So my large mare, who loves to lay down a lot, has now started to get hock sores. Tried Desitin, Biozone, normal petroleum jelly, and nothing seems to work.
Does anyone have any good suggestions for treating them?
More shavings in his stall should clear things upâŠ
corazone (sp)
Gall salve
This is what Iâve had the best luck with, too.
Duct tape also seems to be popular here, but I can never get it to stick well enough to stay on for long.
Her stall is already heavily bedded, as this is what we first tried to solve it.
What is the duct tape method??
I had good luck with Alushield when my horse got some nasty hock sores this summer (heâs been out 24/7 lately so it wasnât like I could add more bedding to his stall).
Putting glop on a wound is jus that, putting glop on a wound. I donât care if itâs a majikal potion from your vet or favorite horsee guru.
The horse is abrading herself as she gets up or lays down. Is a layer of vaseline going to protect your skin if you scrape it against, say, a hard dirt or sand ground? Of course not.
What you need is to determine why this is âsuddenlyâ happening. Whatâs changed? Until you determine that, I suggest getting hock boots and putting them on her when sheâs most likely to lie down, say in the stall at night.
Good luck.
Gall Salve - thick green paste, stays put really well, especially as it gets colder. Helped alot with mine and way thicker and stickier than vaseline or triple-A gel, and other topicals. Itâs also bright green so youâll know when it comes off or stays (until it gets covered with shavings!) 
Love the stuff.
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Iâd have a chiro check her out-Sansena is right, somethingâs different.
Duct tape is the only thing that healed my EPSM TBâs sores. He had them on hip points and hocks. He was finally cured of getting new ones when he started living out 24/7, on stone dust. I do not believe bedding makes a difference. On shavings (2â deep) he had sores, on stonedust he didnât. I would rub a little NeoSporin right on the sore, not on the hair around it then slap on a piece of duct tape. The tape has to be bigger than the sore. Rub it on so it really sticks to the hair surrounding the sore and leave it there till it comes off on its own. Repeat exercise till the thing is healed. If you end up with tape stickum in his hair, rub peanut butter on and the glue will dissolve.
When everyone is saying more bedding they arenât meaning a paltry 2". You have to bed the stall so deep that the horse canât even get to the bottom of the stall usually about 12".
I absolutely agree with the other poster comments. Whatâs different. You need to treat the underlying cause, not the symptom unless it truly is an exception to the rule.
good luck
Thanks everyone for the comments this far. Iâll see about increasing the already thickly bedded stalls, but I donât think thats the culprit.
The only thing I can think that has really âchangedâ is we moved her to the winter barn, but if anything, these stalls are more thickly bedded then the other farms. I donât notice any difference with her under tack or in any other way, so I donât think its would be her back or anything out of whack.
For those of you that use the duct tape method/or elasticon method, can you still leave it on when you ride? Thanks again for all the suggestions!
Yes the duct tape is amazing. You can leave it on all the time. If you are having difficulty getting it to stick take a little super glue and put a thin layer around the perimeter of the tape. This is just to adhere it more securely to the hair you donât have to stick it to the skin.
A. Air mattress soft stall had worked for my horse
+1 duct tape
I use the heavy-duty extra-sticky stuff in black, which looks a little less redneck. I also trim it a bit to shape better to a 3D surface.
As I said, leave it on until it comes off on its own, so yes, ride with it. I said duct tape but really, Gorilla Tape is even better-itâll stay on for a couple of weeks. If she rubs a hole in it, do a double or triple layer. I like the Super Glue idea too as long as you donât get any on the skinâŠ
Also, I said bedding 2â, not 2". 2 Feet deep.
Even if some gets on the skin I wouldnât sweat it too much it is very similar to surgical glue for the most part if you are using just normal super glue.
I like gall solve best in terms of goop. But agree that duct tape is the way to go.
My pony used to get them when he was due to get hock injections. It wasnât so much that his stall was too thinly bedded as he did more scrambling getting up/down from rolling in the field when he was a little stiff.
Sonny used to get them only in the late fall and winter. Same bedding and same stall. He actually got his from the back wall in the stall. It was concrete block. He also got them at another barn where the back wall was stone. We think he would turn and brush his hock against the wall. He was in big stalls and had plenty of room to turn without touching the walls.
The winters I had him in stalls with 4 wood walls- no hock rubs. Those stalls were actually smaller. Go figure.
I used hock boots until they healed and then Alushield.
My guess is their skin gets a little dryer in the fall/winter just like peopleâs skin and would rub easier. The stone or concrete block was rough enough to rub him.
