[Evrgrn Mercury]

I did look at some of the other Abcess questions on here, but nothing told me how long a abcess usually takes as my horse Mercury came up lame on Monday and everyone thought he was abcessing so I have been soaking twice a day with Epsom Salts for 20 minutes and he is still lame.

He is okay on hogfuel in his paddock with just slight limp at times when trotting, but when you take him out on gravel he has a limp and does not want to put to much pressure on his right front and will try to find ways to find soft spots or to walk on the grass ..

When I lunge and he trots in the hog fuel round pen , you can see he is lame on his right front and bobs his head up and down and will try to quickly step off the one foot..

I have a vet coming out Monday unless he gets worse which they are on call for this weekend.

[AllAroundRdr]

You're soaking, but are you packing the foot with a drawing salve such as Icthamol?

[Evrgrn Mercury]

no, as most vets where I am just say to soak with the salt until it blows then pack and wrap etc and antibotics if needed.

[Beeks]

Originally Posted by Evrgrn Mercury

no, as most vets where I am just say to soak with the salt until it blows then pack and wrap etc and antibotics if needed.

WHAT?? Wait till it blows? Grrrrrrr. Have your farrier come out and find it and open it up. Abcesses are so painful. Then the soaking will work to draw out the infection. Waiting until it blows runs the risk of it coming up through the coronary band and will take a long time.

[hermonine]

When my horse got an abcess (we have gone threw like 3-4 in one year already) I did what you did with the soaking in warm water with epsons salt twice a day for 20 mins. While soaking I would rub down the leg with the water and hoof (my horse tended to break out at the bulb of the hoof so I rubbed there). After every soak I would then lunge my horse at a trot than a fast trot for about 10-15 mins and I noticed that the swelling would go down a bit after trotting (I think it helps the circulation/draining or something, not sure). If he doesn't want to trot I was told to make him. I would than sometimes pack it and put some drawing salve on it. It took about a week for me to see some improvement depending on how long it took to break out, sometimes two weeks till he got better for my gelding.

You can also have your vet or farrier take care of it for like they said if it breaks at the coronary band it is painful and takes awhile to heal. My horse usual broke out after 1-2 days.

[AllAroundRdr]

Soaking only does so much. You're softening the sole with the water/salts for a very limited amount of time in a 24 hour period. The Icthamol will keep the sole moist and also help draw the abscess out.

Has your Farrier been out to evaluate? Used hoof testers? Has the location of the abscess been determined?


I always keep abcessing feet packed and wrapped -- I'd much rather have the abscess rupture and be covered than have it rupture and my horse walking around in dirt, urine & fecal matter until I find it and can apply anti-biotics.

[Beeks]

Again...I have never heard of letting a hoof abscess rupture on it's own. Is this a common practice?? I have always had my farrier open them up for me so I can get to work healing it.
It would be like having a rock in your boot with no way of getting it out.

[Tymacs Girl]

Have you had the farrier out to check it out? Sometimes they can determine where it is, and if it's close to the surface they can carve enough of the hoof to allow to drain.

[AllAroundRdr]

Beeks, we never lance abscesses that aren't close to the surface of the sole. I've found too much damage can be done by pearing it out if it's too far beneath.

JMO.

[Beeks]

How do you determine how deep the abscess is? I may have been fortunate in that all my abscesses had a noticable bruise on the bottom of the foot. I swear, there is nothing more rewarding than watching that pus gush (sorry...gross I know) when the abscess is opened and watching your horse practically melt in relief.

I also was under the assumption (and you know what happens when we assume) that the abscess will take the path of least resistance to the surface, which is through the coronary band and not the bottom of the hoof.