When I first purchased Seamus I knew that his feet or any other horses feet were not going to be up to my standards. I keep barefoot trimmed horses and many gaited horses are not trimmed in a balanced way....why I don't know. Also most of them are shod with metal shoes. Not against metal shoes but I prefer to have the hoof as natural as possible without the nails hammered into the wall and a metal shoe that prevents the frog from reaching the ground, the hood from flexing etc etc.
Seamus's feet were terrible, I'd already written about his feet when I first got him. In the muddy sales situation I didn't get the best look and the vet check did fail to not the coronary band injury. He wasn't lame, he moved great and even with the knowledge that there was a hoof issue I would have probably gone ahead with the purchase after delving in deeper I'm sure like a previous horse I'd liked; who I'd had hoof radiographs done and ended up finding an issue that made me decide to move on.
Seamus's hooves flared at the quarters, most due when they are too long between trims. Also some nail heads were still present in the hoof. Over the winter he was left to pasture and the shoes just left to fall off....otherwise a farrier would have pulled all the nails right?
The coronary band injury scan be seen as a nick in the hairline and then there is a flap of hard hoof wall a little to the left and down in the picture above. We were going to see if it would grow out.
His freshly trimmed hooves above sure do look nice! Below are is the hoof several months, maybe even 6 months later. You can see a ridge where he was living here, on a different diet and getting a great barefoot trim. The abnormality looks like it's growing out. It still is a flap on the hoof sort of but further up it almost appears to be solid wall.
In comes mud season and that flap ended up curling outwards like a terrible hangnail. I had to keep clipping it off and it would keep growing back.
Then with more mud and a feisty young 6 year old horse that loves to bounce about, Seamus must have bumped it since the flap was now 90 degrees out from the rest of the hoof.
When I clipped it this time, I hit living tissue and it began to bleed. Something definitely needed to be done. My farrier suggested I consult with my vet. It would need to be cut out and then cauterized. Supportive shoes would be needed. Of course my vet was referring to nailed in hooves but my farrier had some tricks up her sleeves with a modified hoof boot and antimicrobial adhesive. There is so much that can be done with the hoof that doesn't include nail holes and upsetting the integrity of the hoof wall.
So we arranged to have my farrier come out shortly after the hoof procedure scheduled with my vet. Seamus was sedated and then the hoof was scrubbed.
A block was injected in the area and then the "hangnail" cut out.
After that a farrier file was heated with a torch and used to cauterize the wound.
The first day I kept Seamus in a stall bedded with fine pine shavings. He didn't really like being in the stall but I wanted to make sure he didn't try to run around too much, even in the small barnyard.
My farrier used a Renegade glue on for support for both his back hooves. They would restrict the movement of the hoof and coronary band for a couple weeks as the area healed. Of course since this is Seamus we are talking about he managed to loose the unwrapped hoof shoe within a few days so my farrier came out a few days later to check on him and it was deemed okay to remove the other boot.
I also had to wrap the back foot and apply a bandage with ointment for the first 5 days. This proved to be a bit difficult and I ended up most likely receiving some hairline fractures to my left foot when Seamus kicked downwards to the ground right where my foot was. It was the most pain I've experienced related to my foot and horses! I've been stepped on many times, including this silly guy and that sure hurt. This was terrible, I'm sure some distant neighbors wondered what that sound was echoing in the rolling hills.
Since I could wiggle my toes I didn't think I needed to go to the ER. The bruising increased over the days and spread over my foot, even far from where I was kicked. I'll spare you yet another horse inflicted bruise pic.
Two months later and I still have a raised area at the base of my middle toes and slight loss of feeling when you touch the area. Probably scar tissue. Oh well, not much a doctor could have done if it was hairline fractures anyways!
I worked with Seamus to deal with the handling of his back hoof. He didn't like feeling the loose bandages as they are being removed. I have plans to work on him some desensitizing him to ropes and other "tickly" things on his pastern area. Of course with my body and feet well away! But that is a future plan. We've been getting past the ridiculous heat the past two months so there hasn't been much desire for horse activities.
Two months later....I'm hoping this thing will grow out and not peel up again. The line I kind of see indicates that it may still be a separate piece of wall. So I'll have to keep an eye on it. I also try to get a better picture of a cleaner hoof! There is mud and drips on his hoof from the pasture so it's kinda hard to really see the hoof wall and of course the booger moved for that second pic.
If I need to I may try Hoof Armor like I have used for Dani when trying to grow out more sole for her hooves. It's basically an epoxy but it's abrasion and water resistant so might be a good away to prevent any flap from peeling up. Only time will tell. At least he's well healed and getting to the time of year that it's gonna start cooling off and we can get back to fun pony activities again!!
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