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Discussion on 3 1/2 week old foal with shoe boil/capped elbow | |
Author | Message |
Member: bullmom |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 4, 2009 - 7:57 pm: Hello, I'm back with yet another issue. My 3 1/2 week old foal has a shoe boil/capped elbow. The mare and foal are in the pasture but the mare is bringing the foal close to the barn at night where the ground is hard. I am moving them to another part of the pasture where the other mares and foals are located. The plan is to shut them off in the far end of that pasture where they cannot hang around the barn. The grass will be softer there. I really do not want to put the mare and foal up in the barn again. Do you think this will resolve on it's own? Please let me know what you suggest. Is this unusual? I found nothing written about it in an internet search. I would say this has developed for a week since that is how long they have been out of the barn, where they had plenty of shavings. Thank you. |
Member: leslie1 |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 4, 2009 - 9:01 pm: Meldont know if a ring would fit a foal, but maybe worth a shot trying. L |
Member: bullmom |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 4, 2009 - 10:20 pm: Leslie, thank you for the reply. It seems the capped elbow is from the hard ground and not the hoof. We are in a DrOught and I moved the mare and foal to a pasture where there is no packed ground. The mare was hanging around the barn too much where the ground is hard. I do have a little donut if indeed that little hoof could have rubbed. The only concern is next week we are going to Cheyenne WY, and will be gone for 3 weeks. I was hoping to get everything but our saddle horses out in the pasture while we are gone. |
Member: leslie1 |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 4, 2009 - 10:34 pm: Ahhhh.BTW hows are his tendons doing? L |
Member: bullmom |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 4, 2009 - 11:18 pm: Leslie, he straightened up last Monday and I turned them out; now this. Thanks for asking. After the fetlock issue, I was thinking the problems were behind me. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 4, 2009 - 11:22 pm: Melanie without examining the wound there is not much way we can guess at what should be done to treat this. We have information on wound care ( Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Wounds / Burns) and if laying on hard ground is the cause moving to soft ground should help but I don't know if it will be enough.DrO |
Member: bullmom |
Posted on Friday, Jul 10, 2009 - 12:40 pm: Dr. O, I've come to find out these are tricky to manage, and there are no solid answers. I've been painting elbow for 4-5 days with DMSO/Dex/Furicin. The swelling has gone down a good bit and yesterday morning the sac was 1/2 drained from the initial flare-up. In your, and others opinion, would you take a look at the link and let me know: 1. Do you think this is a mild case, or a harder-to-treat case? 2. Since the foal is a month old is it possible he will out-grow this? My husband says once they get these they either don't go away, or they return. I've learned a hard lesson about management: do not foal during the month of June in Texas. The ground is harder in June than April. We are leaving for Cheyenne next week and will be gone 3 weeks. We have a hand tending to our livestock while gone, but I do not feel comfortable leaving them up in the barn during this time. We have them out on pasture, away from the barn where the ground is hard. Here is the link: https://www.wilfongbuckingbulls.com/foal.html. Thanks so much, I greatly appreciate your input. If you think putting him up in the barn for the five days before we leave will help I can do so. |
Member: bullmom |
Posted on Friday, Jul 10, 2009 - 12:58 pm: Here is the link. I'm not sure why it doesn't work above. Thankshttps://www.wilfongbuckingbulls.com/foal.html |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 - 6:55 am: Hello Melanie,I really cannot make a pronouncement about mild or serious here without seeing the foal, I am not even sure they would have much meaning. Just going by the photos there appears to be improvement and this can heal permanently if the cause can be removed. If the problem is lying down on very hard ground and there are no other places for the foal to stay this might become a chronic problem. For more on the chronic problem see, Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Bumps / Nodules / Warts / Tumors » Capped Elbow / Shoe Boil: Hygroma at the Point of the Elbow. DrO |
Member: leslie1 |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 - 1:28 pm: Melaniecan you make a spot of deep bedding near where the mare likes to lay? maybe 10 bales of straw or even cheap soft grass hay. use a shovel to make an edge so it will kinda stay in place (if possible) Maybe they will use it. L |
Member: ekaufman |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 - 3:38 pm: Hi Melanie,Are you guys coming to Frontier Days? Just up the road from me! In my experience, a foal will usually prefer to lie in a soft spot, if he can choose one near his mother. If you can figure out where they usually sleep at night (several piles of poop in a single spot), you could scrape a shallow (so he doesn't get stuck) hollow in the ground, and put some damp straw or hay in there. This works for my guys who are on dry lot at night. Another option is to harrow up the dirt a bit, depending on the condition of the pasture. I think it's a very tough summer in TX for horses. My friends in Driftwood are having brutal weather, and every single thing about horse care is difficult this year. |
Member: bullmom |
Posted on Sunday, Jul 12, 2009 - 11:28 am: Thanks for the replies and advice, it's greatly appreciated. Yes, we will be at Frontier days the entire time, and then on to Dodge City. We're one of the stock contractors hauling bulls. I'm looking forward to it, but hate being away from home that long. At least I'll have my horse up there to ride. We usually just haul for 2-3 days at a time, but we're fortunate to have bulls at the big show. Yeah, it's miserable here. |