Bed Sores - Hocks

[LadyB]

My gelding has always been one to lay down, he always gets bed sores on his hocks. Its never been terrible, and comes and goes, but this winter it seems to be worse.

He gets a lot of bedding and has a soft stall at the barn we are boarding at, probably why he’s laying down so much, it feels awesome!

The sores are not open, the are mostly just rubbed off hair to the skin, broken hair, and dry.

I have been googling but wondering what others may use in a case like this?

I’m worried Zinc would dry it out, they are already dry, slightly flaky. I need something that will stay the night, but not dry them out more. I can’t use hock boots, or anything to put on top of it that requires to be removed. This is not an option at the barn I am currently boarding at. This is a three month stay for arena use, until he comes home for the season.

[IPEsq]

Even with a lot of bedding, my horse will get them because he makes shavings angels when he lies down and pushes through bedding. It’s really only a problem in matted stalls. Some of our loads of shavings seem to do better than others (bulk). If they get raw at all, I think Alushield works the best. If not raw, I just keep the hair clean and don’t put anything on them.

[theresak]

Duct tape - stays on for a few days usually.

And have the vet check his hocks for arthritis; my horse only gets hock sores when he needs his hocks injected.

[horsegurl]

[QUOTE=theresak;8525954]

And have the vet check his hocks for arthritis; my horse only gets hock sores when he needs his hocks injected.[/QUOTE]

OP, I agree here. My horse gets sores when his hocks are bothering him. They can’t comfortably get their hocks/legs under them to rise, so they roll over their hocks and scrape them up. Especially true if you have them bedded with plenty of shavings.

I use the blue-ish purple sprays stuff, then take a gauze and keep in place with very sticky duct tape (some is more sticky than others), or the clear sticky packing tape works even better for me. I don’t go AROUND the hock, I tape on the lateral side of the leg, over the sore, parallel to the leg, using long enough tape to get plenty of coverage. Never lasts all nite, but does help.

[high_hat]

I have used this company’s fetlock wraps for bedsores there. They were terrific. These are advertised for the hocks: https://www.equipro.com/Hock_Wrap.html

They were very easy to deal with and the product stood up quite well.

[LadyB]

[QUOTE=horsegurl;8526783]
OP, I agree here. My horse gets sores when his hocks are bothering him. They can’t comfortably get their hocks/legs under them to rise, so they roll over their hocks and scrape them up. Especially true if you have them bedded with plenty of shavings.

I use the blue-ish purple sprays stuff, then take a gauze and keep in place with very sticky duct tape (some is more sticky than others), or the clear sticky packing tape works even better for me. I don’t go AROUND the hock, I tape on the lateral side of the leg, over the sore, parallel to the leg, using long enough tape to get plenty of coverage. Never lasts all nite, but does help.[/QUOTE]

Oh this worries me a little then. I really hope hocks aren’t an issue, but injecting them wouldn’t be awful. The vet should be coming out for teeth soon, I’ll have them check his hocks as well.

He recently was put on Triacta-HA and I’ve noticed a huge difference in him, he’s a 13 year old OTTB.

[findeight]

I wouldn’t stick him because of hock sores…not without X rays to confirm they would do any good. Mine has OCD but there was never any correlation between occasional hock sores and flare ups within the hock joint that indicated injections were appropriate.

Amount or type of bedding had nothing to do with hock sores on mine either, got them in deep bedding, doesn’t get them on skimpy on year and vice versa the next year. Who knows…

Anyway, when we did get them, found that liquid bandage stuff really good. Get it at the drugstore and paint it on (like nail polish) or use the spray on horse product, name escapes me. Careful, it can sting a little. The stuff disinfects and seals allowing it to scab over and keeping them from knocking the scab off and starting all over. It’s cheap.

ETA Alushield, mentioned earlier, is the name of the horse spray on liquid bandage type product

[Foxyrab]

2" long piece of duct tape.

[SomedaySoon]

My horse only got them if the bedding wasn’t deep enough. I’d just put the drugstore triple antibiotic ointment on them if they were dry. Moved to 24/7 turnout and she hasn’t had them in a year.

[IPEsq]

I wonder if the location of the sores (what part of the hock area) makes a difference between either a conformation thing and an arthritis thing?

[BeeHoney]

It’s weird, but I agree with others here who say that hock sores seem to occur independently of how much bedding is used, and only on certain horses. I’ve used hock boots, but I’m really interested in this duct tape idea.

[Dutchmare433]

I’ve had luck with this type of hock sore using a mixture of Laser sheen concentrate and Hair Moisturizer (that’s the brand name) concentrate, mixed and diluted in water. I usually do 3/4 laser sheen, 1/4 Hair Moisturizer–then dilute with water however much is says on the laser sheen bottle. I just slather the area…it seems to prevent the sore from progressing and helps the hair grow back.

I use the same mixture for horses who get blanket rubs.

[quietann]

I’ve posted before about my mare’s hock sores. She definitely has hock arthritis (diagnosed by X-rays) and now gets hock injections twice a year. The sores seemed to be worse when

– she was at a barn that didn’t clean out used shavings quickly enough. There were basically enough shavings, but they were dirty
– when moved outside to a dry lot with shed, there were times she preferred to sleep on the very hard ground rather than her well-bedded shed.

I tried a lot of different things. We had a horrid experience with the “duct tape cure” resulting in bigger, weeping, bloody sores. I tried sheepskin lined hock boots, and found that they really were not designed for a horse that was out 24/7, and I had to get the tension of the straps just right. She would get out of the boots, pick them up in her teeth and toss them over the fence if the straps were too loose, or would get swelling and rubs if they were too tight.

In the end, plain old Alu-shield has worked the best. It doesn’t cure them, but it certainly keeps them from getting worse. I reapply it every 3 to 4 days.

[Palm_Beach]

Could he be getting them while rolling on the frozen ground outside? I usually just smear a little panalog on them.

[Trails]

My experience makes me believe that hock sore tend to happen on horses bedded on shavings. Whether it is dirty bedding, not deep enough, too deep, too dry I have no idea but what I do know is I’ve never had a horse get hock sores at my barn even after being out rolling around on the frozen ground. I’ve had horses with hock sores arrive as new boarders but the sores heal up and never return. Reason, I think, is that I bed on straw.

[Beckham03]

I’ve never had horses with hock sores. One of my horses got them when I boarded him last winter. The stalls were lovely and cleaned multiple times a day. I think it was just the type of shavings didn’t agree with him. They went away when he came home and haven’t come back. Not even being stalled at shows. I use pelleted bedding and I think he is used to the softer bedding.

[findeight]

I don’t think arthritis has much to do with it either, if they are really stiff and sore they don’t lay down much since it’s hard to get back up.

[Angela_Freda]

[QUOTE=findeight;8528664]
I don’t think arthritis has much to do with it either, if they are really stiff and sore they don’t lay down much since it’s hard to get back up.[/QUOTE]

I had someone suggest to me that hock sores are because a horse is sore in his front heels, causing the horse to have trouble getting up.

I can’t personally get behind any hard/fast attribution of causation because of a correlation of symptoms.

[RiverBendPol]

I had a big, rangey TB who had EPSM and got hock (and hip) sores when I kept him in a stall. Deep shavings, thin shavings didn’t matter. Outside he slept on stone dust and generally didn’t get sores out there. I couldn’t figure that out!
I would put a blob of Neo-Sporin on the actual sore place, not around the edges at all. Then I’d put a small piece (2" square?) of Gorilla Tape, which is stickier than Duct, right over the hole. I’d leave those bandaids on till they came off by themselves, usually about a week. Miraculous.

[Palm_Beach]

Maybe it has to do with traction? If they are trying to get up and can’t get a good grip with the hind foot and it slips a little?