Having always owned horses with great feet, that never required shoes due to their thick hoof walls and general superiority, I had never had to deal with hoof abscesses before this winter.

Enter Zephyr.

Z, while possessing fine hoof walls as well, is unfortunately a little flat-footed. This means the soles of his hoofs come in contact with whatever he is walking over, more than other horses. This small conformation flaw makes him what is often called “tender-footed”. In other words, small rocks or other hard objects he walks over tend to cause him more pain and he runs a greater risk of bruising.

All this I was aware of and I therefore avoided riding him outside the arena without shoes. What I had not considered was what happens when a warm, wet winter suddenly becomes a very cold one and the pasture freezes. The result of this is horses whose feet are softened by prolonged exposure to wet ground, suddenly find themselves walking on very hard, usually uneven ground. If the animals run around or just move too fast they can rather easily bruise their soles, especially those prone to it.

Now a horse like Orion, with a hoof wall twice as thick as most horses, has the sole of his feet well supported up off the ground, AND said sole is very, very tough. He runs very little risk of any damage, even on frozen pasture.

Zephyr on the other hand, with the exact opposite foot structure and a tendency to do silly things like running around on frozen ground, is really at risk for such damage.

Now normally slight bruises are no great problem and the horse heals up very quickly. This has always been my understanding. What I did not know until recently is the fact that bruised soles are more susceptible to Thrush.

Hoof thrush is found in the underside of the hoof and can affect the clefts, sole, and frog. It’s not known whether thrush is caused by a bacteria or a fungus, but the condition is more likely to occur in the damp oxygen-less areas of a hoof that are often tightly packed with dirt and manure. In the early stages it is harmless, but left untreated it can cause hoof damage and lameness. Thrush spreading into a bruised area of the foot is a common cause of hoof abscess. So combine a flatter foot, already softened by wet ground, then frozen ground, then wet again, makes for a horse prone to abscesses.

We already knew Z had developed an abscess in his right hind foot in December. We had Dr. Bridges out to open it up and treat it and all seemed to be fine. Yesterday our farrier came out to trim all the horses and when doing Zephyr discovered just how bad the abscess on the right hind had been. He ended up cutting away a great deal of hoof sole and quite a bit of the hoof wall near the heel. Now we knew this was going to happen to one degree or another as it is normal for a hoof that has had an abscess. What I was surprised by was just how much was lost. What surprised me more was when the farrier discovered that the left hind had an abscess as well, at just about the same time as the right. We hadn’t noticed at the time because Z was so clearly favoring the other hind foot and because the abscess on the left had “broken out” meaning it had caused a small opening in the hoof and relieved much of the pressure, which is what causes the pain in the first place.

To make a long story short, I know too late, we ended up cutting away the damaged area of the left hind hoof as well. The farrier is confident that both will heal and grow back just fine if there is no repeat this year. To this end, I am getting Z out regularly, cleaning out his hoofs, and treating everything with Thrush Buster. Once the hooves have grown back and recovered a bit, we will be shoeing him again to protect the soles and watching to make sure the problem is not repeated.

All very educational for me and sad for Zephyr. The good news is, he is not permanently damaged, is in no pain, and is still a character, always trying to get me to take him out.  It will just be a few weeks before I can.  No harm done. Lesson learned.