Hi, I'm Danvers.
I'm the Hoof Health Consultant for SmartPak.
Today, we're going to talk about bruises.
On the foot, bruising is generally an issue of the sole, though you can find bruises in
the frog.
You'll see evidence of bruising in the hoof wall, but, primarily, when we're dealing with
bruises, we're talking about on the solar surface of the foot.
In general, the sole on a normal saddle horse is going to be about 3/8 of an inch thick.
That's not a lot, when you look at the fact that at a gallop, a horse is going to be putting
five thousand pounds of pressure on that limb.
So, that's not a lot of protection.
So, a bruise is not uncommon.
Ways to avoid it - good regular maintenance, keeping the foot gathered and the integrity
of that hoof will help to keep a thick hoof wall.
One of the most important things is to leave some sole in the foot and allow it to be protected.
The more that you strip out this sole, the more you thin the sole, the more that you
provide an opportunity for bruising to take place.
Usually, when we see a bruise on the bottom of a foot, it's usually old and no longer
an issue.
There are a number of different types of bruises.
If you see the bruise on the sole, and you can often feel and put a little thumb pressure
there, and you'll find a little circle or a little oval, little area, where it feels
a bit spongy, and that's definitely a bruise.
In other cases, you'll see what appears to be bruising in the white line area.
You'll see red, you'll see yellow - different colors that show up in that area, and that's
very often laminar tearing.
So, you're looking at leakage from the stretching and pulling of that lamina, between the sensitive
and insensitive tissue.
So that's more often a sign of imbalance than insult.
Imbalances in the hoof cause that stretching and pulling and tearing.
It appears as a bruise or evidences as a bruise, but it's really a result of that imbalance.
And, occasionally, you'll see bruising that will show up in the outer hoof wall.
More often than not, that's been some type of an insult to the origin of growth.
Horses that tend to paw and bang at a gate will sometimes show signs of bruising around
that perimeter.
At the acute stage, you're very often going to see a horse that is evidencing as lame
with no visual evidence on the foot.
That's where you'll pull out a pair of hoof testers and go searching.
In many cases, the veterinarian or the farrier will be looking for where that area of insult
is.
If the bruise is in the frog, it's usually not visually accessible.
And you'll just have to find that by palpating it with your hand or with hoof testers.
If it's out in the sole, you'll find it as a spongy spot.
There are a number of ways to deal with a bruise.
One of the important things is to make certain that you are, in fact, dealing with a bruise.
You can get a reaction and think, "Oh, that horse is bruised," when, in fact, it's the
beginning of a laminitic episode.
If you just say, "Boy he's bruised.
Let's put a pad on that," and it turns out that it's an abscess, you're going to be driving
the infection deeper.
So make absolutely certain that you've involved your hoof care professionals and that you
have definitive diagnostics that you can work from.
Once you've established that you are, in fact, dealing with a bruise, it's usually something
that can be resolved, and the horse can go back to work in short order.
The treatment protocols will vary.
I use a venice turpentine-based product or Magic Cushion.
Any number of things that are commercially available.
Work with your farrier and your veterinarian.
Know what they're comfortable with.
Make sure that you're using good, commercially products that are intended for the purpose.
I hope this was helpful.
Stay tuned as we work on more hoof health concerns here at SmartPak.