What’s your experience in treating a heel grab? Horse is lame, but the wound itself is not deep. Do you use a liquid bandage or Alushield? Stall rest? And how long did it take to resolve?
Did the shoe get pulled too?
Is there heat in the hoof?
Depends on the severity of the grab and how much pain tolerance the horse has. Crappy answer, I know…
My guy did this last spring, I gently cleaned it 1x/day with a diluted betadine solution for the first few days, treated with Blu Cote and kept it covered with a wrap until he developed a nice scab. Once that happened I used a liquid band-aid product to keep it covered in case the scab opened. IIRC, it took about 10days before he was 100% on it. He’s a pretty stoic horse, the actual wound was approx. 1 1/2" long and maybe 4cm deep on one heel bulb.
I had a horse do this recently. What I did for her was to put her on bute, 1gm AM and PM. for like 3 or 4 days, then 1gm AM for two days. then done. And then I covered her whole heel, foot, everything with faso, put a diaper over it, wrapped that in vetwrap and then that with duct tape.
I would also recommend calling your vet out. because they can get infections through those pretty easily. My vet didn’t come to see my horse but just told me what to keep my eye out for etc and I was constantly sending him pictures of how the wound was healing.
I had the king of heel grabbers. It depended on how bad he did it. Most of the time, I would clean well, spray with AluShield, and bute if he was tender. If it was deeper, I would clean, slather with something (furacin, SSD ointment, whatever), and bandage for a day or two. I go back and forth on bell boots or not to protect. Depends on the horse and the conditions. If it’s muddy, I probably would steer away so as not to trap a lot of mud around the wound.
I had a horse heel grab recently that was VERY severe. He required sutures and careful bandaging and management while it healed. He also went on antibiotics. It is almost 100% healed now (a month or so later), but it was a PITA to deal with the first couple of weeks!
Calling the vet really depends on how serious we’re talking. Most I find are easy enough to take care of with no vet intervention. BUT, I also had a horse who, for awhile, did this on practically a monthly basis (big striding, athletic youngster. He did it less as he got older and stronger), so I’m pretty comfortable judging the severity and dealing with them accordingly.
Update
Thanks all! I would say she’s not stoic…but today is much less reactive when I lightly touch the “wound” area. I’m trying a human liquid bandage…and she’s on her regular turnout.
I second the liquid bandage if it’s not a bad one. Keeps it clean yet they can move around and go out and you don’t have to worry about it getting dirty.
It’s also great for hock sores and minor cuts around joints.
My guy had this before and the Alushield was a saving grace! Daily treatment at the beginning, then spread it out as it healed.
Just dealing with a nasty one now ( of course- day before show!)
Vet and I have worked out cold hosing 3 x day, Bute twice a day for a couple of days, then down to once a day. Antibiotics. And she wants me to dermagel generously afather foot is dry from hosing.
My horse is prone to this. I always turned him out no matter how ugly it was - he was calmer in turnout. I have had good luck with putting human triple biotic ointment in the would after through cleaning and blotting dry with a towel and then hand grazing. I then smear it over with Desitin, which keeps the triple biotic in while keeping it from drying out and creating a barrier. With daily care, the wound will heal pretty quickly unless it is super deep and requires a vet.
Good luck!
