64. Spices first ever Barefoot Trim!

So, today i had the podiatrist come out to see spice for her first barefoot trim and i am pleased to say she was happy with her progress.

With regards the hoof abscess she has said to keep dry poulticing the hoof with the abscess for the next week so the internal structures of the hoof start to rebuild without the risk of any further infection/puncture as what is there at the moment is quite soft.

Apart from the walls being thin and slight flaring (something which is to be expected after de-shoeing) she said spice is doing well and that the holes from the where the nails were are almost grown out. I asked her today about whether she really thought spice was going to be able to hack out barefoot and she said that she is 100% certain that she wont have any problems. She also said that she wouldn't expect spice to get any more abscesses and that once the abscess has fully healed over i should be able to hack her out barefoot on tarmac for 30 mins without any problems. Overall, i am really pleased, i feel the visit has given me the encouragement and confidence i needed to carry on with the transition and fingers crossed spice will not suffer from any more abscesses. She is also almost 100% back to normal in terms of her comfort levels which makes me feel much better. Will keep you all posted over the next few weeks with regards her progress.

61. Day 13...Spices abscess continues...

Today we took off what we hoped would be Spices last poultice but there was still a smell of puss on the poultice which would indicate that it is still draining albeit ever so slightly as visually there was next to nothing on it. So, my first thoughts were to apply yet another poultice and assess the situation tomorrow. However, Spice was behaving quite frantically with it being so windy and looked as though she was going to be a bit of a nightmare to keep still so reluctantly i postponed applying the poultice with the view of coming back to do it later.

I came back roughly 4 hours later to apply the poultice which was actually quite easy due to the fact that spice was happy to stand still for me but her hoof was full of mud due to being outside so it was quite a job cleaning it. I only hope that i managed to clean away the debris from the draining hole so that if there is anything left to drain it has an easy escape but as i said it was quite difficult.

I'm so over the whole hoof abscessing thing. It's times like this when you wish you had a stable just because it would be easier treating a horse in somewhere clean, dry and out of the wind than in an open muddy field.

60. Applying the last poultice day 12

Quick update on spices hoof abscess, it's almost finished draining now i think as there was only the smallest amount of puss on the poultice today so with any luck it will have stopped draining by tomorrow. Am actually quite bored of writing about it now...Am really looking forward to being able to do some groundwork with her as i haven't been able to do any for the past two weeks!

59. Saying goodbye to Spices Hoof Abscess - Day Ten!

Hoorah! Spices hoof abscess definitely seems to be on the mend, as you can see from the poultice above the abscess is still draining but hardly anything has come out over the past 24hrs so it is definitely on it's way out. I wasn't sure whether to apply a wet poultice today or a dry poultice but since she has had a wet for the last three days and there's hardly any muck draining i thought perhaps a dry one would be better. She is also far less lame in fact she's walking fine now so all good signs. I'm hoping that we will only have to dry poultice it for another three days at most and that then we will be able to leave it alone and let nature do the rest. My only hope is that it doesn't come back like it did before...I'm not sure how long it will take for the hole which was made to grow out and for her hoof to be sound in general but hopefully the podiatrist will be able to tell me more on wednesday.

58. Day nine of spices abscess...

So, it's day nine of spices abscess and it is still draining...once again there is not quite as much puss on the poultice as yesterday and it is also not as dark but there is still a fair amount.

On the plus side there was no wind and the sun was shining so spice stood still without me even putting a lead rope on her...If only she could be like this all the time...

55. Day eight of spices hoof abscess

So, it looks as though Spices abscess is still draining, there was quite a bit of puss on the poultice but not quite as much as yesterday and not as dark which i am guessing is a good sign. She made it really hard to apply a poultice today though. It was a bit windy and being the skitty horse that she is she just wouldn't stand still. How my friend got the poultice on i don't know. I just hope it stays on otherwise i fear we'll probably be back to square one. I still think if you can go barefoot you should and physically/genetically i think spice can but i fear that the process of getting her may be far more difficult than i first perceived. If she was a quiet natured horse that was calm and had no problems with standing still the job of applying a clean poultice and dealing with the issues of going barefoot would be easy but as she is not and it seems likely that she may get more abscess whilst in transition i am doubting whether or not i will be able to continue this path. Feeling a bit down about the fact that sometimes just doing the simplest of things with spice seem sooo difficult. Yet seconds later she is the calmest, softest and easiest horse to be around...?! SIGHS...

53. Spices Hoof abscess is getting better...i think!

It's day seven of spices abscess and the good news is...it's definetly draining! We took the poultice off today and it was absolutely covered in puss. Luckily i have a blocked nose so couldn't smell it! I am hoping that some more will drain today but not as much as this would suggest that the infection is clearing. As soon as the wet poultice looks clean i will apply a dry poultice to protect the hoof from becoming re infected until it has fully repaired itself. I am also pleased to say that spice is definitely more comfortable than she was the day before and that the rest of her hooves look brilliant, they are not warm/hot and they do not appear to have any splits or cracks in them so all is not bad. I just can't wait until the podiatrist comes, once she has been i think i will feel a bit more confident about the condition of spices hooves.

Well done spices hoof for being strong and fixing yourself. :)

52. Spices Hoof Abscess is getting worse again!

It's now the sixth day of spices abscess and when i got to the yard i decided to have the vet come and see her as she seemed a little worse than she did yesterday and from what i could see on the poultice nothing was draining so i thought there could be a chance that the abscess was still live especially given the fact that she was still lame. Unfortunately i was right they said that the abscess had spread so had to make another hole to drain it (pictured below). I then cleaned it thoroughly and applied a warm wet poultice so hopefully this will help drain the rest of the abscess and all i have to do then is apply a dry one so the area stays clean while it is healing.



I think the most important thing is keeping it completely clean and free of debris so that it can drain freely but with all the mud and rain that there's been up until now it hasn't been easy to do this so i am hoping that the weather will stay dry and help with the healing process. I am beginning to see why people give up with the whole idea of going barefoot. It's a lot more hassle than just wacking on a pair of shoes...will have to just see how it goes i guess, whilst i am still 100% determined i completely appreciate the reasons why many people choose to shoe their horses.

Below is a video i found about how to treat an abscess which i found quite helpful...

51. Spices Hoof abscess is getting better...

It's the fifth day of spices abscess today and i am pleased to say it seems to be a lot better than it was yesterday. The abscess still seems to be draining a bit but she isn't in nearly as much pain with it and she is far less lame. I only hope she continues to improve, I have the podiatrist coming to visit in 9 days time so fingers crossed she will say all is well.

50. Spices Hoof abscess is getting worse...

So, it's day four of spices abscess and she is still hopping lame. :( I feel a bit guilty today because i guess i think that if i hadn't have removed her shoes the chances are she'd be fine. But i know or at least think that in the long run what i am doing is best for her. I just hope she doesn't have too many more abscesses because they're obviously pretty painful.



I am keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow she will look a bit better and be less lame.

I question what i am doing only because i am only going along with what i have read rather than seen first hand and so far all i see is my horse looking miserable and half crippled. I hope i am doing the right thing. :(



On the plus side, at least she still has an appetite!

49. Update on Spices Hoof Abscess...

Today was so messy and muddy. I arrived at the fields this morning to find our horses had escaped for a third time :( so spent the first hour just tidying up after them and mending the electric fence. After being rained on for about one hour my friend turned up to help me apply a new poultice to spices hoof but that didn't go so well as i think spice was certain that we were trying to kill her by putting her in the stable in order to do it out of the mud.

The good news is the puss and muck from her abscess is draining nicely but spice is still very sore and is limping around. :( I hope it starts to feel less painful for her soon. It's not nice having a disabled horse.

I really hope the weather starts getting better soon too. All this mild weather and rain makes for a bit of a mud bath in the fields and wheelbarrows and mud are two things that should never be put together.

On top of this i am feeling as though i am coming down with the flu but apart from that everything else is great. ahhhh

48. Spices Hoof Abscess

So, i said i'd give you an update on spices hooves and here it is....

I arrived at the yard today to find her hobbling along like she was crippled! Luckily i had my friend on hand to show me how to apply a poultice after the vet had been down to lance it but all the same it was pretty horrible to see spice in so much pain.

It's funny because just as i thought spice was making a brilliant transition this happens but i guess it's to be expected after all its only been 4 weeks and i was reading too that sometimes if a horse has had trauma to it's leg in the past where an infection has been present it can sometimes be trapped and unable to disperse due to the hoof being shod and lacking circulation so it can 'hide away' and lurk inside and not come to the surface so to speak until the shoes are removed. So, in view of the fact that both of spices hind legs were sliced by bramble a week or so prior to shoe removal it is quite possible this is what has caused the abscess.

Anyway, I have an expert on hand with lots of experience with abscesses to help me with the poultices so hopefully within a few days it will have diminished.

http://www.successful-natural-horsecare.com/hoof-abscess.html

Below is a video of what spice looked like...