I know the deal on treating them (find a good poultice, pack it against the abcess, wrap it in gauze & vetwrap with duct tape, etc), but as soon as the vet had cut out his he was nearly sound almost instantaneously. However for my current gelding he is still as lame as he was before the vet came out. Is this normal? Or should I call my vet back out?

I also have a show in exactly one week that im praying he'll be sound for. Any recommendations on getting him sound quicker?

Answer 1

After the abcess has been opened to drain, soaking in an epsom salt solution 2-3 times per day for 20-30 minutes each time will help draw out the infection and speed the healing process.  Usually after drainage begins to occur, the horse becomes more comfortable, but abcesses can be very, very painful and the horse can show an extreme pain reaction.  since it was opened on the bottom of the foot, after soaking when the foot is clean, I would apply an antibiotic to the abcess, dry gauze pads, and wrap it with vet wrap covered by duck tape.  You want to keep this clean while it is healing.  Time to heal cannot be judged.  Some horses heal faster than others.  You will just have to wait, watch, and then make your show decision.  good luck.

Answer 2

You really dont want to know me, because i think it's sad that you care more about showing then about your horse's health. I'm putting it nice, but go call the vet and be happy if the horse is sound ever again after doing what you did let alone in one week. shows come and go, but you owe your horse more then that.

Answer 3

Call the vet out again. My horse did sort of the same thing. First abscess, the vet came out 4 hours after we found it. Jazz was a little better but not much. The next day he was lamer (is that a word?) than before the vet came out. Just get the vet out again.

You need to get your priorities in order though. The horses health and safety needs to be first and foremost. Even if your horse LOOKS 100% better tommorrow. It doesnt mean he needs to be rushed back into training and competition. Jazz became completely sound from his abscess last friday but I didn't get on till Monday. Spent three days walking on soft flat ground before even thinking about going back into regular lessons to prep for a show in a week. Still might not go even though he has been 100% for a week. Its not worth overstressing or overworking him for a ribbon.

Answer 4

Call the vet.  You may have a hematoma that drained with an intact abscess behind it, or the other way around.  It should have relieved the pain unless something else is still creating a problem. You can just get advice over the phone.

Answer 5

depending on how deep the absecc was it can differ fro mhorse to horse.  Sometimes if the abseccs isn't found then the cannon bone can sinck int othe frog.  Basicly do what your vet is telling you but you can also take some Anticbacterial Paste( normally at local tack shops and feed stores ) and shirt th into the hole then takea small piece of cotton and stuffit up in the hole then wrap it up.  Of course you would do this after soaking the hoof but absecces jsut take time to heal.

Answer 6

  I had a horse that had an abscess around the same area of his hoof and we did all the same things you are doing and things got worse.  His hoof actually started cracking and his hoof split in half.  They ended up nailing his hoof shut.  This took about 4 months and I had my horse at a vets house.  We spoke to man vets and he was seen by may vets.  He was fine one day and the next morning he couldn't walk and had an abscess.  That turned into a much bigger thing.  Take time to let it heal, as much time as it needs and call a vet again.  There is no such thing as getting a horse sound quicker with out causing damage later.

Answer 7

the best way I can explain an abscess is much like when you smash your finger with a hammer and you get a blood build up under the fingernail and the only way you make it feel better is to put a small hole in your fingernail to re-leave the pressure it is much the same with a horse the live sole is pushed against the cannon bone the blood rushes into that bruised area and causes pressure if untreated it gets infected and the area enlarges causing the horse to show lame or the bruised area is large enough to let a lot of blood into that area to cause pain now when the vet came out he opened an area to let the pressure out but let air into a place that doesn't get air and this can cause pain now its going to take time for the live sole to grow to close the hole and it grow at the same rate his hoof does and its going to take time a Tip if you want to avoid a vet call the next time it happens and you want to find the abscess yourself buy a laser thermal gun you can buy them on ebay and when you get it start at the heel of the hoof and go back and forth over the sole all the way to the toe if there is a change in temp the hot spot is the abscess no hot spot no abscess or call a farrier out he would be cheaper and could do the same thing a vet could and you can even ask your vet what farriers he works with. if your horse wears shoes call your farrier and have him come out take off the old shoe put some pine tar and a rubber pad under a new shoe a lot of time this will allow a cushion enough to take any pain away to allow your horse to make it threw a show and just everyday walking you and also try a boots it he is bare foot

Answer 8

The horse you see in my avatar gets abscesses. They are very painful. I'm glad your vet found it and was able to drain it. When he gets them, we do the same thing your vet told you to do. We do have a special medicine boot we put on him that makes it easier to soak his foot in. If you could find one to fit your horse, it would be much easier to soak his foot. Chances are by the time your show comes up, he should be pretty sound again.