:( Feet :(

[Becca]

Help

I get a call from Lauren my sharer 5 min before i go to work last night "I can't ride tonight Bernie is lame" (apparently his soles are sore one of the women up the yard helped her check)

I am just panicing now because this happened last year a bit!

my worse fear is lami, but he is in a lot better shape than he has ever been, on the high end of a good weight i would say. He only had his feet done the weekend before last and she said his feet we looking much better for all the work he was doing. Could that also be why he is sore? Lauren did do some road work with him at the end of last week.

I'm so upset cos he never goes lame

I do have boa boots but if his soles are already sore, they will still be sore inside the boot?

I knew this was gonna be a poop week.

looking for a reality slap or some advice please

ta guys

[joandlad]

Don't panic (yet)! It could be something as innocent as steping on a stone that's caused him to be sore. Firstly, without souonding too condecending, how experienced is the woman at the yard who diagnosed the sore soles? It could be something completely different. Problems elsewhere often show up in feet.

There are lots of reasons horses get lami. It's not just fat ponies who get it- I've seen underweight TBs with it. The first thing I'd do is check the digital pulse (PM me if you an explanation of how to do this). If there is a strong pulse it means there is inflamation in the foot and you need to restrict movement until a couple of days after the pulses return to normal. Get into the habit of checking the pulses each day (at the same time) so that you know what is normal and what is not. This will be your early warning of any problems. You say it happened a bit last year. Was it around this time of year? I'd recommend cutting out as much sugar from the diet as possible and soaking hay for a few hours. Actually, at this time of year especially, I'd recommend that for most horses turned out on good grazing.

If you are sure it's just sore soles, the boots will help. You can get pads which go inside the boots which will make him more comfortable - whilst remembering that if there is inflamation you don't want him moving much at all.

At the end of the day if you are unsure or worried your first point of call should be the vet. What's a wasted call out in the grand scheme of horse ownership.

[Becca]

my fave saying "the joys of owning a horse" usually when its raining, or they escape or do something annoying haha

The woman who checked him is very experienced, i trust her to know what she is talking about.
He was a bit sore sunday when i brought him in to fuss him and check him over, it was only on the stones and concrete but ok on the grass so i just put it down to stones. He had none trapped but doesn't mean he didn't do in in the field.
I bought the boots about August last year which would have been when he got sore, i have the pastern wraps/pad that go in them so will dig them out.

Bernie lives out and only gets fed enough happy hoof to soak up his joint supplement once a day so i dont class that as a feed really

I have been looking up checking the digital pulse already, i think it will be very hard to find on him, soooo much feather. stupid question though, I know it is at the fetlock but inside or outside of the leg?

I am going up to check him myself at lunchtime and am already thinking bringing him in (in case it is the grass) and calling a vet.

trying not to panic but he never makes a fuss about being in pain so when he does it worries me.

Ta for the good advice though

[joandlad]

It sound like he's a bit foot sore because of the horrendously rich grass that is about this Spring. There is usually a similar burst of growth about August/September time so that would seem to tie in with his last bout of footiness. Better safe than sorry, so I'd go for getting him off the grass for at least a little while each day. The boots aren't really designed for 24/7 wear (ideal breeding ground for bugs) so bringing him in will allow him some time without boots and some time without grass.

For taking digital pulse:

I usually take digital pulse from the lateral side (the outside). Stand facing one side of the horse and imagine a line running right down the middle of the leg, from top to bottom, cutting it in half. Just below the fetlock joint, on the pastern, place your fingers on this line so that the fingers point towards the back of the leg. The leg should feel very hard at this point (it's the pastern bone!), slowly slip your fingers round towards the back of the pastern. When you feel it go from hard to soft you should be in the right place. You are not looking just to feel a pulse you are looking for the strength of the pulse (which is why it helps to know what is normal for that particular horse). It is quite difficult, at first, to find pulses so if you manage to find one it's a pretty good guess that it's a pounding one! ;D

After all this I bet you'll go down tonight and he'll be absolutely fine.

[Becca]

I'm gonna go up at lunch and bring him in definately. After all if it is mild lami it will help, if its not, it wont do any harm. I'll bring him in during the day for a few days and see if that helps, if it doesn't then i think mr vet may get a call.

I only used the boots for riding, wouldn't leave them on him.

Oh so much for XC on sunday

Thanks Jo, i'm finally thinking a bit more rationally even if i am thinking the same things.
You're a star have a karma

[maximum]

dinnae panic lass!!

does he normally do road work? it could be as simple as him being footsore from the road work done at the end of last week.

if he is pottery on both front legs get the vet rather risk him. I know vets charge a fortune for call out but if it is lami ( and it may not be) early intervention is paramount. the bounding pulse is a good indication but if you dont know what is normal for him its quite difficult to know what it is telling you.

[Becca]

no hot a huge about but has never been sore when he has done it before. I have decided to stay calm until i have seen him myself (10min to go).

Plan - Try check his digital pulse. Bring him in for the afternoon, check it later and get a second opinion from my friend (training vet nurse who's horse has had everything bless her) keep him in over night, which he will hate but is best. Check again in the morning and if still worried call vet.
I bet it doesn't go that way, i'll end up ringing the vet "arrrrgghhhh i can feel a digital pulse" haha. no i'll be level headed once i'm there, it's just sitting here thats driving me nuts

[duckles]

Fingers crossed for you Becca!! I well know the feeling and more often than not, things aren't that bad, its just your imagination goes haywire when you're stuck at work. But please let us know

[Becca]

FOOT SORE? FOOT SORE? SINCE WHEN IS A THREELEGGED HORSE FOOT SORE?!!!!

Instant vet call, half an hour to walk the minute walk back to the stable, loads of tears on the phone to mum and a poke around by the vet says it's looking like an abcess.

Have to poltice twice a day till the revisit on wednesday so his foot is soft enough for her to dig deeper (bloody tough cob feet haha)

And he's on box rest so no cross country sunday

but i'm feeling much better knowing whats wrong

[duckles]

Abcess' aren't too bad. They are my one area of expertise as Jb is very prone to them.He has soft and thin hooves and his front hooves grow funny so if the farrier is a day or 2 late or if ground very hard or very wet, he thens to get one. The poultice draws the infection out. Once it drains away, your horse will be fine. 4 days usually does it. In our most recent episode, my farrier advised letting him out in field (with dressing on)- up to then it was always box rest. He said its better for the horse to get blood circulating. Must be new thinking on the subject. ANyway I couldn't keep it up as dressing was letting dirt in so I put him back in stable but always let him walk around the walk when I'm mucking out. Only ever got vet once as farrier couldn't find the abcess- only different in treatment is that he gave anti biotics to help with infection (and charged a lot more) I hated giving the injections! Hope Bernie is ok but if abcess, its not so bad. Not like lami or tendon or anything. Keep us up dated. Shame about x country sunday but he'll be as right as rain once infection drained.

[haffyfan]

oh Becca there a right pain...but at same time that is a pretty good solution really considering what it could have been.

My abcess tip is once it's polticed up put a carrier bag or other waterproof barrier over it and stick his hoof boot on and then he play out rather than being stuck inside. Murph has lived in his old macs on several occasions and they never rubbed him etc. They only came off to change dressing and then straight back on.

[haffyfan]

Forgot to say Becca, as soon a sit bursts/is released he will be sound in no time it's the keeping infection out afterwards that is a pain as hole takes ages to fill.

[maximum]

well thats not good but not totally bad either.

give that tough wee floofy cob a hug from me!

[brigadier]

Hi Becca- what a trial- but at least you know what is wrong now. One tip for abcessess- its the one time you can feel the digital pulse on the inside of the cannon bone just below the knee/hock- its not always there for them but if it is you know for certain youve got an abscess. Nasty horrible things!
Brig

[maximum]

once had a tooth abcess and was the worst pain of my life including childbirth(without pain relief!) and the sheer relief when the dentist burst it cannot be put into words.

[jack]

if he has hard feet like jack my vet said to soak his hoof in epsons salts and hot water for 10 minutes before polticing

[Becca]

It burst already! it burst allready!

I am so happy! (i have grossed out all my non horsey friends too haha)

He can walk again, obviously lame but can bare weight! Re- polticed and put his boa boots on and popped him in the little menage/paddock till i go up at lunch. only three hours, but like duckles said, i had also heard (and think it makes sense) to have the blood pumping the goop out.

Thanks for all the tips and ideas. My ep suggested nappies for poulticing too! then gaffer tape over the top, they hold the moisture in nicely.

yay yay yay ;D

[joandlad]

Phew - thank goodness it was just an abscess.

Brilliant that it's burst! ;D By the sounds of how lame he was yesterday it wasn't going to take long to burst. Much better to have them burst than to have the vet digging holes!! So it's good that Bernie beat the vet to it! Movement is key now to make sure the pus is expelled completely and doesn't leave pockets of infection behind that can kick off again in the future. Dressing, boots and as much turnout as he can manage (without making him sore) is just the job.

Someone told me about nappies but whenever I used them I ended up with such a big bulky dressing that it came straight off. Then I realised that you could actually cut the nappy to a smaller size! D'oh!!

[Becca]

We didn't quite beat the vet. She came yesterday and did a little bit of digging but he has such tough feet she wanted me to poultice to soften the foot for her to dig more tomorrow. hoping she wont want to now and it will just be poultice till its clean.

I couldn't believe how quickly it came on though, from just being foot sore monday to hopping yesterday! Anyway gonna call the vet at lunch and see what she says.

Cant wait to go see him again at lunch ;D

[Becca]

Well he can't be feeling that bad! he just tried to drag me to his normal field! ;D

[kateflashy]

glad its on the mend my old nieghbour's horse would get them for a pastime but she had really soft feet and one tiddly stone would do it

should be better in no time now turn out is excellent for this sort of injury as it also prevents his legs swelling and poss lymphangitus (sp)

[Becca]

No more pus but still quite lame

The poultice has just brought back the thrush i spent ages getting rid off

hope the vet has good knews

[Becca]

sorry for the running commentary but i am boring everyone at work!

Just bought bernie in from the field and he was near on sound!

won't get too excited till after the vet has been but woohoo ;D

[kitcat]

That's great news Becca. Really pleased to hear it.

[duckles]

Becca, that's brilliant! He must be fairly healthy, that is some quick recovery. Hope you have good news from vet