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which_chickMostly Bird is as healthy as, well, you know. But sometimes, he is not. He blew a hoof abscess on Friday last (having not at all been lame prior to, so this came out of nowhere) and spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday on Injured Reserve.
Bird's hoof abscess was minor one. In my experience, minor sole abscesses (what he had) are visible as small marks, cracks, or wetness on the bottom of the foot. Get a hoof knife and shave a little off at the suspect area, press down with fingers. If there's juice... that's the spot. (If you have any doubts about your ability to shave "a little" off a suspect portion of sole, please contact a farrier or vet.) Upon discovery of abscess, I generally put about 3" of slightly warm epsom salts water into the bottom of a bucket and set the horse foot down in the bucket and soak it for ten minutes and that's that. Repeat daily soak until hoof abscess is no longer draining (usually a couple of days), then boot up horse and see if he's sound enough on grass to do work.
Note that these are MINOR hoof abscesses on a horse that is on full pasture turnout. If horse was three-legged lame, I would call a vet. This is a "only limps on rocks, visible crack or rupture in sole with gross-smelling juice, rest of leg is fine" kind of thing.
So, that's what I did. Here's how it went...
Day 1: Fill bucket with 3" of epsom salts water in a body-temperature sort of way. I put my hand in the bucket and swish the epsom salts around. The water is not hot on my hand. Put horse foot in bucket. Horse stood quietly in-hand (not tied) for five minutes and then tipped the bucket, freaked out as the 3" of water went everywhere, bucket rolled around, yadda yadda.
I refilled bucket (3" of water, again) and we tried again. Tipped bucket over, maybe intentionally, freaked out. I yelled at him to not be stupid.
And again. Tipped bucket over, intentionally. Did not freak out. I yelled at him to not be stupid.
Again. Tipped bucket over, faster, with zero freak out. I yelled at him not to be stupid and picked up the small, rounded-edge plastic bucket and threw it at his shoulder. I have good aim. He was not amused.
And we tried again. Big sigh, dropped head, ears out to side in his very best Dejected Gelding look. Foot stayed in bucket. Bucket stayed upright. Soaking happened without incident. Zero freakout, zero foot movement, zero stupid.
Is it good to throw the bucket at your horse's shoulder? No. That is not good. But... bucket had no sharp edges, was small and lightweight plastic. Shoulder of horse is large, reasonably flat area that is not likely to suffer much damage from having a bucket lobbed at it. Also, foot got soaked.
Day 2: filled bucket with epsom salts water. Put foot in bucket. Horse tipped bucket over nearly instantly. I yelled at horse.
Again. Horse stood with foot in bucket for duration of soaking.
Day 3: Horse stood with foot in bucket for duration of soaking, did not even attempt bucket-tipping.
Day 4: No drainage visible from foot, so no soaking.
Day 5: Put boots on, horse was sound on grass. Rode horse. We'll try a couple of more days of boots and then it'll be a check of how regular barefoot works.
In the meantime, the hay has been cut and baled. Yay!! Initial reports from the hay making crowd are that the hay is way thicker this year than it's been in previous years, likely due to the sewage sludge project. It's enough thicker that it's not drying well when cut, so we may need a better hay tedder to fluff it about prior to raking. The hay making crowd is researching this. Hopefully our yield will be up, as well.
Bird's hoof abscess was minor one. In my experience, minor sole abscesses (what he had) are visible as small marks, cracks, or wetness on the bottom of the foot. Get a hoof knife and shave a little off at the suspect area, press down with fingers. If there's juice... that's the spot. (If you have any doubts about your ability to shave "a little" off a suspect portion of sole, please contact a farrier or vet.) Upon discovery of abscess, I generally put about 3" of slightly warm epsom salts water into the bottom of a bucket and set the horse foot down in the bucket and soak it for ten minutes and that's that. Repeat daily soak until hoof abscess is no longer draining (usually a couple of days), then boot up horse and see if he's sound enough on grass to do work.
Note that these are MINOR hoof abscesses on a horse that is on full pasture turnout. If horse was three-legged lame, I would call a vet. This is a "only limps on rocks, visible crack or rupture in sole with gross-smelling juice, rest of leg is fine" kind of thing.
So, that's what I did. Here's how it went...
Day 1: Fill bucket with 3" of epsom salts water in a body-temperature sort of way. I put my hand in the bucket and swish the epsom salts around. The water is not hot on my hand. Put horse foot in bucket. Horse stood quietly in-hand (not tied) for five minutes and then tipped the bucket, freaked out as the 3" of water went everywhere, bucket rolled around, yadda yadda.
I refilled bucket (3" of water, again) and we tried again. Tipped bucket over, maybe intentionally, freaked out. I yelled at him to not be stupid.
And again. Tipped bucket over, intentionally. Did not freak out. I yelled at him to not be stupid.
Again. Tipped bucket over, faster, with zero freak out. I yelled at him not to be stupid and picked up the small, rounded-edge plastic bucket and threw it at his shoulder. I have good aim. He was not amused.
And we tried again. Big sigh, dropped head, ears out to side in his very best Dejected Gelding look. Foot stayed in bucket. Bucket stayed upright. Soaking happened without incident. Zero freakout, zero foot movement, zero stupid.
Is it good to throw the bucket at your horse's shoulder? No. That is not good. But... bucket had no sharp edges, was small and lightweight plastic. Shoulder of horse is large, reasonably flat area that is not likely to suffer much damage from having a bucket lobbed at it. Also, foot got soaked.
Day 2: filled bucket with epsom salts water. Put foot in bucket. Horse tipped bucket over nearly instantly. I yelled at horse.
Again. Horse stood with foot in bucket for duration of soaking.
Day 3: Horse stood with foot in bucket for duration of soaking, did not even attempt bucket-tipping.
Day 4: No drainage visible from foot, so no soaking.
Day 5: Put boots on, horse was sound on grass. Rode horse. We'll try a couple of more days of boots and then it'll be a check of how regular barefoot works.
In the meantime, the hay has been cut and baled. Yay!! Initial reports from the hay making crowd are that the hay is way thicker this year than it's been in previous years, likely due to the sewage sludge project. It's enough thicker that it's not drying well when cut, so we may need a better hay tedder to fluff it about prior to raking. The hay making crowd is researching this. Hopefully our yield will be up, as well.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-28 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-29 01:59 am (UTC)* Environmental conditions (cycling between wet and dry) In very dry conditions the hoof dries out and can shrink slightly like a dried-out sponge. This can result in tiny hoof cracks and fissures in the sole-wall junction that can then soften and fill with muck when the weather turns wet, allowing opportunistic bacteria to invade the hoof and cause an abscess. (Possible. We've certainly had off-and-on weather this summer.)
* Penetrating wounds can occur as a result of a horse stepping on a sharp object such as a nail, rock, or broken glass. “These may cause a perforation of the sole that packs up or seals over, and an abscess results two to four days later as a result of contamination,” says Bruce Lyle, DVM, of the Aubrey Equine Clinic in Aubrey, Texas. (Probably not, but I can't be certain. I didn't see any evidence of a wound, though.)
* “Close” nails in a recently shod foot Raul Bras, DVM, CJF, of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, in Lexington, Kentucky, explains that a horseshoe nail placed too close to or into the foot’s sensitive inner structures can introduce bacteria that cause an abscess. Even if the nail is removed right away and didn’t introduce bacteria, it created a pathway into the hoof that can let in bacteria and result in an abscess later. (Probably not this. Bird doesn't generally wear shoes.)
* Ground conditions/bruising Muddy or rocky ground can soften feet and/or cause bruises. “Some nonpenetrated bruises may abscess if bacteria are introduced through a small external insult or from circulating bacteria in the bloodstream, because the area of hemorrhage provides a great medium for bacterial reproduction,” Lyle says. (This one is possible. He is ridden on outdoor non-manufactured-footing.)
* Hot-fitting a shoe on a very thin sole Lyle says if the sole is very thin and a hot shoe is seated on it, thermal injury to the underlying sensitive tissues can sometimes cause a sterile abscess (not caused by infection). Applying exothermic (heat-producing) hoof repair materials over raw or partly healed areas can do the same thing. (Nope, no shoes to cause this.)
* Poor hoof balance/conformation For example, hoof wall flares can put additional bending stress on the sole-wall junction and cause cracks that can become contaminated. Also, Lyle says leaving the bars of the foot too long (or leaving any part of the foot longer so it gets more of a beating) can result in localized bruising and abscesses. (He's seen every 8 weeks by a farrier and has fairly decent feet as a general rule. Not a bad-footed breed.)
* Management factors Dirty stalls tend to be wet and contain lots of bacteria that can invade the foot. “Wet conditions are the usual culprit in our area, especially when preceded by dry conditions,” says Lyle. (Horse lives outside 24/7 so probably not this.)
Anyway, he's all better and we're back to regularly scheduled work (late in the evenings, because of the heat.)
no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 10:18 pm (UTC)