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 » Coffin Bone Fracture »
  Discussion on Recurring Heel Bulb Abscesses
Author Message
New Member:
Gbipot

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 31, 2006 - 10:50 pm:

Hi. I really need some guidance here. I just got a call from the barn that my 4-year-old standardbred mare, Mattie, has yet another heel bulb abscess. Her third in 5-6 weeks. The first one was the worst with major swelling and total lameness. The second one was less severe but did involve some heat, swelling, and lameness. In both cases the abscess broke through the heel bulb on its own but the vet came out anyway to take a look and administer some antibiotics.

• In both instances I soaked her feet to draw out what remained of the abscess and eventually she came around and was back to normal.

• The abscesses have developed in both her rear heels (left and right) but not her fronts.

• They were short-lived and broke through the bulb on their own.

• At this time she can bear weight but not pivot. A little bit of heat and puffiness but no major swelling yet.

• After more than a year of going barefoot she was just shod on all 4 feet a week and a half ago in an effort to avoid more heel abscesses.

• I have not ridden her much since she was shod. I did ride her up and down the road this past Sunday just to see how she moved with her new shoes on but we didn't go any faster than a trot and we didn't tread over any rocks of any size that I noticed.

• The barn says they've never seen or heard her kick her stall or fencing.

• The paddock where she is turned out is very muddy at this time of year and has been for some weeks.

I am totally stumped. I would really really appreciate any flicker of light you can shed on our problem. Do you have any idea why my mare is getting these heel bulb abscesses?

Thanks in advance for your time.

GB Irmiger
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 - 9:42 am:

Welcome Gretchen,
Without examining your horse we really cannot tell you why your horse is developing heel abscesses. We have an article on foot abscesses (Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Hoof Abscesses, Bruises, and Gravels) that explains how they occur and you can compare this with your horses appearance but I am not sure we are talking about a gravel here: a solar abscess that breaks out at the heel. What does your veterinarian say about the cause?

No matter what the cause that muddy paddock certainly contributes to infections of the lower leg. Lastly if you could post a good photo of the appearance of the sole and the heels we might see something important.
DrO
New Member:
Gbipot

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 - 10:13 am:

I'll take a photo this weekend, thanks.

For the last 2 abscesses our vet just came out, inspected her feet, tested them for tenderness, chated for a bit, administered some antibiotics and then left. He's a very nice man but he has no idea and he simply tosses out suggestions such as, "Maybe she kicked something." and that's it. But as I mentioned previously, there is no evidence to suggest that she's kicked anything--her stall, fencing, etc--and all of these abscesses have occurred in a very short time span (the past 5 to 6 weeks). Anyway, I'll send photos this weekend. Thanks for your time. gbipot
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Nov 2, 2006 - 6:44 am:

Perhaps he suggests causes, which he cannot know for sure, but is seeing clear evidence of external trauma? Though no one could know what caused the trauma, I would think any veterinarian would be able to make a good stab at the general disease process. From the information we have so far I cannot decide if these are: gravels (described in the article referenced above), traumatic injuries, or some other disease process.
DrO
New Member:
Gbipot

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - 11:05 pm:

Hi again. I posted some photos of Mattie's feet on my .Mac homepage. If you click on "Slide Show" the images are displayed larger.

https://homepage.mac.com/gbipot/PhotoAlbum38.html

Mattie was limping again this past Saturday (5th week in a row) so in a fit of frustration I loaded her into the trailer and DrOve her to a new vet office and had x-rays taken. I'll post those as soon as I can find a transparency scanner to scan them and submit them to you digitally. This new vet noticed straight away that Mattie's heels are practically resting right on the ground which I'm assuming means everytime she's ridden her heels are being traumatized. Am I right? He suggested I have a farrier apply wedges to raise the heels up off the ground but that seems like only a short-term solution. If this vet is correct and her heels are resting on the ground is this a conformation problem that I'm going to have to deal with for the rest of Mattie's life or will her feet readjust at some point?

Thanks in advance for your time.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 15, 2006 - 6:57 am:

I do see where they are intentionally setting the shoes back at the toe, which is OK for getting a bit more upright heel growth as your heels are slightly underrun. But in the same vein I do think there could be more heel support from the shoes, ie: a bigger shoe that sticks a little further back. I don't think the heels are too close to the ground. Neither do I think the feet are out of ap balance and heel wedges will throw these feet out of balance, for more see Horse Care » Hoof Care, Trimming, & Shoeing » Care of the Hoof: an Overview. None of the above is likely related to the abscesses however.

That looks like a blown out gravel, which if true, means the abscesses are starting deep at the sole in the rear of the foot and rising to the surface. Recurrent solar abscesses often means the initial focus of infection is not being addressed.
DrO
New Member:
Gbipot

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 15, 2006 - 7:12 pm:

Here's more history on this case:

• 4-year-old standardbred mare, Matttie, has been ridden on and off paved roads for 2 years without any problems

• Went barefoot from November 2005 to October 2006

• Came up lame (rear left) in September 2006 after a ride in the woods. Nasty abscess presented with LOTS of swelling and eventually burst through her heel just before vet showed up. Vet prescribed antibiotics and soaking.

• A couple of weeks later, she became lame in the other foot (rear right) although not as severe as the left it did cause her to limp for a couple of days. Some swelling but not as much as the first. This time the abscess came out of a small hole in her heel as opposed to the gash left behind from the first, more severe abscess in her left foot.

• Mattie healed up and I rode her for an hour then 48 hours later she was lame again. After this became a pattern (ride/lameness) we called the farrier out to take a look. He suggested we put shoes back on her. He chose shoes one size too large so there would be some extension out the backs. He shod the fronts first and then the backs a week later in order to give her time to readjust to living with shoes again.

• A week later she came up lame again--not super lame, just carefully stepping and avoided pivoting on her hind feet. Rested her Saturday but rode on grass for an hour on Sunday. This past week she was the same--lame (careful stepping and avoiding the pivot).

• In frustration I loaded her in my trailer and DrOve her to the clinic for x-rays. Vet's opinion is that her heels are underslung and are taking a beating and that she needs wedges.

My suspicion is that maybe the farrier trimmed her incorrectly at some point in the past few months and started a domino effect. But I don't pretend to know anything for certain. What I do know for certain is that in the 2 years I've had Mattie she went a year with shoes on and a year with shoes off and never had a problem until this past September when she developed that first abscess in her left hind heel. I've posted her x-rays here
https://homepage.mac.com/gbipot/PhotoAlbum39.html
Unfortunately the original abscess site isn't quite visible on the scan but it can be seen on the x-ray itself. Click on Slide Show for larger view of the images. Thanks again for your time. gbipot
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Nov 16, 2006 - 6:29 am:

I don't know about the cause gbipot. Most often abscesses are caused by penetrating objects or more commonly leaving tiny focal areas of thrush in the sole or white line. These areas eating their way down to sensitive tissue over several weeks to months. I saw 2 exactly like that in the past 3 weeks.

When you read our instructions on treating abscesses and compare it to what you are doing you should understand what the most likely cause for your recurrent episodes: the focus of the abscess is not being removed or new areas of defective horn are formed as the abscess burrows its way through the horn that then abscess in the future. It is a mistake in my opinion to allow a abscess to gravel out, they should be drained promptly with the defective horn leading to them removed.
DrO
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