Nic was going to the vet today anyway to get his teeth floated. But when I got to the barn this morning, he could hardly walk. He was putting no weight on his left front.  Of course, always think the worse--founder and so on.  Even as bad as he hurt, Nic hopped into the trailer and we were off to Pioneer Vet Hospital. The hospital personnel, all my horses and I are on a first name basis!

When I got Nic unloaded at hospital the first thing Dr. McDonald asked was, "When did Nic lose that chunk of hoof wall?"

"About a week ago," was my reply. "But he hasn't favored it or been lame on that leg except for this morning."

Walking Nic around he wouldn't really put weight on leg and when he stepped, he put his toe down first.  But he really didn't want to put his heel down at all. Dr. McDonald suggested nerving the heel. After the injections, Nic walked out and even spooked a couple times at a monster-looking bush and a killer bird, a.k.a. a Robin.

We decided to x-ray his hooves just to make sure, so shoes were pulled. Nic is a horse that puts his whole faith in you. Leading him into the X-ray room where it was dark, mysterious, buzzing with computer noises and an overhead fan he put his head next to my shoulder and went “with me.” If I stopped, he stopped. But if I just walked him in, he moved along. 

The X-rays were taken and to make a long story short, Nic has an abscess behind where the chunk of hoof came out. It could have been a result of the hoof injury or it could have been just bacteria getting in there and causing an abscess. Or it could just have been poor timing and it was abscess forming on its own. We will never know which, but it's a big one!!

After discussions, we decided the best treatment was to leave Nic at Pioneer, pare the hoof out as much as possible, soak the hoof to bring the abscess to a head and leave Nic at the hospital for the whole treatment.  In general, let the abscess open on its own.

When it comes to soaking a hoof, most of us fill a pail full of water and then put a horse's hoof into it with all the Epsom salts and such added to it. Sometimes the horse puts his hoof in, sometimes he doesn't.  But at Pioneer they had the best idea for hoof soaking I've ever seen.

They had these big gallon-size, industrial strength baggies with everything mixed in it.  Dr. McDonald simply put Nic's hoof into the bag, wrapped the top around his leg.  Put some ole duct tape around it to keep it in place with a big square of duct tape on bottom to protect the bottom of baggie.  Then the whole thing was wrapped in a vet wrap.  Really a neat idea!!  The hoof was constantly being soaked and the horse could move around too.

Dr. McDonald said he's left the baggie on a horse's hoof up to 10 hours while he was doing surgery on another horse. But the usual time is about half an hour to an hour. The duct tape and vet wrap protect it as the horse moves around in the stall. Right now, Nic is in a huge stall with about 12 inches of shavings and a baggy hanging on his hoof. And eating like a horse!  Hopefully, he'll be home in 2 or 3 days and then we'll figure out how to protect the abscess 'hole' and pack the spot where the hoof wall came out.

Here's a couple pictures of the hoof before and after the baggy treatment.....