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  Discussion on Searching (reaching?) for a Cause?
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Posted on Saturday, Aug 11, 2001 - 12:24 pm:

I was having my gelding shod a couple days ago. He started to act up a little but nothing out of the ordinary. My farrier was in the process of nailing on a hot shoe when the horse really started to rear and get wild. We got the horse settled down but everytime the farrier would start to work on that hoof the horse would go ballistic. We finally decided to call it quits after several bouts of rearing and agressive behavior. After several tries the farrier was able to remove the new shoe from the bad hoof. Another farrier was present so the two of them started to discuss what they thought the problem was. They, both young part-time farriers, quickly deduced that he was suffering from navicular and that I need to get the hoof x-rayed soon.

I beg to differ. While my horse tends to be a little hot, he never causes this much commotion around the farrier. Until the new shoe was being nailed on he had never been lame in the 16 months I've owned him. Do they have a legitimate diagnosis or are they trying to pin the blame on something other than a hot nail? The horse is gettting better gradually but I'm wondering if I should be soaking in Epsom salts or treating him in some other way.

I'm new to where I live now and am very dissatisfied with the farriers I've tried. Perhaps I was spoiled by the farrier I had in Bossier City, LA, (I hope she doesn't mind) Davida Grayson. When she was working with my horses I never had a problem. Now I suddenly am having problems with farriers who don't seem to know what they're doing. I'm frustrated!

Posted on Saturday, Aug 11, 2001 - 1:23 pm:

Hi, Tom,

Do you usually hot shoe or cold shoe? Did the farrier get any other shoes on the horse with no problems? Did the farrier use a hoof tester on the foot to diagnose the area of lameness? You said the horse is gradually getting better. Do you mean that he was lame (before or after the farrier's visit) but now the lameness is disappearing? Do you mean that he wouldn't let you handle the foot after the escapades with the farrier, but now he is letting you handle the foot?
Holly

Posted on Saturday, Aug 11, 2001 - 5:52 pm:

Holly,

This was his first time with a hot shoe since I've owned him. This was the first shoe the farrier was putting on him. He didn't really cause a fuss until the nails started going in.

Yes, the farrier used a hoof tester. He tested fine except when checked from the inside of the frog to the outside of the heal.

After I wrote my initial post I went to soak his foot in Epsom salt. He has gotten worse and now doesn't even want to put his foot in the rubber pan I use for soaking. As I said previously, he tends to get hot so this attempt was met with a pretty bad attitude.

He was and has been fine up until the farrier. I've been riding him regularly with no problems. In fact, I had to walk him about a half mile from the pasture to the barn where the farrier was. He showed no sign of lameness during that walk.

I went to a vet this afternoon and got a medicine boot to try for soaking and some bute to ease the pain and anything associated with it. The vet said that if it persists for a week I need to take him in. He also said an absess may have formed.

As for handling the foot, he'll let me pick it up, push on the sole, frog, and basically everywhere else without any resistance or care.

Thanks for the concern. I hope this helps you understand how the condition has developed.

TP

Posted on Saturday, Aug 11, 2001 - 8:49 pm:

Hi, again, Tom,
Looks like you have done everything you can. Usually, the first nail that goes in is not a heel nail, so it is odd that he is showing tenderness at the heel.

When I test for abcesses I hook the loop of a hoof pick on my pointer finger so it can swing freely, then I let the back of the pick part swing down and hit the sole of the foot in different areas. If I get a slight jerk from the horse in any one area, I figure there may be an abcess (if the horse has been showing any sudden lameness with no associated swelling or leg trauma). I'm usually correct on the abcess diagnosis and am able to dig it out and drain it and treat it.

If the horse was fine on the toe shoe nails but only showed a reaction when the heel nail was going in, I would assume that the farrier had pricked the horse or that there was an abcess in the heel, but the horse would probably have been showing some lameness beforehand if his reaction to the banging was so severe. Also, if the nail pricked the horse, there probably would have been some blood.

I don't know if a hot shoe can ever cause blistering, but maybe it can. I have used both hot and cold shoeing with no problems, so I don't know if a hot shoe can ever burn a foot enough to hurt it.

I hope your horse will recover soon. If there WAS an abcess forming and the banging aggravated it enough to cause the excessive pain your horse is feeling (I don't know how it would cause lameness so suddenly, though) watch for any drainage from the coronary band at the heel. It may only be the slightest bit of dampness, but you should see a tiny slice at the hairline if the abcess drains from the top.
Holly

Posted on Sunday, Aug 12, 2001 - 1:10 am:

My farrier always hot shoes, and I've never had a problem. I don't think it was the "hot" shoe, but I certainly don't think it was navicular either. Sounds more like an abscess perhaps. Also, DJ has been pricked a couple of times in his life, and the lameness didn't show up for a day or so and he certainly didn't react at the time. Of course, maybe a super bad nail might be different, but it still seems unlikely to me.

On the matter of soaking boots, I have had GREAT success with the Davis Boot. You can find it in many horse catalogs. I wouldn't be without mine.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

Suzy

Posted on Sunday, Aug 12, 2001 - 10:23 am:

I'm starting to think along the lines of an abscess. The one thing that leads me away from thinking it was a hot nail is that there was no blood.

I've started soaking his foot 3x per day with a potion of Epsom salt and iodine. The boot works great! He seemed a little better this morning so I'll keep treating him for a couple more days. If he doesn't get better by then I think I'll have the vet look at him.

Posted on Monday, Aug 13, 2001 - 10:46 am:

Thomas,
There is often no blood with a nail that went into the quick, the sole seals around the hole as the nail is removed. At the first signs of worsening have the vet out to pare out the infected area. Navicular is not likely from what you have described: acute onset of lameness in one limb following the shoeing attempt.
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 15, 2001 - 8:28 pm:

OK. I took him to the vet. After a thorough examination it was determined he has bruised his sole. First of all, his hoof was not cupped because he was trimmed too short. Then when he reared up while pitching a fit for the farrier, he must have come down on a rock.

The vet said he needs to rest his hoof for six to eight weeks. He is wearing a boot (Davis does work great, Suzy) and I am giving him bute twice daily. Is there anything else I can do to help with the healing?

Thanks for all your help. TP

Posted on Thursday, Aug 16, 2001 - 6:34 am:

Let us know how it plays out.
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Aug 18, 2001 - 10:37 pm:

Well, things are going down hill. Or perhaps they're looking up, depending on how you look at it. I've had my gelding in a "sick pen" for the past week and he seems to be getting lamer. My vet had told me to watch for puss coming out around the coronary band as this indicates an abscess. Sure enough, this afternoon I found drainage around the inside side of his coronary band.

My plan of attack since it is Saturday night is to soak his hoof 3x daily in Epsom salt/bentadine solution until Monday when I can get him to the vet.

I'm relieved that I think I've found the problem. On the other hand how concerned should I be about the abscess considering my plan of attack?

TP

Posted on Sunday, Aug 19, 2001 - 7:59 am:

For information on treating abscesses and gravels see : Equine Diseases: Lameness: Foot and Sole Problems: Hoof Abscesses, Bruises, and Gravels.
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 27, 2001 - 10:55 pm:

For anyone who is checking this post: sorry I've been away for so long. I'm in the USAF and have been just a little on the busy side since you-know-when.

Roo-Boy is doing fine. I finally rode him for the first time after the hoof problems about six weeks ago. He's as ornery as ever and wants to run, run, run. In other words, he's doing great! I'm going to work him in the indoor arena over the winter. The soft footing should make us both feel better until Spring.

Thanks for all the help. Hopefully someday I can return the favor.

God bless.
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