Abscess (part 2)

Despite looking much happier about his hoof, Max still wasn't sound. I had poulticed it as directed (bran + epsom salts) but the little booger had run out of the bottom of his boot on Saturday. His paddock mate went out for a ride, and Max spent the entire time running up and down the fenceline.

I gave the hoof another epsom soak and re-bandaged with just a dry dressing (a.k.a. a disposable nappy, held on with vet wrap). This was enclosed in a new boot made from an old tyre tube, and secured with baling twine and some duct tape. You can't say we horsey girls don't have the Kiwi "number 8 wire" touch!


(Imagine shot here of said brilliant device here, as I forgot to take a photo)


I guess the running about showed he was feeling better, and they say lots of movement is good for sorting out hoof abscesses. And sure enough, he ran right out of his bootie again on Monday. He'd been put in a bigger paddock with two other geldings and they were having great fun!

I brought him in, cut away the remains of the bandage etc, and found that the abscess had made its way out at the heel as well! There were signs of nasty pus on the bandage and a bit of a shallow hole - actually more like the top few layers of skin had been rubbed away. This is now the end of my experience with abscesses, so I figured another soak wouldn't hurt. A quick consultation with knowledgeable friends led me to decide to leave it uncovered from then on. There was a bit of spongy give where the farrier had dug a hole, but after a little exploration with the hoof knife, I decided to leave it alone.

Once I had left and gone to the gym, he and one of the other younger horses started thundering up and down, playing silly buggers. M. got some of it on video on her phone and I think that was one little horse feeling much better!

(Fortunately for me, he doesn't seem able to organise himself into a decent buck even when loose, so not much to be scared of there!)