Quick facts
- Injury, poor hoof quality and poor hoof care can cause an abscess
- Abscesses cause sudden, severe lameness
- Draining, bandaging and keeping the hoof clean are key to treating an abscess
- Good ground to work at and/or to turn out your horse can prevent abscesses
Causes of a hoof abscess
An abscess occurs when bacteria get trapped inside the hoof/foot without a way out. It is usually caused by trauma such as:
- Nails
- Screws
- Wood branches or stick
- Rocks and rough ground
- Horseshoe nails inside the white line (where the hoof wall meets the sole)
Other factors that might predispose foot abscesses:
- Hoof wall lacerations or trauma
- Often horses step on the shoe clip when shoe is loose
- Poor hoof quality
- Genetics or the environment may cause poor hoof quality
- Wet weather or wet dirty stalls can soften the hoof and allow bacteria to enter through gaps in the white line
- Changes in weather from dry to wet and wet to dry can lead to brittle hooves, which are more likely to crack
- Poor hoof care that results in long flared toes or crushed heels, can weaken the white line and increase the risk of hoof abscesses
Signs of a hoof abscess
Similar to your fingernail there is no room for the foot to swell because of the hard hoof wall. When the pressure builds it causes sudden pain and severe lameness. Horse often act like they have a broken leg, with swelling up to the fetlock, due to the severity of the pain and lack of movement of the lower part of the limb. Rarely a draining track is present.
The pastern or heel bulbs and coronary band may be swollen and sometimes sensitive to palpation/pressure. Often, the hoof wall is warmer, and you can feel a strong digital pulse near the pastern or fetlock.
If during your routine examination you see a nail or other object in the hoof, DO NOT remove it. Call your veterinarian right away. It is always helpful for the veterinarian to know where the object enters the foot and at about what angle. Picture and videos are very helpful.
Diagnosing an abscess
The diagnosis of a foot abscess will likely be made by your veterinarian. A complete physical exam, hoof testers (pinch parts of the foot and find the source of pain) will be performed. Local anesthetic might be used as well to localize the pain on the foot and manipulation less painful to the horse. Your veterinarian may find a crack or drain track after cleaning the hoof and removing the old sole. If a draining track can’t be found, radiographs may be taken to look for gas (produced by bacteria) within the hoof.
All other causes of severe lameness should also be eliminated. The most common causes of non-weight bearing lameness are infected joint, broken bone, severe cellulitis and foot abscess.
Treating an abscess
The goal of treatment is to drain the abscess and prevent further infection.
Once the painful site at the bottom of the foot is found, a hoof knife and/or bone curette is used to open a hole at the sole, just large enough to drain the pus and decrease pressure inside the foot. Some horses will need analgesics (pain killers) or local nerve blocks to allow manipulation. Normally, the horse has sudden pain relief once the infection drains.
Your veterinarian will apply an antiseptic bandage to keep the abscess draining for at least 48 hours. Common antiseptic bandages include a povidone-iodine, ichthammol ointment or a medicated bandage pad (Animalintex). In some cases, soaking of the foot in between bandages might be recommended.
At BECKER EQUINE, in some specific cases, we use a slightly different approach. We place a soaking bandage, which will remain in place for at least 5 days, when the abscess is often resolved. Diluted iodine water should be added to the soaking bandage daily.
During the course of the treatment, the limb should remain bandaged. Keeping the horse in a clean, dry area, such as a well-bedded stall or small paddock helps. In order to keep the horse more comfortable and able to put weight on the leg, Bute (phenylbutazone), firocoxib (Equioxx), or flunixin meglumin (Banamine) should be considered.
Recovery time for an abscess
Horses with a mild infection can return to work in less than a week. Deep infections can take several weeks to heal.
Call a veterinarian if:
- The infection continues to drain for more than 48 hours or the lameness does not improve after the beginning of the draining
- The horse doesn’t want to eat.
- The horse develops diarrhea (loose stool)
- The horse shifts its weight often, rests its good leg, or lies down more than normal.
- Tissue (proud flesh) grows out of the drain hole.
Preventing an abscess
- Keep your horse’s environment clean and dry. Routinely clean stalls and remove manure from paddocks.
- Routinely trim your horse’s hooves.
- Remove any nails, tools, metal pieces, and glass from your horse’s area to lower the risk of injury.
- Good ground to work at and/or to turn out your horse can prevent abscesses
BECKER EQUINE can help
If you think your horse is lame, do not hesitate to contact BECKER EQUINE. We are here to help you and your horse at all times.
Authors:
Rolf B. Modesto, VMD, DACVS-LA – Becker Equine, Oxford – PA
Felice Cuomo, DVM – Valor Mountain Equine, Peru – NY