[QUOTE=Robyn;8782537]
OK. Been soaking/wrapping with Animalintex pads for five days. Better but not close to 100% and I’ve not seen any noticeable drainage. But this is my first abscess rodeo so who knows? I am now out of the Animalintex pads and would like to mix up something else to pack hoof with until I can speak to the vet on Monday. Ideas? And where does one find something like ichthamol anyway? Our local farm store does’t have it.[/QUOTE]
Due to the size of our resident population I deal with lots of different types of hoof issues from time to time.
IMO and experience it is reasonably easy to figure out if the issue is an abscess, bruised sole or heal. Pulse and degree of is a pretty good indicator along with heat as to what maybe going on. Checking for both on a daily, several times a day will give a baseline to go by. It will peak and then ebb.
Hoof testers rarely lie. Put if there is little to no reaction and the horse is shod might be a good idea to pull the shoe and check underneath.
If the horse has light colored soles lightly rasping off the top can reveal a dark area that can be indicative of a bruise. Which may or may not be reactive to the hoof testers but usually will be at some point.
A bruised heal doesn’t take long to become sensitive. The horse can be very reactive to just hand/finger pressure. A bruised heal does not always come to, end with a “blow out”. It maybe just bruised, very sore and will resolve in a couple of days to a week with nothing “draining”. The same can happen with a sole bruise.
Most horses IME with a heal bruise with tend to stand “over at the knee” a bit on the effected leg to take weight off the heal. This can be very subtle to the eye and takes a bit of experience to see.
I do a daily check with the hoof testers. I search more than “mildly” the quicker we can find,isolate, pinpoint the effected area that faster I can address give relief. Especially if it is an abscess. Experience has taught me to know when it is close enough to the surface be able to open it up without excavating a crater to give quick, instant relief. Along with a quick turnaround and back to being sound.
I rarely if ever involve my vet. As my vets have said a competent farrier has far more hands on experience than the average vet. To each their own on this.
Animalintex is a wonderful product a bit pricey. I don’t buy the hoof shaped ones much better bang for the buck to buy the whole sheets and cut to size.
Can be applied and held on with lots of duck tape but there is a technique so that the expensive pad stays on and not lost to the muck of the stall.
I have had very good luck using the plastic boots with the buckle. I have had very few horses that have objected to them and found a way to get them off. Even when turned out.
An old school poultice that has stood the test of time is to make a bran and Epsom salt paste and pack the hoof with it. Keep it in place with a disposable diaper as Findeight explained.
I am not a fan of a lot of soaking. Not for long or for more than a couple of days at most. Different horses have different hoof walls the last thing I want is to soften it.
Most abscesses come out through the bottom of the foot. But there are the unlucky few where it travels up and out the cornet. These take longer and are more painful.
This is how I/we have always gone about it by and large. There are some other “ways” to treat and or address. I am just giving general advise. I don’t think anyone should say do this do that without looking at, working with the horse directly.
Good luck and welcome to the “club”. Once you get a few under your belt the expense of a vet is usually not necessary.
