Abscesses
An abscess is like a small pimple or a very large blister. Many times, small abscesses don't cause a problem and appear when trimming as a small black spot usually near the bar sole junction. In horses with a large amount of damage to the foot, you may see extensive abscessing from the body's effort to get rid of dead or damaged tissue. Sometimes you'll see a small abscess on the sole from excess bar horn that has bruised a part of the sole corium which grows out as a buise or abscess. Abscessing may be a part of the healing process, not to be disrupted with medication or veterinary digging!!! (Veterinarians and farriers often want to alleviate pain by digging an abscess out. This can cause even more damage so don't let them! They also will want to give pain killers and antibiotics. These are also unnecessary and may cause other damage to the horse's body.)
Your horse will be very, VERY lame when he is developing a large abscess. You may think he's broken his leg. Treating the abscess holistically means you should soak his foot and walk him or turn him out with other horses that will move him. Give the abscess a chance to ripen. It will resolve itself if the foot is trimmed for good flexibility and it's soaked in water. The worst thing you can do is leave the horse in a stall with his foot hot and dry. Pain killers only slow the ripening process.
Why do the feet make abscesses when transitioning or healing? Well think of those frost bitten fingers and then imagine that all that pus and dead tissue is inside a tight place. It creates pressure and produces enzymes that dissolve tissue in an effort to be expelled. If you've ever had a blood blister under your fingernail, you will have a mild idea of what an abscess is like in a hoof. (think gangrene) Usually abscessing in recovering feet come out at the bulbs, frog or sole but they can also work their way out at the coronet.
Here are several photos of different abscess exits.
Your horse will be very, VERY lame when he is developing a large abscess. You may think he's broken his leg. Treating the abscess holistically means you should soak his foot and walk him or turn him out with other horses that will move him. Give the abscess a chance to ripen. It will resolve itself if the foot is trimmed for good flexibility and it's soaked in water. The worst thing you can do is leave the horse in a stall with his foot hot and dry. Pain killers only slow the ripening process.
Why do the feet make abscesses when transitioning or healing? Well think of those frost bitten fingers and then imagine that all that pus and dead tissue is inside a tight place. It creates pressure and produces enzymes that dissolve tissue in an effort to be expelled. If you've ever had a blood blister under your fingernail, you will have a mild idea of what an abscess is like in a hoof. (think gangrene) Usually abscessing in recovering feet come out at the bulbs, frog or sole but they can also work their way out at the coronet.
Here are several photos of different abscess exits.
Close up of sole abscess caused by coffin bone bruising sole due to high bars.
Close-up of a small abscess caused by excess bar (note also the bruised frog)
Wall abscess just after emerging
Wall abscess after eruption
Wall abscess growing out of a foot which has just had shoes removed
Whole solar abscess (frog, bars and sole)
Subsolar abscess in a barefoot horse with excess horn and metabolic problems (owner trims)