Over the stable door

Greetings Fellow Equines and Horse Owners!

Well! Don’t some things come back to bite you! You may remember I have mentioned previously how important it is to daily check your horse, especially the feet – even when he is not going to be ridden.

My owners generally stick to this routine pretty well, however some weeks ago (just after the last Chatter) I had a day off and my feet weren’t checked. Next day I was lame in the front (showing a nod when the sound foot was touching the ground). My dad checked all my feet and found a stone lodged tightly in between the cleft and the frog. The stone was promptly removed. My mum was worried that any bruising from the stone could trigger an abscess. Sure enough, the lameness didn’t go away and the guess was correct.

With an abscess, there is generally quite local heat, not the whole hoof. This proved to be the case but the abscess couldn’t be found. Meanwhile yours truly was extremely unhappy and sore. My owners had given me an anti inflammatory as well as an Epsom salts soak. These treatments don’t always work and the soaking tends to soften the hoof too much, so needs to be used sparingly. Also the anti inflammatory can alleviate the abscess without actually getting rid of it, which is what happened with me. My owners then called in the vet who gave me a thorough check.

My weight is good and I don’t have a hard crest and have been in regular work, so founder was ruled out. As the vet was checking my feet, there was a sudden stink and some pus erupted from alongside the white line – yay! However, because the abscess had been some time brewing she said it had under run the hoof and would therefore probably not clear up immediately. And it hasn’t!

Hoof abscess

My hoof was poulticed for the next few days, but I still am not completely even. Yesterday my mum gave me a 10 second lunge on some flat grass and I was looking pretty good, but today she lunged me on some sand and I wasn’t very happy (at least not my usual amenable self). Hopefully by the next newsletter I will be back on track! Just that one day when my feet weren’t checked and my owners are usually so particular about my care. The stone may have been there for 24 hours or just a couple, but it was enough to cause some damage.

In closing, there has been some lovely riding weather, quite uncharacteristic for July. Hopefully there is some rain to come, some dams are empty even now.

Happy munching and safe riding, Hamish