Help! Mare will not soak hoof

[Janet]

animalintex may be another non-water-soaking option.

[beowulf]

@DinkyDonk

Pack sole with Epsom salt paste, cover with large gauze pads or part of a diaper, etc., wrap hoof with duct tape, and have a nice day…

This is what I do… I don’t soak anymore. It’s messy, and a PITA. I pack with an epsom salt, betadine and sore-no-more mix. Wrap and call it a day until the next day.

[ladipus]

Ask your vet for an empty iv fluid bag …fill it with warm water, betadine & Epsom sallt…full half way…put foot in bag …wrap top of bag with duck tape …and you have a foot soak…no bucket needed

[PNWjumper]

Yep, I’m with the others who say “I don’t soak anymore.” It’s ineffective at best and a mess to boot. I slather the hoof in epsom salt paste, put a diaper on it, slap a heat patch on the diaper, wrap in vet wrap, and then many layers of duct tape/gorilla tape. Stays on for a couple of days, keeps things warm and drawing for a much longer period than doing a 20-min soak in water.

[beowulf]

FYI - you can skip the duct tape and use this: Hoof Slipper

I don’t even line with duct tape anymore. It’s expensive and a PITA. I pack, wrap with diaper, wrap with vet-wrap to pad and add traction (for the hoof boot) and then put a hoof boot on.

I am not sure what brand mine is, but it looks like that in black. It is not the SmartPak one. Mine has lasted over 30 uses, at least… and these are horses out 24/7. I use it any time a horse pulls a shoe or has an abscess. It stays on (I have never had it fall off) and all of my horses are out 24/7, so that is quite a feat.

It is just now showing wear, and lost the bottom layer but the hoof is still covered. I think it’s been on for about 4 days straight, since one of the TBs at our farm has an abscess coming out of the heel bulb :eek: that has been very slow to pop.

I have also used this, with good luck – but it can come off: Easy Boot.

[PNWjumper]

@beowulf

FYI - you can skip the duct tape and use this: Hoof Slipper

I don’t even line with duct tape anymore. It’s expensive and a PITA. I pack, wrap with diaper, wrap with vet-wrap to pad and add traction (for the hoof boot) and then put a hoof boot on.

Interesting. I may have to give that one a try. I have this one: (Woof Wear). I used it for 30 days straight on a mare who punctured her frog with a fencing nail. It kept her clean and dry and saved everyone’s sanity because she could stay in a small turnout rather than a stall. The rubber wore through by the end, but that was 30 days on a horse wearing a shoe and living on rubber mats and cement. BUT, when I reordered to use on another horse the boot wore through in the first day (and that one the horse didn’t even have a shoe on). So YMMV, and more importantly, the quality of the product may vary.

I’ve used hoof boots too, but usually can’t get them on over shoes.

Oh, one other product I’ve found and liked quite a bit are these: https://guardianhorseproducts.com.au/products/copy-of-horsecrocz-medium

[Larbear]

Yup, I don’t soak anymore as well. I slather on ichthammol, make a boot out of a diaper and secure with vetwrap and duct tape. Last time I tried soaking a hind foot (winter time) using a Davis soak boot, I had to duck, and the stuff went all over the walls and the boot went flying.

Done!!

[beowulf]

@PNWjumper

Interesting. I may have to give that one a try. I have this one: (Woof Wear). I used it for 30 days straight on a mare who punctured her frog with a fencing nail. It kept her clean and dry and saved everyone’s sanity because she could stay in a small turnout rather than a stall. The rubber wore through by the end, but that was 30 days on a horse wearing a shoe and living on rubber mats and cement. BUT, when I reordered to use on another horse the boot wore through in the first day (and that one the horse didn’t even have a shoe on). So YMMV, and more importantly, the quality of the product may vary.

I’ve used hoof boots too, but usually can’t get them on over shoes.

Oh, one other product I’ve found and liked quite a bit are these: https://guardianhorseproducts.com.au…secrocz-medium

Maybe it works better for different horses / reasons! I had the same experience as you with your second horse - horse in question wore through the Woof boot very quickly… But NE soil, lots of rocks, and he was on full turnout. Didn’t have a lot of things going in its favor.

But wow, nail puncture in the hoof!! Not my idea of a picnic :eek:

[Xanthoria]

I do the “ichthammol diaper wrap with a hoof boot over it” too, but before removing it (usually day 2) I pour warm water inside and let it stand like a soaking boot for a while so the hoof gets extra soft.

I also pack the sole but wrap over the heel/coronary band, and notice abscesses often exit at the coronary band anyway. Sometimes I think all this wrapping is just busy work, I actually prefer they exit higher as it’s easier to keep the hole clean and they close faster… but… thoughts?

[Sparrowette]

@beowulf

FYI - you can skip the duct tape and use this: Hoof Slipper

I don’t even line with duct tape anymore. It’s expensive and a PITA. I pack, wrap with diaper, wrap with vet-wrap to pad and add traction (for the hoof boot) and then put a hoof boot on.

Gorilla Tape = PITA, for sure.

The vet didn’t say to, but I put her on stall rest.

She’s usually pretty good about hoof cleaning, and is kept barefoot. My farrier says she behaves well for him.

Perhaps I’ve just been lucky, but I’ve never had a hoof emergency before that I had to take care of, myself. So in my ignorance/arrogance, I had no knowledge or information on how to wrap a hoof. I think the vet just assumed I knew. I’m getting on in years, and perhaps that’s why I don’t seem to be able to deal with an antsy mare whose whole attitude is: “YES, IT HURT THEN, BUT I’M BETTER NOW, AND I WANT TO GO PLAY WITH MY FRIENDS!! IT’S TURNOUT TIME, AND I HAVE TO BE THERE!!! (I’m going to lose my ‘top mare’ status, and you are causing social problems for me, silly, ignorant human! LET GO OF MY FOOT!)” Getting it wrapped up took an hour.

I’ve never had to wrap a hoof, and attempted to copy what the vet had done, while mare was arguing with my about the need to do that (Discuss it with a mare!").

After my attempt came off the next morning, the vet sent me a YouTube video of how to wrap a hoof, and it wasn’t what the vet did that night. I’ve been working out, but my arm strength isn’t what it needs to be, and physically, I can’t do what the video shows to do, which took not even 5 minutes, while my mare argues about it.

I’m going to buy that hoof slipper and print out all these instructions from here for future info. I need to get a notebook together for these things.

[Dunkhead]

I have a you-are-wetting-me-with-acid-every-time-you-use-cold-water mare too:). But I sure do love her!

[dungrulla]

Cut the tops off old IV bags and vet wrap around ankles. In my experience they stay on even with heavy duty flailing.

[Wanderosa]

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I just saw a video of a horse rolling gleefully around in a blow up kiddie pool. The irony!

Will she stand in something large and shallow like the foot treatment pans designed to run cattle and sheep through?

[Scribbler]

@PNWjumper

Yep, I’m with the others who say “I don’t soak anymore.” It’s ineffective at best and a mess to boot. I slather the hoof in epsom salt paste, put a diaper on it, slap a heat patch on the diaper, wrap in vet wrap, and then many layers of duct tape/gorilla tape. Stays on for a couple of days, keeps things warm and drawing for a much longer period than doing a 20-min soak in water.

A heat patch wrapped into the sole of the wrap. That is absolutely brilliant. I will remember that for sure.

As far as wrapping/poulticing up the heel bulbs, I say yes! That is where many abscesses choose to burst, and I think it really helps speed them up.

I do think the poultice and wrap is more important than the soaking. I do soak my mare, because she is willing to let me put her foot in a rubber feed pan and then add water slowly up over the heel (the Davis boot tried to eat her hind leg apparently and was sent flying). I don’t mind doing the extra step, and it assures the foot is clean at least. But it’s the wet poultice that does the job, I’d agree.

[atlatl]

@jonem004

Heavy duty dry bag (like to keep your gear dry when you’re kayaking). I put a couple of laps of duct tape around the pastern, loose enough to pour water through but tight enough to keep it in when it’s full. Pour a small amount of liquid in and let your horse get used to that before filling it. It’s attached to their hoof, so think about your horses temperament before attempting this.

This ^^^ I don’t remember who on CoH told me about this but it works great.

I use the 20L size (check the diameter of the base before buying) cut off the tops and then use vet-wrap to close it around the horse’s leg.

https://www.amazon.com/iOutdoor-Products-Waterproof-Lightweight-Kayaking/dp/B07LCF9ZZ2/ref=sr_1_42?keywords=dry%2Bbag&qid=1563664071&s=gateway&sr=8-42&th=1&psc=1

I’ve had them last for easily 20+ uses

good luck!

[crosscreeksh]

@JB

Sugardine paste (sugar + betadine), or Epsom salt paste (Epsom Salt, water), pack in the foot, wrap the foot. No real need to soak much of anything.

If you mix Epsom Salt with mineral oil…it lasts longer and stays in place better.

[24eventer]

Make your own soak boot. Use thick cotton sheets and make a paste with epsom salt and water. Cover the affected area with the paste and cover with soaked cotton. Use a duct tape boot to keep it on. I’ve used this many times and it works great!

[paint_hunter]

@2tempe

Our vet gives us used IV bags. get hoof in there, duct tape and return in 30 minutes, or whatever.

Yup. Use the empty 5 liter bags. Cut off the bottom inch or so (where the drip set attaches). Works great. Many vets keep a supply of them around just for these situations.

[Sparrowette]

Well, she’s fine now, and it occurred to me that I haven’t shared what I actually wound up doing…

I put the drawing salve into the fridge to cool. My daughter estimated her hoof-to-diaper size as a five, and it worked well. Then, when the salve was cool, I cleaned off the hoof as well as I could with a damp cloth, and then SLATHERED the salve onto the diaper where her hoof would be stepping – the bottom. I mean the diaper had GOBS of salve where she would be standing on it. And since it’s been so hot, I’m sure that once it warmed up, it would work its way around there all over. Then I wrapped it in vet wrap, and then gorilla tape. It seemed that the durability of the bandage depended on the amount of gorilla tape, and she got it off some.

But at the end, she was itching to get back on turnout, and did not have a fever, so that was that.

All’s well that ends well.

Thank you everyone for your help! It’s been an education! :D:lol::winkgrin: