Well today's confession is that my pony had a GIANT PIECE OF WOOD in her foot and I couldn't see it. So that explained the abscess that wouldn't pop completely. Warning some photos below are a little icky, so if you're not into that feel free to not continue.
So backing up, Shiny had that abscess that just wasn't getting better. It would start to come out, but not all the way, and she continued to be pretty painful on it. We had the farrier out twice, and then while I was away one of the local vets looked at it. He put her on an antibiotic and some Banamine, but it still wasn't resolving.
I had her scheduled with my regular vet for Friday for something else, so I had him look at the foot. We started with x-rays. Not sure why the other vet didn't start there. But anyway...
The x-ray didn't really show the wood. We thought that black spot was the abscess on first look. But I actually do think it was the splinter as seen from above. All of that kind of shaded area along the right side is inflammation. And all that inflammation has caused some bone loss on her coffin bone. Because why wouldn't it right?
So after the x-rays Doc blocked the foot to try and do some digging. And whilst trying to dig out the infection he found the splinter. It was HUGE.
When he first pulled the smaller piece out I thought it was bone! So gnarly. So what we figure happened was she must have kicked the wall and managed to wedge this piece of wood up into her foot. She's barefoot, so if she'd been shod this probably wouldn't have happened. The piece went in so far that it was flush with the foot so you couldn't see it. It just looked like hoof. And then the abscess probably pulled it farther up as it tried to find its way out through the coronet band.
So prognosis is good, and she's feeling SO much better without that wood stuck up in there. We have to wait for the hoof to grow back before she gets back into work, and we'll have to wait and see how much that bone loss will bother her. But hopefully she'll be ok in a bit.
It's not surprising that it wasn't JUST an abscess. But sheesh. I hope little miss learns a lesson from this... Don't kick the walls!
AAAAHHHH wow that is just nuts. I'm so sorry, but SO GLAD you found it. This is very, very similar to what happened to Tristan - only instead of huge chunk of wood, it was a fractured piece of coffin bone that got loose. He had the same exact symptoms. So fingers crossed for the same great outcome for Shiny! I learned through that whole rigamarole that horses can function at 100% with a shocking amount of their coffin bone missing.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, he lost a chunk of actual BONE?! That's honestly what I thought I was seeing when the first piece was extracted. I'm so glad to know Tristan healed up really well, that definitely helps my outlook!
DeleteYes - a piece of the coffin bone about the size of a fingernail fractured off - we never did figure out when or how. (Mayyyyybe he hung a foot at a jump?) It then proceeded to function exactly the same way as the wood did in this scenario, only it hung out there for months because it was close to impossible to see on x-rays. There was a fairly large infection in the coffin bone itself, and he had surgery to remove the chip and debride the coffin bone. Once he healed up from that the only lingering problem has been that the scar tissue on the sole of his hoof is weakened and he has to wear shoes + pads up front.
DeleteWow, that is crazy! My vet did mention she may need shoes after this, which is totally fine with me.
DeleteThat is SO GNARLY. But also, dammit Shiny, don't kick walls! 😠I hope she recovers fully and quickly 🤞
ReplyDeleteRight? Such a brat. She doesn't do it at home, but at the boarding barn there are bars between the horses and she can see her neighbor. Not cool with her apparently. So high maintenance.
DeleteThank you! Fingers crossed!
Holy cow!
ReplyDeleteRight?!
DeleteUgh. I saw these photos on FB. What a horrible thing to have happen! Here's to a total recovery and that she learned her lesson.
ReplyDeleteHere's to hoping!
DeleteUgh I can commiserate with poor shiny - I too once had a giant splinter in my foot and had to draw it out and then pull it out, the relief was IMMEDIATE once it was out. but the damn thing had been in my foot for enough days that the body wears them eerily smooth as it tries to absorb it. Bodies are weird.
ReplyDeleteOuch! That must have really hurt!
DeleteOmg I saw this on Insta and just could NOT believe it. Glad you all figured it out, but wow... that is insane.
ReplyDelete(btw - I had something similar happen with May. She got a piece of gravel up her white line. It was ridiculous)
It's amazing how easy it is for these giant animals to mess up their feet!
DeleteWhoa...that is gruesome... So glad the problem was found and she is on the mend. Here's hoping that hoof recovers and she is back to her old self soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThis just makes me cringe. That had to be so painful!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely was, poor girl.
Deletehorses are stupid.
ReplyDeleteComplete morons.
DeleteMares! We had to put rubber mats on the walls of Shasta's stall in CA. It hasn't been an issue here (yet).
ReplyDeleteThis is why I buy geldings normally!
DeleteHoly Christ almighty.... and here i thought Charlie’s hoof-piercing shenanigans were intense.... :(
ReplyDeleteWhatever you do, do NOT tell him about this! I'm confident he'll see it as a challenge.
Delete