I'll tell you about Ace's foot instead. I was rasping off a small snag at the bottom of his foot yesterday so that it didn't catch and take off more. As I took off the top, to my surprise it exposed a hole behind it. A perfectly rounded capsule the size of the end of my finger. He had, at some stage, had an infection in there and resolved it without it breaking out.
Since it was at the bottom of the hoof, I looked back in the diary to 4-5 months ago, when it would have been at the coronet band. Sure enough, there it is, recorded in full detail. First I thought he might be laminitic, then I concluded that it was a splint, because there was no swelling in the leg or any lump at the coronet band. He was lame for a couple of weeks and then it went away, reinforcing my feeling that it had been a splint.
How fascinating to find the true reason after all these months. I wonder how many abscesses horses get that we never even know about?
C
Probably a lot more abscesses than people realize. Tucker was off and on lame for nearly two months a number of summers ago and it took us forever to find the cause--an abscess.
ReplyDeleteHate the wind, especially this year with all the hurricane damaged trees around. There are still plenty of branches that haven't made it to the ground yet, so any kind of wind offers a safety threat.
I guess the fact that it's finally getting a bit warmer is a plus.
Keeping a diary is really useful, Jean. I would never have remembered that Ace was lame last year at exactly the time this abscess would have formed at the coronet. I got it straight away by looking for a blog title in the second half of September.
DeleteIt was ridiculously warm today, nearly 20 degrees C, but blowing a flippin' gale.
C.
your hill must be awful in these gales....i complain about our place being too near the river at the bottom of a hill sometimes but in gales like this its a boon...and the wind also blows the midges away..
ReplyDeleteAt least it's warm, I suppose :-)
DeleteC
Very cool - to uncover the real reason. So often with horses we never really know. Watch my blog soon for a discovery!
ReplyDeleteI really sympathize with you about the wind. That is often the case here - that nice temps bring fierce winds. We call them chinook winds. I hate them! You can't do anything outside.
Ooooooh. Teeth??????? I'll be waiting!!
DeleteC