Sole Bruises!

[eeyore]

hi, just want to know if there's any way of speeding up the healing process or bruises..

my gelding has a couple of one of his fores after we had to go across a harsh patch of gravel (he's transitioning to barefoot)
but the trimmer is coming on friday and usually uncovers bruises on the sole again..

i don't want him to be hopping lame with tons of bruises! :(

he's had bruises before but they've usually sorted themselves out in about a week.

if there anything random i can try like garlic to increase circulation (better chance of healing quicker?)

[eventerbabe]

i use keratex hoof hardener twice a week to toughen up my pony's soles (remember not to put it on the frog though!). she's soft soles because of laminitis but the keratex has worked wonders.

[Jessey]

You can give Arnica which helps heal bruises quickly, you can get it from boots etc.

J x

[eeyore]

You can give Arnica which helps heal bruises quickly, you can get it from boots etc.

J x

hmm what's Arnica?

and good idea about Keratex, i'll think about using it over the winter :D

[Yann]

but the trimmer is coming on friday and usually uncovers bruises on the sole again..


Might be misunderstanding you but is your trimmer prone to making your horse sore after trims? :(

[eeyore]

Might be misunderstanding you but is your trimmer prone to making your horse sore after trims? :(

nah there was a reason he has bruises after trimming.. i honestly forget lol!

he's only been barefoot 4 months (sounds long time but was a TB with incredibly bad feet)
he actually didn't get any after the last trim and was walking well straight afterwards so fingers crossed.

[Yann]

OK :) It might be that the trim is removing exfoliated sole and showing them up? Just been looking at your transition pics which are very interesting, I'm not an expert at all and my horse has only had her shoes off for a few weeks but the thing that strikes me is that the trimmer isn't doing anything with the bars and they're folding over and distorting. My understanding is that this won't help with bruising and comfort over rough ground, might be worth asking about. Who is your trimmer? :)

[eeyore]

Jane Berressford is our trimmer.
i'll ask her about the bars on friday - i don't think she's had to do anything much with them as he's hardly had any! :p
it's only since the last trim that his heels got into a better position and recently he's starting growing his bars more.

[Jessey]

Arnica is a homeopathic remedy and is really good at helping bruises to resolve themselves very quickly, its also harmless being totally natural.

J x

[eeyore]

Arnica is a homeopathic remedy and is really good at helping bruises to resolve themselves very quickly, its also harmless being totally natural.

J x

sounds good! i'll have a look for it on tomorrow! :)

[MelanieD]

Keratex and arnica are good things. Eventually as you get rid of all that flare he had the soles should get more concave and thicker and then you'll get rid of the problems with bruising. The bruises you can see when the trimmer cleans the sole are usually weeks old as it takes a while for them to reach the surface so by the time you see them they aren't a problem anymore. Unless he's actually sore with the bruising then don't worry too much about them, just be careful going over stones and let him pick his own way as much as possible.

[eeyore]

thanks for the advice, MelanieD.

he was so slow coming to me in the field tonight i wasn't sure if he was still out there! and he is limping so badly off his right foot (even in the softest muddiest ground),
do you think he would be better off tomorrow with a day of box rest??

we got some arnica cream and i put it over his sole this evening.
he wouldn't let me pick up his left foot so i assume it is only his right. :(

how long do you think it will take for him to improve??
how long does that arnica stuff take before it helps?

[AllEquestrian]

its also harmless being totally natural.

J x

not all "natural" products are harmless :rolleyes:

[Bebe]

Bruising isn't normal, not even in flat soled hooves and is usually a sign that you've got major problems with the hoof or are overdoing things.

I'd back off any sort of work, use boots (or tape cut up mouse mats to his hooves if you don't have any boots) to make him comfortable going to and from the field and give him time to sort himself out. Arnica may or may not help, I doubt slathering the hoof with it will do any good as it's not going to be absorbed but you could give Arnica pillules orally (2 pillules twice a day is normal dose, can give more frequently for acute problems).

If you know it's gravel causing the problem then either avoid it until he's comfortable on it, or use boots to get across it if you can't avoid it. There's no point forcing a horse over surfaces it's not comfortable on, it can cause trauma as you're finding.

Has your trimmer mentioned any possible causes as to the bruising? Whilst old bruises are the ones that you'll be seeing at sole level (why is your trimmer trimming the sole, this isn't normal practice?) if he's lame now you've got current bruising (or possibly an abcess) which would worry me to be honest.

[MelanieD]

I didn't realise he was really lame with it when I replied before.. keratex can help toughen up the soles and arnica can help with bruising but agree with Bebe about overdoing things if there's major bruising. If he's getting really bad bruises or abcesses then you need to avoid gravelly bits or use boots. Being really lame does sound like either a very bad bruise or an abcess, or could even be something other than the feet, no way to tell over the internet!

Have had quite a few of ours have the occasional pink patches on the sole or frogs from bruising, our yard has so many rough bits there's no hope of avoiding them and there's stoney bits out in the fields and more stones hiding under the mud. We usually find the bruises while they are being trimmed just because the sole is clean and any exfoliating stuff removed, not because live sole is being trimmed. Once the feet are getting somewhere near healthy these stop appearing, but they are just minor bruises, the worst one caused the horse to be a bit footy for a couple of days. For more serious ones I'd be doing something to avoid the surface causing the problem or booting.

[eeyore]

the reason as to why we went over the gravel to start with was because we wanted to ride around the circuit (down track, out other yard's driveway, along road, back done our driveway! takes about 10 mins).
anyway, the barrier to the other end of the yard's driveway was shut (grr was gone 8am too!) so we had to go through this gap (it's a big gap that's supposed to be there, dw) to get out onto the road, and i forgot that the ground across there is really harsh :-s so we never usually and don't have to go across there.
he was short across it and tripped a bit when we got onto the road but once we got going he was fine afterwards.

it's definately bruising on his right foot. a pink patch showed itself last night.
trouble is he won't even pick up his left for me now :( so i'm just really worried now as it seems he's getting worse...

we're having him in tomorrow during the day. give him a good rest.
the trimmer is due up around 2pm ish but i'm not sure if she's going to be able to do him if he won't pick up his left.

oh well. fingers crossed.