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Post by marianne on Sept 12, 2006 12:57:10 GMT 1
Hi, if my horse has a abscess on his foot, am I better off leaving him to recover all by himself in the stable or do I turn him out in a single hoof boot? (bearing in mind walking around outside can only be beneficial)
Has anyone used a hoofboot in this situation?
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Post by fin on Sept 12, 2006 13:11:43 GMT 1
Yes, I did--but it's probably better to use two hoofboots so the horse walks evenly (ie on both fronts  ). We kept the poultice on under the boot, but you could use a lighter dressing to keep the wound clean if the abcess has already broken and mostly drained. Walking's good because it encourages all that skanky gunge to ooze out.....lovely  Unfortunately my ned got both boots off and totally wrecked them, but hopefully yours is better behaved!  |
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Post by marianne on Sept 12, 2006 13:18:35 GMT 1
ned currently still shod so got one shoe left on and other foot draining nicely. He's stuck in the stable and I'd love to put him out in a small paddock just so he gets a bit of exercise - as you say to help the abscess drain - but am under pain of death from the farrier if I do so :-) Was thinking of the hoof boot with a dressing inside - so will probably try that tomorrow.
Thanks Finn
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Post by Amanda (S Yorks) on Sept 13, 2006 9:38:13 GMT 1
You can use one hoof boot just on the affected leg, you don't have the same problem of keeping the horse even if the other hoof is shod.
I use tractor inner tubes to keep dressings/poultices clean when necessary, they're cheaper to replace if they get lost though I've never had one come off even during 12 hour turnout in a muddy field.
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Post by Catrin on Sept 14, 2006 12:44:53 GMT 1
Barefoot walking on hard ground is best. Never dig out the abcess. Treat the pain until the abcess comes out. After that, be careful with dressings and hoof boots as infection can get in.
You are trying to get the abcess to drain itself - interfering artificially with that can lead to reoccurence as infection can be introduced.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2006 16:37:37 GMT 1
I'm afraid I'd disregard the farrier on this. I agree with Finn and Catrin that walking helps, in fact that has always been the advice from my vet. I have always used the good old duct tape and plenty of it, just wrapping around the poultice and quite well up the leg (with vetwrap underneath). I've had a bit of practice in this, unfortunately. If you don't put enough tape on, they can wear through but otherwise they stay on and keep the mud out.
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Post by june on Sept 15, 2006 20:12:49 GMT 1
Disposable nappy, lots of duct tape and a couple of layers of old feed bags plus more duct tape has always done the trick for us. Agree that walking around helps them drain. Had more than our fair share of them this year for some reason!
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Post by hartleyhare on Sept 17, 2006 18:06:28 GMT 1
Thankfully I haven't had any probs for a while-since changing farrier in fact.Fingers crossed-But when I did have probs-I always turned out as normal-with animalintex, , bandage, vetrap , gamgee and 3 layers of plastic feed bag corners with a lot of silver duct tape.My horse never got it off-having said that I did put loads on and it takes forever!! I found that I could reuse the plastic feedbag bit as it formed a sort of boot.
Good Luck
Pam
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). We kept the poultice on under the boot, but you could use a lighter dressing to keep the wound clean if the abcess has already broken and mostly drained. Walking's good because it encourages all that skanky gunge to ooze out.....lovely 
