Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

[mountaingal]

Nanook, how serious is hoof rot? One of my dawta's favourite school horses, Potsi, stepped on a nail over two weeks ago. On Saturday we noticed he was still lame, and the stable girl said he developed a secondary problem from a "diaper" (?) that was damp - his hoof started to breakup. So it'll be another month they figure before he can be ridden.

he looks like he's in so much pain, and the area above his hoof is noticeably swollen.

should we believe the school? will he recover?

i only ask because when we first started there, my dawta got attached to a horse named Lady who apparently was quite asthmatic and couldn't be ridden very mcuh. One day, we noticed she was gone, and they told us she was sent to be a companion horse to another horse. I always felt that was a white lie because they didn't want my dawta to get upset if they said she was sent to the factory.

[Stormmey]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

MG, there'a an old saying among horse people <span style="font-weight: bold">no foot</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold">no horse</span>. A horse entire weight, often more than 1000 lbs is supported by four relatively small feet. Without healthy feet, a horse is in trouble.

I suspect that this horse was not properly shoed/padded or left the same shoe in place too long. Are they sure the horse stepped on a nail as Hoof Rot is highly contagious wondering if the horse got it from somewhere else other than stepping on a nail.

MG sad to say hoof rot can be deadly if not dealt with quickly ...The horse is unlikely to be lame unless the rot has invaded the <span style="font-weight: bold">sensitive inner tissues</span>Due to the horse's hoof construction if it invades the tissue lawd. So wait dem no call in the Vet from dem sey the Horse step pon the nail.

I am thinking here from when the horse tep pon the nail/or them notice sey it a limp dem nevva call the Vet. I have a horse even though it is stabled and no longer home, but if anything ever happen to midnight lawd

Now my granpere just come on here and said he never heard of hoof rot being caused by stepping on nail. He says they have stable hoof rot, or if they stand in water too long and he also mentioned thrush hoof rot.

Anyway I do hope the horse will be okay...me is a Horse lover.

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

Hoof rot is not caused by stepping on a nail. Stepping on a nail will result in a hoof abscess if not treated properly.

It is something that requires a professional to cure, for the hoof needs to have the abscess drained, <span style="font-weight: bold">and kept cleaned, dry, </span> and bandaged. It's a good use of the maxi pads for they are absorbent to wick away the pus. During this time the horse should not be ridden until the abscess is cleared and the hoof is grown back where the hole in the bottom is.

how to soak and bandage a foot

Now, if the horse truly has hoof rot, this is pretty much caused by keeping a horse in dirty wet conditions...
<span style="font-weight: bold">
Thrush and Canker

Thrush, the more common of the two, is an infection of the frog. Canker (hoof rot) is an infection of the whole foot. You’ll recognize both from a foul odour and discharge from the disintegrating frog. Both are caused by keeping a horse in wet, dirty conditions.

If you find that your horse is just starting a thrush infection, you can treat it with brush-on medications available in tack stores. For more advanced cases, consult your veterinarian or farrier. </span>

source &amp; more info

When my friend Roy was getting Bucko ready to deliver to me after I bought him, he called with the news of a delay because as he was trimming Bucko's feet he found an abscess. I had a few week delay waiting for him because of this but Roy kept it immaculate and changed the dressing religiously. Once it cleared I rode that first summer with pads on Bucko's shoes to protect his tender soles.

It seems as though someone dropped the ball on this one if the foot is indeed infected from a puncture.

Are the horses kept in clean confines? I hope it clears up soon for all of your sakes!

Now, on the horse with the coughing, I would be suspect of bad hay. I have never heard of a horse getting heaves from any reason other than dusty or moldy hay, sorry to say...

One cause I have seen is when people feed those BIG round bales you see in some pastures. Those round bales are fine for cows but I would <span style="font-weight: bold">NEVER</span> feed one to a horse. Val sold her prized game horse to her sister a bunch of years ago and the horse was never able to run again after the sister fed Little Joe round bales of hay and he got heaves.

Anyway, the people may very well have sent the horse with breathing troubles to be a companion to another horse. I was looking for a companion for Bucko after his mare passed away but it turned out he liked it just fine on his own since we had such a bond so I didn't get him another companion.

S<span style="font-style: italic">cientists don't have a definite answer about the cause, but they do know that heaves has been affecting horses over many hundreds of years. Most evidence points to it being some kind of allergic response to mould and dust. Dusty hay is usually considered the biggest culprit - horse owners established this link more than 400 years ago.

It is a bigger problem in countries where horses spend a lot more time in stables, particularly those that are poorly ventilated and dusty.

Being linked to allergies, there is likely to be a hereditary element to the disease. Ponies seem more affected but it has been suggested this may relate to them being good &quot;doers&quot; who are sometimes feed poorer quality hay to help keep weight off them.

Heaves may also be triggered by a lung infection, but this, as well as other possible factors, is still the subject of research.

The good news is that horses will generally improve once the cause of the heaves is removed. This may involve removing the animal from a dusty stable or substituting a better quality and less dusty hay.

</span>

source &amp; more info

It sounds as though the stable is having a run of bad luck. Spring can be a hard time of year but it just means we have to up our game and be more vigilant to avoid problems. Things like comb the paddocks and fences and make sure everything is properly nailed down and wired up after a long harsh winter season and boards with nails aren't laying on the ground and do our best to keep the ground the horses are standing on clean and dry. That last thing is not always easy!

[mountaingal]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stormmey1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">MG, there'a an old saying among horse people <span style="font-weight: bold">no foot</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold">no horse</span>. A horse entire weight, often more than 1000 lbs is supported by four relatively small feet. Without healthy feet, a horse is in trouble.

I suspect that this horse was not properly shoed/padded or left the same shoe in place too long. Are they sure the horse stepped on a nail as Hoof Rot is highly contagious wondering if the horse got it from somewhere else other than stepping on a nail.

MG sad to say hoof rot can be deadly if not dealt with quickly ...The horse is unlikely to be lame unless the rot has invaded the <span style="font-weight: bold">sensitive inner tissues</span>Due to the horse's hoof construction if it invades the tissue lawd. So wait dem no call in the Vet from dem sey the Horse step pon the nail.

I am thinking here from when the horse tep pon the nail/or them notice sey it a limp dem nevva call the Vet. I have a horse even though it is stabled and no longer home, but if anything ever happen to midnight lawd

Now my granpere just come on here and said he never heard of hoof rot being caused by stepping on nail. He says they have stable hoof rot, or if they stand in water too long and he also mentioned thrush hoof rot.

Anyway I do hope the horse will be okay...me is a Horse lover.
</div></div>
Thanks, Stormmey. To be quite accurate - dem never tell me is hoof rot. what they said was the &quot;diaper&quot; which i think is a kind of bandage that they put on to help heal the puncture ended causing damp to get into Potsi's hoof, and it started to break up. so they said their attempt to fix one problem (the puncture from the nail) caused another (the breaking up of the hoof).

you know, ur first sentence is what is in my mind, because I remember that from Barbaro. I haven't dared say anything to my daughter about the potential harm to the horse from bearing his weight on 3 instead of four legs. As it is, i can see that even to look at him hobbling to come get treats makes her go quiet and purse her lips to stop herself from crying. especially since his foot looked so noticeably swollen, and he moves with such difficulty.

[mountaingal]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nanook</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It sounds as though the stable is having a run of bad luck. Spring can be a hard time of year but it just means we have to up our game and be more vigilant to avoid problems. Things like comb the paddocks and fences and make sure everything is properly nailed down and wired up after a long harsh winter season and boards with nails aren't laying on the ground and do our best to keep the ground the horses are standing on clean and dry. That last thing is not always easy! </div></div>

o boy, u said a mouthful, Nan. three days before the schooling show Sunday before last, about 13 of the horses were in quarantine due to flu - they suspect it got picked up by the boarders in a competition, and when they got back they spread it to the schooling horses.

I couldn't tell whether the nail wound had healed and they're just waiting for the hoof to stop breaking up, or whether they're both still problems. All i know is that poor horse was was pivoting around on his good back leg, took a long time to do it in his stall, and looked like he was hurting. dang.

as for lady, i got the impression she was just old, don't know if the coughing was from asthma or allergy. all i know is my dawta couldn't canter her because she ran out of breath.

i guess we'll know on Saturday if Potsi's on the mend.

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

Awwww, this must be so hard to watch and not know what to do to help. It also sounds like the lady could use some help around the place. I know Val almost closed her barn to boarders because it became too much work but then she gave them the option to find a different facility or be there regularly to help about the place, at least with their own horses. It is, after all...part of owning a horse! I think the lame horse should be put in a box stall that is clean and dry and the bandage evidently wasn't changed enough or something.

Maybe you could suggest to her to water down the hay that she feeds to the horse with heaves. That should help a lot.

[mountaingal]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

Potsi's foot is still sick. He's lost a lot of weight - u can see his ribs.

i spoke to the school administrator. she didn't say anything about his hoof breaking up. just that the abcess is still draining, they had to drill through the hoof to release the abcess.

it was one of the stable girls who told me last time that there was a problem with his hoof in addition to the puncture. so, i'm sort of comforted that it's just one problem, albeit a persistent one. the school administrator was frank that Potsi was not getting better quick.

his stall has dry bedding, at least, looks like sawdust. His foot is still swollen.

u get so attached to these animals, their health becomes such a huge deal.

[Nanook]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

I waited a month to get Bucko when his abscess was discovered while hoof trimming after I bought him so this is not unusual.

Yes, it is hard to feel so helpless and want to help them when we see them in distress!

MGee &amp; likkle MGee

The old saying healthy as a horse isn't really all that it's cracked up to be. When they are healthy it's great but they can go down from a healthy state very quickly.

[Stormmey]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MGee</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Potsi's foot is still sick. He's lost a lot of weight - u can see his ribs.

i spoke to the school administrator. she didn't say anything about his hoof breaking up. just that the abcess is still draining, they had to drill through the hoof to release the abcess.

it was one of the stable girls who told me last time that there was a problem with his hoof in addition to the puncture. so, i'm sort of comforted that it's just one problem, albeit a persistent one. the school administrator was frank that Potsi was not getting better quick.

his stall has dry bedding, at least, looks like sawdust. His foot is still swollen.

u get so attached to these animals, their health becomes such a huge deal.
</div></div>


awwww poor Potsi, hope he heals soon MG

[goldilocks]

Re: Nanook: Horse and hoof rot

at any signs of hoof rot (thrush), I used to clean the hoof well and pour straight Listerine on the sole. sounds like Potsi has an infection from the puncture wound maybe secondary case of hoof rot from the bandaging not being changed frequently enough....