This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Routine Horse Care » Particular Situations & Procedure topics not covered by above »
  Discussion on Two lame Arabian mares
Author Message
New Member:
Dianes

Posted on Friday, Sep 2, 2005 - 10:44 pm:

Dear Dr. O,

I've had 7 Arabians for years and, knock on wood, I've NEVER had a lameness problem - well, once right after a trim, but I'm not counting that one. A few weeks ago one mare came up lame, so I called the vet. He thought maybe it was a hoof abcess. He poked a hole in the bottom of her hoof, didn't get a big return of pus like he thought he would, and recommended just keeping it bandaged, Bute, wait and see. It was nearly impossible to keep a bandage on her. I'm not experienced at that and it would be off within hours. However, she seemed to improve, so I was happy. Now she's limping again today and ANOTHER mare is also VERY lame. These horses have been kept in the same pastures for years. I keep them clean of hazards. Here's the two things that I'm wondering about. 1) I've been watering a LOT trying to get my pasture to thicken up. They have a steady buildup of mud packed in their feet nearly all the time. 2) The last batch of hay I bought had more alfalfa than usual, although they eat a grass/alfalfa mix all winter long. One thing I have noticed with the first mare than went lame: She stops limping after being in a totally dry pen for a few hours. Could this be caused by the moisture in the pastures? I just have a gut suspicion about that possiblity. I'm worried about founder, too, but could that happen with hay that they've done fine on for all these years? (It was a sudden switch, though, from the grass they've been getting this summer.) Any thoughts are appreciated. Thank you!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Sep 3, 2005 - 9:31 am:

Hello Diane,
and welcome back. Three days of rain here and I know I will see 2 abscesses the next week. For more on this and bandaging see, Equine Diseases » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Hoof Abscesses, Bruises, and Gravels.
DrO
New Member:
Dianes

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 7, 2005 - 2:00 pm:

More questions.

My vet was unable to see my second lame horse over the holiday weekend, but advised me to soak her hoof and apply a poultice pad he gave me with an EZ boot. I did that on Day 1, and by the next morning, she was walking just fine. So I did it again on Day 2, and she was still doing well. In the meantime, Mare #1 was also sound and had resolved her lameness. What I had done with her was to confine her in a dry paddock with Mare #2.

My observations of these two mares is that if I let either of them out to pasture to graze (always muddy somewhere out there), they come in lame with mud packed tight into their feet. I pick the mud out, put them in the dry paddock, and by morning, they're both fine. I can avoid giving them Bute with this routine.

So the holiday weekend has passed and I'm managing both mares in this manner. They simply are not lame on dry ground. So I'm wondering, is this a normal course if they have abscesses? Am I inevitably going to end up at the vet's getting holes punched in their feet and changing bandages for weeks, or am I on the right track with the approach I'm taking so far? Should I keep applying the poultice packs to the one mare? If so, how long should I leave her foot bandaged with a wet poultice in there? When I changed it the next day, it was pretty stinky. That can't be good. And if a wet pasture is a precursor to hoof abscesses, how come a wet packing is the treatment? Wouldn't you want their feet to be dry? Isn't a wet bandage an optimal environment for things like thrush or just plain old gra-doo to be growing?? And if one suspected an abscess, wouldn't you want to put them on antibiotics, like you do cats and dogs, and try to avert a major event that way? So many questions, I know, but I don't understand how these things go. Thanks so much for your help. Kind regards, Diane
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Sep 8, 2005 - 8:01 am:

No, once horses develop abscesses they tend to get progressively worse, not episodic like your history. I think it sounds like the the packed in dirt on sensitive soles that sounds like what is making your horses ouchy. Has the moisture made the soles soft so once pressure is put on them, they give creating a uncomfortable feeling for the horse?

The rest of your questions about abscesses are answered in detail in the article referenced above, but it sounds like the diagnosis and therefore the proper treatment, uncertain.
DrO
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Thursday, Sep 8, 2005 - 8:55 pm:

My paint horse's ability to move about is much improved by the simple act of me scraping his feet out each day.
New Member:
Dianes

Posted on Friday, Sep 9, 2005 - 12:01 pm:

Hi, Vicki,

No doubt clean feet are best, but that's not possible in pastures that are always moist in one spot or another. That's where they go to graze. I was just trying to figure out what had caused lameness in two of seven horses, suddenly, with no changes to their environment. Never having had a lameness problem before, it was bugging me to know why. They're both totally sound now, so I guess I'll never know. Sigh. I just think it helps to understand this stuff. Not always possible, I guess.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Sep 10, 2005 - 9:31 am:

I don't see a mystery. I think my explanation above is congruent with all the facts you lay out Diane. The reasons just these two is they have the most sensitive soles.
DrO
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Monday, Sep 12, 2005 - 12:49 pm:

What Dr. O says coincides with my experiences as well. The more sensitive soles can become sore to the point of lameness due to anything being packed into or stuck on them. I understand your questioning the foot soaking you were doing, and also wonder if this is prescribed more often than it should be. As time goes by it would not surprise me if there is a lot less soaking recommended in the future, since moisture seems to be a number one enemy of healthy equine feet. Cooling of the legs and feet can be accomplished in ways that do not involve standing the hoof in water, and abscesses can be dealt with by paring them out if you can find someone who is good at it and doesn't pare out the whole foot in the process. A foot and leg specialist (now deceased, unfortunately) told me on one of my last consultations with him that he rarely recommended soaking any longer, including in laminitis cases. His feeling was that soaking may actually encourage rotation or coffin bone sinking. I've done loads of soaking in the past for suspected laminitis and abscesses and compared to when I iced legs for laminitis or had the abscess pared out, I cannot feel the soaking time was very helpful with regard to the outcome.
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC