Hoof abcess

[SR04]

So horse came in hoping lame last Friday so 10 days ago. Farrier came found abcess, we poulticed, not much came out but farrier came back after 3 days put shoe on turned out.

Friday so a week after symptoms started she came in lame with heat in her foot, farrier came back out, took shoe back off and we've poulticed again.

Tbh I can't tell what's pus and what's dirt but it stinks, it looked like pus came from more of her heel area than more of the front area that the farrier dug out but I'm not sure.

Been this morning, shes got the poultice off, can't tell whats dirt and whats pus, her foot is still warm so put another poultice on. Farriers supposed to be coming back out today or tomorrow.

I'm wondering though, how long do these things normally take, it seems to be taking forever and when should I get the vets to look at it?.
Also - anybody turned out with a poultice or poultice boot?.

Just after a bit of abcess advice really.

Horses are an absolute nightmare! 😅 - when will I learn!

You really need to try and keep the horses foot as clean as possible. Mine used to abxess a lot and I used a carrier bag over the dressing and vet wrap, secured with gaffa tape. It worked well. There was never much pus but it stank. Took about 4 weeks. My farrier told me to get Silica tablets from Weleda , which kick starts the immune system into attacking the abcess.

Try soaking the hoof in some warm water and Epsom salts each day to encourage any pus out - Tubbease boots are great. If the infection is coming out of the heel it sounds like it hasw worked its way through the hoof and created an exit and it shouldnt be long till she's sound. Hoof abcesses are the work of the devil.

As above, turn out in either poultice boots, or if it's not stony, nappy, covered with vet wrap, covered in a thick carrier bag, then duct tape.

If she'll stand and let you tub (rubber buckets or food skips are the best for this, with warm water and either epsom salts, iodine or hibiscrub) for even a few minutes a day before putting the dressing back on, it helps loads. 20 minutes ideal, but even a few minutes makes a difference. Keep going until a few days beyond it smelling, or it'll come back. If the leg starts to swell, call the vet, as she'll probably need antibiotics. Good luck xx

Betadine, is good for treating abcess's as pp said if uou can get your horse to stand in a shallow bucket ( if they have white socks prepare for them to go Orange ! )
If they won't stand in a bucket of warm water use a trigger spray bottle and give it a good soaking instead.
Purple spray after the abcess's has abated will also help.
And yes keep it covered with a boot , our vet use to loan them out they were a bit tatty but did the job

And yes I looked after a horse that had cut its leg and had orange and purple sock along with a red and white kwik save carrier bag, he was never going to win best in show 😂