On Monday my mare Zuni stepped into a nail that entered her right front hoof at the medial sulcus. In my panic I didn't take a picture so the vet who thank God was there within about 2 hours could not find the exact spot it had entered.
I removed the nail completely but when I pulled it a gush of blood came out. Zuni was in bad shape. For 2 days she laid down almost flat, getting up & laying down again. Since day 3 she is up again but severely lame. The vet said it could have penetrated the navicular bursa.
I try to soak her foot once a day in warm epsom salt water, & keep her in boots with sugar dyne on her hoof. I know only time will tell but if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate your input.
The possibility of infection is high with this type of injury. You need to get rads done to see if anything will show up. Assuming she is up-to-date on tetanus vax.
Did the vet make any mention of antibiotics? If this did penetrate the navicular bursa, you'll likely need to do more than just poultice and soak. They could do a needle aspiration to see what the fluid in the bursa looks like.That she is still severely lame is not a good sign and you really should speak to the vet again.
I don't mean to scare you, but my 20 year old gelding had a similar injury about 3 weeks ago. Thought nothing of it since that has happened before. We soaked, put on antibiotics, and finally took him to a vet for x-rays. My equine vet was out of town. He showed us how serious it was and what kind of damage we were dealing with. We took him to the University of Illinois that night for lots of treatment and eventual surgery. We thought he had was on the road to recovery, but it quickly turned around. He could no longer stand on that leg and the other leg was getting ready to break down. We made the 3.5 hour trip so that I could look at his eyes. They were no longer bright, so we choose to have him cross the bridge. Hardest thing I have ever done as I loved this horse! Necropsy showed that the ddft was severely damaged and was full of necrotic tissue. I have a $3700 bill to pay, but would do it all again if it would save him. The surgeon told me that no matter what I had done in the beginning that his fate was sealed when it happened! Good luck with your horse. Linda in Southern Illinois 2002
