Yellowing hooves on my paint horse?

Question

My 5 yr old paint mare has seemed to turn a yellowed color around her nose, eyes and most notably her hooves. She has been stiff and sore also. I discussed it with my farrier, and he wasn't concerned, but did say that her soles are bruised (soles not discolored much). Vet also was not concerned, but I wondered if anyone has seen this before. By the way, her hooves are striped, and she is mostly a white horse with just a few spots.

Answer 1

Your vet should do liver studies on her.  I would have blood drawn and check it out to be sure....jaundice in a horse appears as what you are describing, and is often a sign of liver disorder.  It should be ruled out....other things can cause it that aren't as serious, but it's best to know.

Answer 2

Tetanus maybe..?

http://www.cyberhorse.net.au/csl/tetanus...

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Horses-702/Il...

Maybe Rhino Virus?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

Equine Influenza?

Search more into the illnesses and hopefully you can diagnose it.

Answer 3

I raise paint horses and their white hooves can get yellowish in color. It is usually stains from grass or mud. The yellow around the eyes and nose can be from sunburn and also grass and hay. I have some white faced horses and they can look a little yellow as the season wears on. If you vet isn't concerned, I wouldn't be.

Answer 4

The first thing that popped into my mind was liver problems and equine jaundice.

I don't know much about jaundice in horses but I know its a liver problem which causes the skin to turn yellow after a while as the liver doesn't function properly and there are problems with toxins being realesed into the body.

This is just a possibility, I'm not sure how common in it in horses though.

Answer 5

At 5 years old, there are not a lot of reasons your mare should be stiff and sore.  It is true that a horse of any age can get sore if their hooves are not trimmed correctly, but that would not explain the other symptoms.  When sole brusing is noticed, it is usualy because the horse is moving over terrain that they are not accustomed to (riding barefoot over rocks etc..) or because of undue pressure on the sole of the hoof.  The thing that makes your situation unusual is the yellowing.  If your vet does not think there is a problem, I would get a second opinion.  Unless the horses have been doing something different in the last 2 or so months, the Yellowing is the only thing that stands out.

Answer 6

I would be concerned with a liver problem, check for ragwort in the pasture.