This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Hoof Abscesses, Bruises, and Gravels »
  Discussion on Can it be an abcess without heat?
Author Message
New Member:
Tldevine

Posted on Sunday, Oct 1, 2006 - 8:14 pm:

Has anyone had any experience with abcesses without any signs of heat in the hoof or leg? My mare has been very lame at the trot in her right front without any symptoms of heat or swelling anywhere in her leg. She is putting weight on the leg and is willing to walk and canter. Just previous to this lameness she had managed to bend both of her front shoes without actually pulling them off -so I am theorizing a possible abcess but I am confused. Any ideas?
Member:
Stevens

Posted on Sunday, Oct 1, 2006 - 8:35 pm:

A month or so ago, my warmblood gelding had no heat in his right hind, however, for about a week every day after his workout he'd hitch his foot up and take a couple of bad steps, then walk out fine. Was never truly lame until the end of the week, then looked like his stifle was broken.

I was able to get the vet out that afternoon. She agreed that it looked like his stifle and was getting ready to block it when she decided to put the hoof testers on him "just in case". Lo and behold, she spotted a very newly rupture at the top of his heel that was freshly oozing. It wasn't there when I groomed him 3 hours earlier. Two days later he was back to work.

That said, I had another horse that had intermittent lameness with no heat or swelling, but if I soaked it and treated it like an abscess, he would improve. Long story short; it apparently never was an abscess and was instead tendon and ligament damage inside his feet. His x-rays were clean, it took an MRI to detect the damage.

You may want to consider investing in some high fidelity diagnostics.

Good luck,

Chris
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Sunday, Oct 1, 2006 - 11:22 pm:

Funny, my 26 yr old mare got a bad gash last June. Left side of her rump, under her tail. Since it was so large and deep, we had to keep her stalled for 48 hours minimum. Hopefully that would keep the two layers of stitches in. She's had a sticky stifle for the last couple of years, so we figured that it wouldn't surprise us if she developed a stifle problem with the lay-up. After healing up fairly well for about a month, I saw the exact behaviour that Chris described and thought "stifle", also. The vet was coming to check the progress of the wound healing, and agreed. That was in August, and my farrier came out a couple of weeks ago, pointed to the back foot and said..."hey, she popped an abcess!" She's not shod on the rear, and the last time she was trimmed, she'd had a lot of trouble with her back feet. Although the farrier keeps her fairly sound, we don't ride her due to her stifle. As for picking out her feet, we just ease her back ones out behind her, toe on the ground, to avoid making her flex too much.

You know, we expected to see stifle trouble, so that's what we saw. Well, it's not the first time one of my horses has made me feel like a twit....and I just KNOW it won't be the last.
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