Case of the Month!
This month’s case involves “Tessa” a 5 year old paint
mare.
“Tessa” made the mistake of getting caught in the fence.
Although she managed to get herself free of the wire
with only a few minor cuts, the owner noticed the next
morning that she was refusing to use her RR leg.
On physical exam, the mare was unwilling to put any
weight on her RR leg. She was anxious and clearly
painful. There was no swelling anywhere in the leg,
although there was some heat in the hoof wall. An exam
of the hoof revealed intense pain when the hoof was
squeezed or tapped with the hoof testers. Although an
abscess can sometimes make a horse extremely lame, the
history of recently getting caught in the fence made me
suspicious of a fracture.
We took x-rays of the foot, which clearly revealed a
fracture of the base of the lateral wing of the coffin
bone. I suspect the mare may have kicked the fence post
in her vigorous attempts to free herself, resulting in
this fracture.
Fortunately, since the area where the fracture is does
not involve the joint, this fracture can heal with
appropriate shoeing and rest. We requested that the
owner contact her ferrier to construct a special shoe
for the horse. In the meantime, we formed a pad of
rubber cushion material which we secured to the foot
with elastikon. She was started on phenylbutazone for
pain and turned out in a small paddock. With the pad
secured, she was walking somewhat better, but still
sore.
The owner contacted a ferrier who was capable of
creating a shoe to secure the fracture while it healed.
Usually, this is a bar shoe with
quarter clips to secure it to the foot and prevent
further swelling of the hoof capsule.
Here, we see the ferrier fitting the shoe to the
horses foot as he forges it.
 As
the ferrier was working, we noticed pus draining from
the coronary band on the fractured foot. An exam showed
that she had developed a subsolar abscess . This was
probably the result of bruising the hoof when she
fractured the bone. The owners had already updated her
tetanus shot, so once the shoe was attached they could
begin soaking the foot to draw out the abscess.
Finally, with the shoe properly fitted, we sedated
the horse and them numbed the area with a local
anesthetic to make it easier for the ferrier to put the
shoe on, since she was still very sore. The finished
shoe was secured to the foot and will need to be reset
in about 4 weeks. The fracture may take 3-6 months to
heal. In 3 months, we will take another x-ray to
evaluate healing.
Check back for other Cases of the
Month!
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Denise Bickel DVM
Whole Horse Veterinary Services
Phone # 517-474-4050
Fax # 517-764-7710
3906 Seymour Rd
Jackson, MI 49201
EMAIL US
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