Help on foot bruise

[Sandee]

Yesterday the farrier was here and when I brought the horses in last night I noticed my stallion favoring one hind foot. I was ready to blame the farrier for trimming too close etc.

Today I went to soak his foot and realized that he is developing a bruise spot on the foot below the cornet about 1/2 to 3/4" of an inch on the side of his hoof wall. So the good news is it probably wasn't the farrier but the bad news is he's now hating to put weight on that foot. I was planning on driving him next week at Nationals. Any suggestions or ideas as to what I should do other than just "wait and see"?

 

[frostedpineminis]

not sure what to do, sometimes it sucks these little guys arent shoed. Maybe can try soaking the foot, maybe use epsom salts, cant hurt but maybe someone else has better suggestions.

 

[Minimor]

Personally I would look to the bottom of the hoof for the source of lameness. I've never had a horse sore from the red bruising that you see on the outside of the hoof. That's not to say, of course, that your guy couldn't have given himself a real hard whack on something and is sore because of that--but that would not be my first suspicion.

I would check out his leg as well--he could have easily stepped wrong & twisted his leg somehow somewhere--does he have any heat, swelling or tenderness anywhere in the leg?

 

[Sandee]

Personally I would look to the bottom of the hoof for the source of lameness. I've never had a horse sore from the red bruising that you see on the outside of the hoof. That's not to say, of course, that your guy couldn't have given himself a real hard whack on something and is sore because of that--but that would not be my first suspicion.

I would check out his leg as well--he could have easily stepped wrong & twisted his leg somehow somewhere--does he have any heat, swelling or tenderness anywhere in the leg?

No heat, no swelling and when I do get him to stand on all four no sign of hip or anything "out" of place --he's level.

I thought perhaps he could have gotten the foot caught in the fence or somewhere and got stuck for awhile. He was limping but then tonight he nearly refused to move to come into the barn. I had to pull him inside. After I soaked it and put him in his stall, he seems a little better.

Hope for the best in the morning.

 

[Ashley]

He could have a abcess.

 

[squeaky]

Sounds like it could be an abscess. I would keep soaking it in warm water with Epsom salts for 30 minutes each day. Certainly won't hurt him even if it's not an abscess. My mare gets bruises like that all the time, and never gets sore. Sometimes it's from being driven on hard ground or cement. Other times it could be from bumping her hoof on a rock out in the pasture.

Also, I would do a pressure test on the frog and bottom of the hoof with my hand as well to see if maybe there is something causing the soreness down there. I usually just push real hard on the tip of the frog, and the bars. Sort of like when the vet does the hoof testers.

Hope he gets better in time for Nationals!

Good luck!

Amanda