What can I do if my horse consistently rubs his hocks?

Question

My horse rubs his hocks raw when he lies down. We tried to use hock boots, but he would always take them off. I am now bandaging his hocks, but does anyone know of any other solution? Or miracle wound cream?

Answer 1

I know if horses are rubbing out their tails then you feed them garlic but I'm not too sure about their hocks.

Answer 2

My klutzy horse used to do this -he was managing to kick all his bedding away when he was getting up and lying down. I tried to get hock boots but apparently they don't make them in his size ! I ended up putting rubber stall mats in and putting his bedding on top of them and it has not happened since.

Answer 3

give him a really deep bed and if that dont help maybe ruber matting and hock boots

Answer 4

Your horse needs to be bedded much  more deeply than he is now....a minimum of 9 to 10 inches of bedding...shavings or sawdust...

Answer 5

What you describe is called capped hocks, when it happens like this there are a number of reasons:

Is the stable too small? Does he have enough bedding/banks? Is he scraping his bedding to the concrete?

If you can afford it, buy rubber matting but still put a really good bed on top. What do you bed him on? Shavings are great and ideally need to be about 6"-8" deep regardless of matting. You also need banks to stop him capping his hocks as he rolls, this just means making the bedding higher (by about 1ft) all around the sides of the bed to protect your horse. Bandaging his hocks is not really the best solution. You could try putting extended hind travel boots on him but again this is not great. If the above work with bedding etc. doesn't work and you can't move him to a bigger stable, I would buy some shaped travel pads. They're like gamgee, and are shaped to the horse's legs like extended travel boots, and you bandage to keep them in place. Just treat the wounds as you are, Camrosa is great for wounds (www.camrosa.co.uk). Be aware though that capped hocks can swell up and remain as a permanant blemish.

Add: Feeding garlic is meant to repel flies, though their is no scientific evidence to prove this. That's why people feed garlic to horses that rub their tails, as often they rub because of fly irritation.

Answer 6

There are several parts to this question, and several possible answers!

1) Wraps- you can try wraps specifically for this purpose, like these: http://www.doversaddlery.com/hock-boot/p... .  This might be what you already have, but they would probably stay on better than wrapping daily with vetrap or gauze, but those methods are described here: http://www.myequinenetwork.com/News/tabi... , http://www.horseadvice.com/horse/message... .  To keep him from removing them, you can cover the "seams" with elasticon, porous tape, or even duct tape (being careful not to apply it too tightly).  Another option is to spray something like McNasty over the completed bandage so that he's not tempted to bite or pick at it- http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=12... .  That stuff is good because it doesn't stink, it just has a very peppery taste/sensation if you get it in your eyes/nose/mouth.

2) Bedding/environment- if he's turned out at night or with other horses, he won't lie down as much.  If that's not an option, just try to keep his stall so that there is a soft "bed" area that is separate from where his hay and manure areas are.  Bank it up with shavings, have a soft base if possible (something like Stall Skins http://www.stallskins.com/stallskins.htm... , recycled rubber crumblings, etc), and just try to keep it so that he isn't rubbing his hocks on hard dirt or even rubber mats.

3) Creams- I'm a fan of Corona ointment http://www.summitinds.com/product/corona... for stuff like this.  It'll keep the sores from getting dry, cracked, and raw, and it's so goopy that it lasts a long time under dressings.  It also has antiseptic properties, although you could always combine it with a more traditional topical like something with nitrofurazone (Furall http://www.kyhorse.com/store/health/woun... Furazone http://www.kyhorse.com/store/health/woun... etc) or scarlett oil, triple antibiotic, etc.  I also like MTG for hair growth http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?...

Simply rubbing and scraping the hocks is not the same as having "capped hocks"- the latter is when there is a fluid-filled distension under the skin.  It can be a result of trauma like constant rubbing and scratching the hock on hard ground, but they are two different things.  More info: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx...  

Good luck with him, and even though it can be unsightly, you have to decide how much time, money, and energy need to be put into trying to heal them up.