Conference noted::equitation

    
    Call the vet.....
    
    

    ...a logical solution.  My vet is out of the office for the day and I
    am going to see my horse tonight.  I left a message but his secretary
    said he will probably call back in the morning.  I left messages with
    two other vets as well, none of which I have done business with before. 
    What I'm trying to find out is if anyone knows of something I can do to
    keep it from getting worse until I can get her some penicillin, etc. 
    Since I keep her at a farm 50 miles from my home, it may be a day or
    two until I can see her again.

    I have had to treat an abscessed foot several times (different horses).
    What my vet had me do was soak the foot in a betadine solution, then
    wrap the foot (I used vetrap with duct tape over it).
    
    Kathy

    I have always soaked with warm water/epsom salts - pack hole (if there
    is one) with a cotton ball soaked with betadine (or iodine if I run of
    betadine).  I then wrap the foot with a pamper (they mold very nicely to
    the foot and keep it clean) and then wrap the whole thing with duct tape. 
    Make sure the elastic in the pamper does not get up around the coronet 
    band.
    
    Last year when I was riding I was on a big thoroughbred who couldn't
    even walk to the ring without getting a stone bruise...I spent the
    summer soaking and wrapping - got to be second nature...
    
    Kris
    

    My Thoroughbred has an abcess a few years ago that was so bad he had to
    have a 'resection' done to drain it.  Care afterwards was exactly as in
    the last note....soaked with warm water/epsom salts, pack with betadine
    and wrapped in duct tape. It healed beautifully and he'd had no problem
    since. Defineatly get a vet as soon as possible to prevent it from
    getting worse. (Ck also had to stay in his stall for a few weeks, which
    was a lot more of a trauma then the hoof problem :-).
    

    
    Now, if you can just teach your horse to place his hoof into
    the bucket of betadine & water....(8
    
    

    Congo got so used to standing in it, I just brought the bucket out and
    he picked his foot up and placed it in the bucket and stood there like
    a saint till I finished with him...
    
    Arnold on the other hand was a real pain...he had been abused so if you
    even raised your voice to him he flipped out.  He was a test of my
    patience and I think I deserve to go to heaven for not killing him and
    lord knows he tried to kill me enough times...
    
    I just had to bring the bucket in (we used the rubber feed tubs) and
    he had himself climbing up the back wall of the grooming stall....He
    was 17 hands to begin with and when he decided not to play he was VERY
    big....I went through bags of carrots, lots of talking, lots of
    patting, lots of getting very wet, after about 2 weeks he finally
    decided he had to soak his foot whether he wanted to or not....
    
    I don't know how many times Kiirja left the barn when I was soaking
    Arnold....
    
    Now why did I ever decide to stop riding again.....

    I hade to soak my horses foot in water/epsom salt solution. He is very
    calm so he did not freak out but he hated standing there. So I ended
    up sitting on a stool next to him and holding the leg in the bucket.
    When he tried to lift it I would force it back down. He did tip 
    a few buckets but on the whole he was ok.
    
    Ania
    

    
    My horse just had an abses. He steped on a nail and he never limped
    we didn't find the nail until the farrier came to do shoes.  He
    had a 2in nail in his foot for weeks!  No one knew.. not even the
    vet.  It was un detable to the naked eye.
    
    What we did for the absess was:
    
    Soak in warm water/ebson AND BADINE!!  Once you soak for 10-15min
    make a paste with BADINE AND SUGUR!  Put the paste inside the 
    hole/abses and then wrap w/ vet wrap and put on an easy boot if
    you have one.  (I allways keep an easy book around from now on)
    
    Keep taking his temp!
    
    Louisa

    Thank you for the advice!  I soaked her foot in epsom salt solution and
    treated it with Betadine, then I gave her 10cc of Penicillin.  She's
    1000 lbs.  One vet told me to give her 20cc, but the package said 10
    and I don't want to overdo it, so I'm giving her 10 cc morning and
    evening.  When I soaked her foot she was a real sweetheart.  She stood
    in the bucket for about 45 minutes just like a little angel.  It was
    getting dark and I think she was falling asleep.
    
    I found another spot on her foot that seemed infected, also.  It's just
    below the frog in the fleshy part of her "heel".  There's a crease
    where it comes together and as I slipped the pick through it sideways
    (it's pretty tight) she flinched and there was moisture in it.  It also
    smelled infected.  It was hard to get the betadine solution in it and
    unless if I have it x-rayed I don't think I'll know if there is
    a foreign object lodged in it.  I hope the penicillin will fix it.
    
    Why do you use sugar in the packing?  I just used cotton soaked with
    betadine.  

    my vet and farrier both recommend the `sugar-dine' for treating 
    abcesses and some punctures of the foot.  It helps draw out
    abcesses and stuff.  When my mare had a chunk of wood in her frog
    the vet pared it away and I did the soaking in warm water and betadine
    and then packed the hole with the `sugar-dine' and cotton - really 
    packing it `in' the hole.  Then packed the hoof in more cotton and betadine.
    wrapping it in pampers and duct tape.  Then put an easy boot on the
    whoe thing, and I was letting her out (becasue keeping her in was
    not good for her mental health ;^) every day.  
    
    
    She was sound and healthy in 14 days.
    
    michele

    The second spot you found on her heel sounds like a quarter crack.
    They start on the inside of the foot like an abcess and break out
    through the wall, and that relieves the pressure and the horse
    may actually be sound.  You should probably have your blacksmith
    look at it and cut it out more if necessary.  You can also use 
    liquid bluecoat to prevent infection.  Sometimes if the quarter
    cracks are bad enough and the horse is doing strenous work, it may
    need to be patched by a blacksmith that specializes in patching.
    The patch usually needs to stay on for 6-8 weeks and is made out
    of fiberglass.  As you can tell, I've had lots of experience with
    quarter cracks, I just had my 3rd patch done in a year on my mare.
    *8^{  Let me know if you'd like more info.
    
    Linda