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Horses get hoof abscesses…they occur for a bunch of reasons…..

Usually they’re not considered an insurmountable problem…..

…..they can be treated and healed…..

But they are dramatic…..

An otherwise sound horse can be dead-lame in the blink of an eye…..

I had thought that we had the abscess under control after the last blacksmiths visit…..

…..apparently not…or maybe this is a new one?…..

…..whatever it is…it still needs treating…..

Addy’s not a light-weight…even her hooves weigh a lot…..

…..trying to pick them up…clean them…and treat them is a challenge…..

It’s hard to balance her hoof…while your arms are shaking…and paint or spray on an assortment of medicine…..

…..(I measured the bottom of her hooves…from side-to-side and front-to-back…they’re over 8 inches each way)…..

She’s not bad with her feet…she works with you…but they’re HUGE!…..

Draft horses have monstrous hooves (with pancaked soles)…by comparison to other lighter-weight horse breeds…..

Paso Finos…Arabians…even Thoroughbreds feet all look so diminutive to me now…..

…..it’s hard finding and keeping a blacksmith…for obvious reasons…(I tip mine well so he wants to come back)…..

Clydesdales can have four white feathered legs ending in big white hooves…..

…..a lot of people say there’s no difference between the softness or durability of a dark hoof versus a light-colored hoof…..

…..(but…I’m not in that group of opinions)…..

I think a white hoof is softer and potentially more sensitive than a hoof made up of darker keratin…..

What’s an abscess…you ask?…(well you actually didn’t…but I need to explain anyway)…..

If you’ve ever smacked your fingernail with a hammer…you know that the resulting fluid accumulation and swelling under the nail can be extremely painful…and long lasting…..

…..there’s no outlet for the additional pressure of the blood and crud…it just throbs and aches and hurts like crazy…..

That’s kind of what happens with hoof abscesses…and then add a ton of weight on top of the painful hoof…..

And that’s what happened to Addy and why she was laying down…when I lost it…and turned into a puddle of emotions…..

But an abscess I can treat…there’s a protocol in place already…I can do something to fix her…..

Thank God…..

 

 

 

 

 

#drafthorses #hoofabscess #durasol #iodine #keratin