i did a search, but didn’t find much. My friend has a QH who has the worst luck with abcesses. Can you tell me if anything that you have tried has stopped your horse from getting abcesses? i have been very lucky, ( knocking on wood) and never dealt with any. I know some horses are just predisposed, but why is that? The horse is out on a clean paddock unless there is a storm before he goes outside and the ground might be wet. He is in eight, and has great hoof care. He is not very old, i believe age 11? on good hay and feed.
“On good hay and feed” is by whose definition. Everyone thinks they have their horse on the best hay and feed, have the best farrier and “”-trust their vet completely—“.
Easy to say if a person has never had anything or anyone to compare to:)
- Exactly what is this horse’s diet. What kind of hay and how much hay.
1.1. It could be the farrier is Messing up by slicing way too much sole off. If the owner does not have good hoof knowledge, the farrier may selling her a phony bill of goods, regarding “creating” sole depth.
- Even though the horse is only 11, he isn’t too young to be developing Cushings and /or IR. Horses that I am familiar with, that have had repeated abscesses were either:
2.1. Cushings/Ir and had foundered.
2.2 Live on very rough/rocky ground and their hooves can’t get a break, regardless of BTA care.
- If the horse is barefoot and being ridden on rough or hard terrain, that’s a good recipe for abscesses, as not all horses are capable of going barefoot in rough terrain:)
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I’m a broken record about this, but I’ve had far far far more abscesses, cellulitis and scratches living here in CT than anywhere else. Its been a ridiculous battle.
And then I realized that my “problem children” just needed more copper and zinc than the others. I test my hay, pay for feedXL, and obsess. Everything LOOKS okay. I don’t know why some of them seem to need more, but it’s made a huge difference.
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Oooh I second this. My problem child (who just so happens to be suffering from The Biggest Abscess Everâ„¢ right now) recently had her copper and zinc essentially doubled based on farrier’s recommendation. She had the late summer icky look… Skin cruddy, coat dull and losing it’s dark bay color, hooves pancaking and chipping. Only a few weeks in on the doubled dose and she is looking much better (minus the abscess, which was probably looming in there for a minute before it came out at the heel and the quarter).
I would definitely evaluate all aspects of the diet, paying extra close attention to sugars/starches and the minerals.
Also, even with great hoof care, they can have little infections and inflammation that we can’t always see and they don’t necessarily let us know about. So if there’s maybe a little thrush or WLD in there, that could weaken the integrity of the hoof structures and make them more susceptible to abscesses. May be worth doing a White Lightning or similar treatment just to clean things up.
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She’s looking better because her new virgin Winter coat is becoming more visible, pretty rapidly. The additional cu/zn will really help the feet as they grow out (at roughly 1/4" a month), but it’s next Summer that you should really notice the difference in her Summer coat :yes:
100% agree with all of you to really get into the weeds of the diet. “Good diet” and “regular hoof care” are much too subjective. That “good hay” may have next to no copper and zinc, and tons of iron.
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The most common issue I see in horses that have recurring abscesses are poor hoof angles. Diet would be the second item to address.
I live in a pretty wet climate most of the year, but none of my horses have ever abscessed. A local friend has horses who ALL seem to abscess regularly, although she feeds quality nutritious feed. I used her farrier once or twice while I was looking for a new one and I found that she left heels really long and underrun (in my humble opinion, anyway).
I’m trying to do better these days at not relying blindly on farrier work and actually learning the physics behind what constitutes a healthy hoof with good angles so that I can be a better advocate for my horses!
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Yeahbut that’s kind of my point. In the weeds, my horses are fine with no/minimal supplementation beyond “normal.” I test hay, I use FeedXL…hell, I even tested the WATER. They should all be fine.
Two are fine. Two are not. Two have drastic, marked improvement with MORE copper & zinc. According to the breakout on paper, they shouldn’t need it…and yet they do.
Why? I dunno. But I’ll take it. Because constantly wrapping feet and legs sucks.
So, yes, absolutely–get into the weeds on the diet and you may find it woefully low on the cu/zn front. But even if it looks okay, it may still not be good for that horse. Horses can’t read spreadsheets and we don’t know everything there is to know about nutrition, and sometimes it’s worth taking a shot, especially when it’s inexpensive and low risk.
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Yep! You have to get into the weeds to see where you are, and then look at the horse and let him be the final judge :yes:
Darker colors will need more cu/zn than lighter horses if you want to benefit all the body.
Copper and zinc (and iron but there’s lots of that, and manganese but there’s usually quite enough of that too) each have their own SOD component, which are parts of the overall immune system, so my (fairly educated) guess is that horses with a weaker immune system simply need MORE, in order to be as healthy as their naturally gifted neighbor.
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Is iron bad for the feet? Or is it just an imbalance to have too much iron and not enough Copper and Zinc?
the imbalance is worse than just high iron, all else equal.
There is a point where iron is an outright issue, but you need an iron ferritin test from Kansas State to see that
If it’s likely a big issue, test your water and add an RV filter to reduce the iron there. Otherwise balance cu and zn to the iron in the whole diet, no worst than 10:1:3-5, down to 4:1:3-5
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Yes, a full pad. I tried everything else. Everything. A full pad put an immediate stop. Not a single other abscess the entire time the pads were on. It was cheaper than all the supplements that never really worked and my horse didn’t have to stay in when it was wet. I have done that with two separate horses living in separate areas eating different things and it was a miracle. I used a leather pad with packing, per my farrier. It prevented bruises or anything from entering the sole.
Horses had no issues converting back to no pads when I no longer needed them.
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Metabolic issues, laminitis, uneven loading of the feet due to poor trim or lameness, rocky pastures, thin soles, diet.
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I had a TB who absessed a lot during the first year or two that I had him. I cut out his grain. The absesses stopped.
And, I have another horse who only ever absesses in one foot, the same foot, since he was 2, and he’s now 14. Same stable, same diet throughout his life. I think his absesses are related to something about that foot (vet agrees) but we’ve never really figured out what it is. Some years he gets one and done, other years it goes on and on for months. I wish I had an explanation.
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Keratoma in hoof can cause recurrent abscesses
Just chiming in to say that although I am NOT an expert in any way, shape, or form, I noticed BIG positive changes in my boy’s feet from two things:
The barn changed farriers. The new one seems to do a much better job with my horse’s feet. No more “Oh, he might be a little sore for a day after a trim and reset”. He’s fine immediately afterward. I always wondered why my horse might be a “little sore”. So did the BO. So she found a new farrier.
I put him on a senior feed. Less sugar and starches. I think this has made a difference.
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Ranchway AA Sr is 24.5% NSC
Nutrena Triumph Sr is 21% NSC
Triple Crown Sr is 11.7% NSC
Not all Sr feeds are created equal 
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I always seem to own at least one abscess prone horse.
In 2012, I started using a new trimmer. My one horse was recovering from an abscess, as usual, the first time the trimmer came out.
Trimmer goes, “maybe that won’t happen anymore now that I’m trimming your horses.”
I nodded agreeably, but was really rolling my eyes, wondering if I should just fire the guy on the spot for being so cocky and ignorant.
But who would have guessed, I went 5.5 years without a single abscess with that trimmer. It was incredible.
Then I had to go move to another state. Abscessing problems are worse than ever. Currently dealing with my second one this month. Nothing in my general husbandry has changed, just location and trimmers.
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True, true. He’s on TC. After all the praise on COTH for TC Sr., could I feed anything else? :winkgrin:
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@JB - How does the darker/lighter horse color play into cu/zn needs? I’m new to the nutrition nuances but just switched from Farriers Formula to California Trace and a white salt lick vs the red to have less added iron…my bugger is turning his nose up to the Cal Trace though 😑.
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Duh! :lol: It’s funny because you might be the first person I’ve ever seen/heard equate Sr feeds with low sugar. For some reason it always seems to be the opposite!
Pigment requires melanin requires c/zn, so melanin, and therefore cu/zn, increases as pigment does, so darker horses require more cn/zn for coat health.
What are you mixing the CT with?
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