Hoof Bruise... When Does It Get Better?

[Sfbayequine]

What’s the longest you have ever had a horse off from a hoof bruise?

Vets been out, again today in fact. There is bruising on the inside left hoof wall. She has been off for about a month now. I’m in the Bay Area, so super hard & dry ground with the drought. Every third horse has been having hoof soreness, and her thin soles don’t help.

I’ve been instructed to hand/tack walk for several more weeks. She has leather pads with Equipak, which did not seem to offer any relief. Mare is getting hoof supplements, but obviously that’s going to take months for new growth to help.

Vets thinking toe clips might be exacerbating the problem. Farrier swears they are not. Inter webs are inconclusive. I’d pull the shoes if she was not already sore. That’s another thread…

Just impatient and wanting to commiserate with other bruised hoof perps. I know it can take time, but I really thought a month would show improvement. Sigh.

[findeight]

Have you taken any x Rays? Might be more then bruising. Don’t like the fact vet and farrier do not agree perhaps a second opinion on both sides would be appropriate? If she’s on hand/tack walk only, don’t know that she needs clips. What is horse standing on? Shavings over mats or?? A run in or pipe pen as is popular out there?

One thought, sometimes full pads/pour ins just put more pressure on already tender soles (despite claims they cushion). Might have better luck going to a rim pad that takes any pressure on the sole completely out of the picture.

You could pull her shoes and put her in boots…but IMO that’s a little drastic and not a long term solution. I’d try the rim pads and compromise with the conflicting opinions on the clips by asking farrier to skip clips in the affected area but use them elsewhere. Keep her in rim pads to avoid further issues, clips can come back after it grows out.

Even when you remove the pressure with rim pads, it’s still going to have to grow out. You just need to prevent it happening again and not just treat and resume what you were doing.

[ben4me]

Ok this may sound crazy but… My horse had a bruise that was not improving into second week. My boyfriend (racehorse to fox hunter trainer) made one of his infrequent trips to my boarding barn and made this concoction for his hoof. Mix poultice, Epsom salt,absorbine and a splash of vinegar to make a paste(the smell will knock you out) and put in a diaper or corner of a feed bag. Duct tape it on and turn out. You should have seen the eye rolling by the DQs and HPs. They weren’t eye rolling the next day when it was removed and he trotted out sound! They were asking for the recipe. I also swear by equiTek for prevention

[findeight]

Lots of things might pull the inflammation out but, having experience with bruising due to drought hardened ground, it’ll just re bruise or get new bruises unless you change something. Either restrict where the horse goes to keep it on softer footing or review your shoeing/padding options.

[mroades]

I had one that took three months to resolve…ugh

[531]

It can take a full shoeing cycle, and then some - I had one late last summer that knocked out my entire fall season, by the time it resolved we had lost too much fitness. I even did xrays to be sure nothing else was going on. We ended up using isoxsuprene and aspirin the last few weeks. My farrier didn’t believe it was a bruise until the second shoeing cycle when it finally grew out, it was that deep. Hang in there.

[caryledee]

Have you done any diagnostics to confirm it is just a bruise?

[quietann]

Is this a bruise on the sole, or a bruise on the hoof wall? The former usually seem to heal quickly (and I agree with those saying more protection may be needed). Bruise on the hoof wall, in my limited experience, takes a couple of trim cycles to grow out and the horse may still be lame when it’s gone. My mare had a bruise on the hoof wall and was perfectly sound until the bottom edge of it grew out, and then she went lame. She had a month off and got better.

[Dune]

Assuming this is just a hoof bruise, a few things: What findeight said, a LOT of times that fancy dancy hoof package actually makes things worse. I like the rim pad idea, and hooves packed with Magic Cushion, re-apply every 3rd day or sooner if it falls out. (it really is magic) The bruising is only going to heal if said horsie is off the hard ground, so again the question: What is the living area like? If that is hard, then you’re screwed. In addition to that, I’ve had my vet add some aspirin and isoxyprine, as was also suggested, to help things along. Also, be prepared that this bruising could also yield an abscess. YMMV

[myleetlepony]

I also recommend Magic Cushion.

[BroncoMo]

A couple thoughts that are kind of all over the place:

I good friend of mine had a 2 year old last year bruise both front feet, and has taken 9 months for it to clear up enough to ride. Been through xrays, different kinds of shoeing, the whole 9 yards. They were badly bruised and deep. Then turned to a hematoma that obviously could not be drawn out. He is ridable now, and looks pretty good. But it still affects him some on the right lead. It sounds horrible, but it could take a very long time for it to resolve.

I second getting xrays. After the friends horse, I was pretty sure mine was just badly bruised, but turned out to be a broken coffin bone. If he’s been going for a month, I would suggest making sure it’s not something more serious.

As far as drawing out bruises, DMSO in conjunction with Magic Cushion is my miracle cure. My longe liner stepped on a rock in an arena with poor footing 2 days before she was supposed to show. Went off lame immediately. Took her to the on-site vet, double checked that she didn’t have soft tissue damage from rolling off the rock, and started wrapping with DMSO (let it dry momentarily) and Magic Cushion on top. She went off sound the next day, and showed just fine. Granted it was a fresh bruise, still hot and had not become a hematoma yet. So I’m not sure it would do any good for a month old bruise. But I certainly am a believer in DMSO for drawing inflammation. Research has shown it can be helpful in stopping founder, and also used in traumatic head injuries to reduce brain swelling. I’m not sure why I haven’t used it more often, but I sure do now. Hopefully it can be useful for others in the future.

[joiedevie99]

I had one take about 2 months to resolve.

If it is a sole bruise, go with a rim pad and pack it daily with Magic Cushion.

If it is under the shoe and you don’t want to pull the shoes, you can get creative or wait it out. You can either (1) float the foot so that portion doesn’t actually touch the shoe, or, as my horse demanded, (2) have your farrier custom weld a Z bar shoe that avoids any contact at all with the bruise.

[caryledee]

I am just wondering if some of these bruises that went on for months and months were really bruises or other injuries within the hoof? Were any further diagnostics done? My horse has something going on in his foot and has been lame for 10-11 weeks now. I am assuming it is more than a bruise, but it would be great if that is all it is and it will eventually heal.

[Sfbayequine]

Thanks for the replies you all are fantastic. To give more insight…

1. Since she is hand walking & tack walking, we are waiting on x-rays. She hoof tested sore on both fronts and was bilaterally lame, worse on the left prior to the pads, now she is only lame on the left front. Right was slight before the pads. Yea, I know she could be masking the right still.

Given that there is a visible external bruise on the left hoof wall, she tested sore with the hoof testers, and she was doing more trail prior, as well as limited turn out and fly stomping on dry hard ground with rocks… we are going with hoof bruise for now.

Rads will come in, but I’m guessing (and so is the vet), that there will be changes & things to worry about on the x-rays that may have nothing to do with this situation. 9 year old appendix paint, so prone to lots of fun foot issues. Do you try to resolve the obvious or follow the films? It think every horse owner has to deal with that question. It’s a big bruise, so we are sticking with what is in front of us for now. That was actually our entire conversation yesterday. Kind of the if you hear hoof beats, horse or zebra scenario.

2. I agree with the consensus above that the full pad and equitek may be putting too much pressure on the sole. Actually, that was my fear before I gave my ok. Before she was shod with pads & packing, I was managing with Magic Cushion. I love that stuff. It was helping her. With the Magic Cushion in, lameness was reduced by 60-80%. This also made me & the vet lean towards hoof bruise. I have seen no relief from the full pad and actually, it may be slightly worse.

3. Those rim pads look great. If I understand, the pad raises the sole and gives cushion to the wall. I like that they stay open, I can magic cushion and if this abscesses, I have more to work with than wondering what is happening under a pad. Thanks for that.

4. The visible bruise (white side of the hoof, of course), is about 1.5" from the ground. That is going to take time to grow out. If this is all bruise related, I do think the unfortunate reality is months… but, hopefully I can find something that gives better relief that what I’ve got going on now.

5. You asked is sole or wall bruise… YES. I it looks like both. Tested sore at the toe, but, the visible bruise is on the wall. Of course, the right side tested sore at the toe too.

6. I am going to ask for no clips this shoeing cycle. She is not doing anything, so I don’t really see a benefit at this point either way.

7. Someone asked what she is standing on… rubber mat with 1 - 3" of shavings. She has a rubber mat in her little “paddock”, ok, its a patio, area. She gets hand walked on dirt/with rocks, or the asphalt driveway, or I hand walk in the arena with shavings or the other one with sand. Depends if I want to deal with turf toe myself, so we switch it up. Too soft also wont promote blood flow healing. Magic cushion/duct tape booties would make this better. Don’t think the pads are helping.

8. No pulses, no swelling, no heat in the legs, and no heat in the hoof

9. Vet and I thought about blocking, but all that is going to tell is… it’s in the hoof. X-rays will be next. If that’s inconclusive, we may just jump to an MRI. It’s all on the table if this does not resolve. I just don’t want to follow a diagnostic down one path because I am impatient to ride. The vet does not want me to run up a bill yet because based on what she is seeing, bruise is the #1 visible issue.

My plan, unless this update nets something more magical than the first round of ideas, which with this group is possible… is the rim pad, magic cushion, no clip scenario. It will mollify the vet, slightly irritate the farrier, and I think, most importantly help Miss Thing feel better.

My gut is screaming that the packed pad is not the way to go. Next time I will ask you all for things to research before I make a move!

[silverdog]

My 2 cents worth - my late TB had very thin soles, crap walls and probable pedal ostitis. He was retired and then brought back to work. I attempted to put shoes on him but they came off as fast as the farrier would put them back on. So I used hoof boots as needed and Durasole. He did pretty well with this. He got out of his pasture one night (crawled under the electric fence) and then panicked when he could not figure out how to get back. Ran out in the unimproved area all night until the morning feeder rescued him. Bruised his foot. Was lame for ages. No self treatment I did - protective booties, Durasole, rest worked. Took him to the vet - advised to stall rest for 10 days. Right - this is a horse that does not do stalls. We put him and his pasture mate in stalls at night and a small turnout during the day. Kept his foot wrapped with a pad. After 9 days he finally stopped eating so I gave up and put them back in the pasture. Galloped around and amazingly was fine and sound. So you might try pulling the shoes, wrapping the foot with a pad and doing stall rest.

[findeight]

If she’s got a visible bruise 1 1/2" from the ground? That’s not hard ground, she’s hit something with it, maybe bottom rail (pipe) of patio fence or she maybe got cast in the middle of the night and righted herself with no witnesses.

Think you have two issues, bruising of the soles/heels due to hard ground in both feet and this unrelated bruise in the hoof wall. Rim pads, no clips and Magic cushion for the soles/heels. For the bruise? Honestly, I’d get some pictures. It could just grow out but it has some distance to to go before it can be trimmed off, guessing two shoeing cycles. If there is further damage, you need to know sooner rather then later.

The possibility you have an abcess cooking under that bruise is pretty good and if she did additional damage treatment and farrier protocol may be different. You need to know and shooting just the one hoof is not going to break the bank.

[Dune]

[QUOTE=findeight;8242309]
If she’s got a visible bruise 1 1/2" from the ground? That’s not hard ground, she’s hit something with it, maybe bottom rail (pipe) of patio fence or she maybe got cast in the middle of the night and righted herself with no witnesses.

Think you have two issues, bruising of the soles/heels due to hard ground in both feet and this unrelated bruise in the hoof wall. Rim pads, no clips and Magic cushion for the soles/heels. For the bruise? Honestly, I’d get some pictures. It could just grow out but it has some distance to to go before it can be trimmed off, guessing two shoeing cycles. If there is further damage, you need to know sooner rather then later.

The possibility you have an abcess cooking under that bruise is pretty good and if she did additional damage treatment and farrier protocol may be different. You need to know and shooting just the one hoof is not going to break the bank.[/QUOTE]

Some good points. Also, if you are hand walking on hard footing, STOP! lol As far as the bruising higher up on the hoof wall, good luck getting a vet or farrier telling you it is “something”. I have one with 4 white feet, and I do NOT like how the hind feet have obvious bruising on the quarters. I switched farriers when I got the “white feet just show more bruising, if these were dark feet you’d never know”. “New” farrier agreed with me, at first. Now that the bruising is still there, he is saying the same thing as the old farrier. Honestly, I really don’t know the right answer. I used to think I knew a little something about feet. :-/

[Sfbayequine]

THANK YOU to everyone who posted on this. Farrier put on plain aluminum shoes, no clip, rim pad, so nice open sole, and I’m back using magic cushion.

I did not do anything but hand walk for a few days after the shoeing & we are now sound in the sand arena at the trot. She’s not picking her way down a little hill to get to the arena either. I’ll try her in the bark/chip arena in a week or so.

Phew! I think we are on the right track. Vet & farrier are happy… But mostly, my horse is happy. Thank you again so much for the input.

[SaratogaTB]

I had one that lasted nearly two months. It just needs to grow out. Magic Cushion really helps.