Then there was an abscess?

So after Ben had a very nice birthday the next day the barn worker tells me Ben is lame. Ok I think maybe his hock is bothering him from his trailering incident. I thank him & go check things over myself. Well he was lame alright but it was not his hock it was his right front plain as day! His leg felt fine no heat anywhere maybe some very minor swelling on the back of his fetlock but nothing crazy. My heart sank & I went into panic mode. A few phone calls later I had a vet appt. scheduled for that day. A few more phone calls & a good friend insisted she look at him before the vet if I wanted so I agreed. She is a great horsewoman with many years under her belt & I value her opinion a lot. She came to look at him & after much checking it leads to the foot. A pulse was felt & with the sudden onset lameness to that degree points to it as well. So she helped me wrap his foot after a struggle because he hates that leg fussed with on a good day! So foot wrapped nice & good with animalintex pad in place & back to his routine he goes.

I knew wrapping his foot daily was not something I want to continue to do simply because he does not tolerate it. So I had a pair of boots in mind for just this situation. Easyboot Clouds! I start my search online to get ahold of a pair only to find every store backordered due to popularity. So now what...I go onto Dovers website in hopes they even carried they boots low and behold they have them & in his size! So I order straight away & have them overnighted. I hadn't received my shipping conformation yet so I contacted the company to find I had missed the time cut off for overnight shipping due to the fact I couldn't locate these boots took me that long! I felt panicked but then they said they would see what they could do & after a few mins they told me they where running my boots to the truck as we spoke just so he would have them the next day! Talk about great customer service! I had the boots delivered on my doorstep by 9:40 AM the next morning!

I rush over to the barn to get the boots on his feet to provide him with better comfort until his abscess heals. I was hoping I got the right size I luckily had measurements of his hoofs already from a few months prior for a different pair of boots so I had the size. I wanted to try the left front on first since that is his bigger foot & it wasn't wrapped. Getting him to put all his weight on his right front to pick that left up was a challenge . He didn't want to but did for me like he knew I just wanted to help him so he picks it up long enough for me to do a quick clean & put the boot on. It fit perfectly. Relief that at least I had the correct size! Now the challenge of putting the other boot on. I first had to take off his wrap which after 20 mins of struggling I still couldn't get off... thankfully a very nice boarder came along at the right time & helped me get it off & even soak his foot & place his boot on him. He walked noticeably more comfortable with the boots so I was feeling much better. He was still hurting but not as bad as with nothing or just the wrap.

I had sent my farrier a message & he offered to come take a look at his foot & I eagerly agreed the more people the better. So he comes out checks him over thoroughly & he has an increased pulse, positive on the hoof testers in his heel & heel bulb area. I knew it was the back of his foot because he would place the toe down but didn't want to put full weight on the heel if possible. Farrier carefully trimmed his foot a little but nothing obvious could be detected so he didn't want to continue looking or fear he would have even bigger problems if he tried being invasive about it. My farrier is truly wonderful he is so kind & patient with Ben especially considering Ben is not a model citizen for his toes to be done, but he never looses his patience never raises his voice nothing just gives him tome & continues to work. He loved the easyboot clouds & said they were a great fit for him. He helped me reapply his boot & apply his animalintex pad for the evening.

Despite clearly being uncomfortable Ben is always such a trooper through everything he just keeps walking along & knows his limits. He is still being turned out day & night because the best thing for an abscess is to keep them moving! That & him playing merry go round in a stall would be crippling to that leg for him. I have not given him any pain medications for two reasons one his ulcers & two with abscesses you shouldn't really do pain meds unless absolutely needed because it can slow down the process. It breaks my heart that he has to keep having things go bad for him recently & I probably seem like the worst horse owner. I clean his feet daily & maintain them every 4 weeks with his farrier trimming them. He's been barefoot for going over 3 years now. I try but I suppose I just can't ever be good enough.