Bruises
This is where the underlying surface is damaged. Bruising can occur from a kick or knock or from treading on an uneven surface and bruising the sole.
Symptoms
If the horse has been kicked there will often be swelling in the area along with a tenderness to touch.
If the sole of the foot has been bruised by treading on a sharp stone or uneven surface then the horse will show a reluctance to walk and/or a shortened stride with weight being kept off one foot in particular or discomfort in all four
Treatment.
- The use of applying hot and cold applications has been shown to help reduce the pain, bruising and swelling.
- There are many products now which are in the form of a clay that can be applied to the affected area and that act in soothing and cooling bruised areas, an example would be Kaolin clay.
- The application of the herb Arnica is known for its soothing and healing properties, it should not be applied to broken skin as it causes irritation.
If the sole has been bruised then rest and soft ground and bedding are advised to allow the sole time to recover.
Prevention
- Horses do love to play and fight so some bruises are inevitable.
- Good stable management practices such as not feeding too many horses out in a field at once and putting out plenty of hay that is well spread out for all of the horses in the field will help to limit the amount of increased stress and fighting situations.
- When exercising your horse always pay attention to the type of ground that you are riding on and take extra care on stony and uneven ground.
- The addition of brushing boots can help prevent brushing and bruising by the horses opposite leg when being ridden.
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