Lame horse at the vet

[westmanfarrier]

Here's the story I got when I was called into the vet office:

So, a horse was lame for a few days. "Must be an abscess," thinks the owner, "we'll give it a few days to blow out." A few days goes by, the horse gets worse. The owner decides to take the horse to the vet. Vet cleans the hoof, turns over a flap on the frog and what does he see, but a nail.
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=118&pictureid=15460

Three days post surgery:
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=118&pictureid=15461

Bar shoe, drilled and tapped so a treatment plate can be bolted on.

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=118&pictureid=15458

[WashingtonBay]

Yikes - that's quite a nail. I feared that when I moved here, because we had to clean up so much junk and frap. But we got lucky.

[gabhainn]

sheesh they never even bothered looking to see if it was an abcess? knuckleheads I swear.......Kevin

[westmanfarrier]

A couple very kind hearted employees (my clients) at the vet clinic took over care of this guy. The owner was going to have the horse euthanized because the horse was going to require a lot of after care. The nail was perilously close to the DDFT, the surgeon is not sure if it knicked the tendon sheath. We have to wait and see. I do not know the previous owner, but the gals who took over said he seemed very relieved that someone was saving the horse.

I am not sure how to judge the previous owner. It is my belief that one takes on a certain responsiblility for care and support when you take on an animal.

[gabhainn]

. It is my belief that one takes on a certain responsiblility for care and support when you take on an animal.
absolutely how I feel, while I am not a cuddly lovey kind of guy. I am firmly entrenched in the horses are livestock camp. there is more than a fair share of responsibilty that goes into animal husbandry. The guy obviously had some knowledge of horses to suspect an abcess, and to know that it would blow shortly. I am just floored he didnt try to find it or at least soak the foot. Anyhow glad the hoss got somebody to look after him........Kevin

[TLC97]

The nail was perilously close to the DDFT, the surgeon is not sure if it knicked the tendon sheath. We have to wait and see.

My stomach just flipped when I saw that. Yup, lot's of care and $$,$$$ to be exact.

How can you have a lame horse and not at least clean their feet? Even a stupid horse owner would know that. If you suspect and abscess, here is a thought, touch base with your farrier?!

[natisha]

, while I am not a cuddly lovey kind of guy. Oh yes you are!!

I sure hope that horses turns out OK

[Joey A]

This is why I always cringe when someone says they want to wait and see.

How did you manage to drill through the nail hole without breaking your bit? I have NO luck trying to drill through anything but an existing round hole.... Or should I be asking how often you break bits? :D

[Joey A]

So you can tell exactly how close this nail is... I added some arrows showing a shadow where the DDFT runs.

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5777&stc=1&d=1258679339

[PaintedDreamer_0110]

Ouch! I hope that horse recovers

[AUEquine]

Oh the things that come in to Animal Hospitals. And the things people wait and see on... fractured legs, horrible colics, lacerations, down horses, etc. I'm never shocked anymore at what owners will do and won't do! Especially after this week... man I wish I could tell ya'll all the stories from work, stupid confidentiality. Hopefully he'll make a good recovery!

[lacyloo]

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-angry032.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php) http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-angry039.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)

[westmanfarrier]

This is why I always cringe when someone says they want to wait and see.

How did you manage to drill through the nail hole without breaking your bit? I have NO luck trying to drill through anything but an existing round hole.... Or should I be asking how often you break bits? :D

I went through the hoof side of the shoe, slid right through. I wasn't sure if it was the best idea, as it can be tricky to get the bolt started. I didn't have a flat plate in that size as I rarely use them.

What I did break was my 1/4" tap. This was my second shoe because of that. Any tricks to getting the tip of a tap out of a hole? The drill wouldn't touch it, as the tap is strong as the drill bit.

[Joey A]

I just heat the shoe and drive it out, or grind it down and pick somewhere else to put a hole. (in either case you need a new hole)

I drill an oversize hole for a hospital plate and the like. I just drill a 7/32" hole for a 1/4" bolt. There's no need for heavy threads on a hospital plate, the only way the threads can get damaged is over tighening the bolts. I give clients instructions to go finger tight and then 1/4 turn with a wrench and don't have a problem.

Screw in studs can't take an oversize hole like that, but the bigger taps can handle the force going through a "correct" hole.

[dame_wolf]

I've got a couple of friends that have had to deal with nails. One was as bad as this poor horse but it was caught when it happened and taken care of. The mare is completely sound now so no worries. The other I witnessed personally. We were on a trail ride when my friends horse Indy started limping on his left hind. I was right behind him so I yelled for M to stop. She jumped off, picked up his foot and found a nail. She was so pissed she pulled it out (only in about a 1/4 inch) and we walked him back. He's okay too, called the vet and they said if it didn't go in that far to just soak and goop up his foot and watch it.

[westmanfarrier]

I just heat the shoe and drive it out, or grind it down and pick somewhere else to put a hole. (in either case you need a new hole)

I drill an oversize hole for a hospital plate and the like. I just drill a 7/32" hole for a 1/4" bolt. There's no need for heavy threads on a hospital plate, the only way the threads can get damaged is over tighening the bolts. I give clients instructions to go finger tight and then 1/4 turn with a wrench and don't have a problem.

Screw in studs can't take an oversize hole like that, but the bigger taps can handle the force going through a "correct" hole.

Thanks dude, I'll try the bigger hole trick next time.

[mandisue]

Poor thing. I definitely would have used a HOOF PICK and checked it out and proceeded to call my farrier before "waiting and seeing" looks like you did a great job on the foot.

[Beausgirl]

One of my horses picked up a nail too. It was obvious something was amiss when I went out to feed. the first thing I do when a horse comes up lame suddenly is pick up the foot and give it a good examination! We were lucky - once the nail was pulled - he was fine - this was quite a few years ago. I can't imagine why the original owner didn't give the foot a good examination before deciding to "wait and see". There's no figuring some people, I guess!

[Fork]

Wow! With a foot that bad, wouldn't you think to look around a little? :( Ouch. Hopefully he'll recover!

[gaited07]

The guy obviously had some knowledge of horses to suspect an abcess, and to know that it would blow shortly. I am just floored he didnt try to find it or at least soak the foot. Anyhow glad the hoss got somebody to look after him........Kevin


This is my thought too. If you think it might be an abscess, wouldn't you try to soak/clean it, especially since he/she wasn't going to have the horse seen by the vet right away?

I'm glad that the horse is doing well and hope for future success stories with him.

[westmanfarrier]

One of my horses picked up a nail too. It was obvious something was amiss when I went out to feed. the first thing I do when a horse comes up lame suddenly is pick up the foot and give it a good examination! We were lucky - once the nail was pulled - he was fine - this was quite a few years ago. I can't imagine why the original owner didn't give the foot a good examination before deciding to "wait and see". There's no figuring some people, I guess!

You have to be VERY careful when pulling a nail out. Most of the time you just can't know how deep it is. According to the vet, this one didn't look too bad, but he thought he had better take a picture just to be certain and was very surprised at just how deep that sucker went.

[westmanfarrier]

This is my thought too. If you think it might be an abscess, wouldn't you try to soak/clean it, especially since he/she wasn't going to have the horse seen by the vet right away?

I'm glad that the horse is doing well and hope for future success stories with him.

We can't know the circumstances of what was going on. I do not know the owner. Maybe they had limitations.

The reason I put it up here is not to trash the owner, but learn from it to prevent any further similar problems in the future.