From the time that Gabby arrived at the rescue last December, she has always had a slight limp. Due to her age and history, our vet and I thought that it was due to severe arthritis. It turns out that Gabby actually had a severe abscess that caused her so much pain at the end of April that we needed to call our vet for an emergency visit.

After taking x-rays, it was clear to see that the abscess was across her entire toe and was very large. In order to make Gabby feel better, we needed to relieve the pressure that the fluid from the abscess was causing. Mark, our farrier, was able to come and create holes for the fluid to drain from. This, however, was just the beginning of helping Gabby feel better!

Gabby’s hoof needed to be kept clean by soaking her foot daily in a watered-down betadine solution to clean out any bacteria. Soaking a horse’s hoof can be difficult and sometimes needs some out-of-the-box thinking.

We tried all the conventional methods to soak her foot; a bucket and then a soaking boot. Gabby was just not having it. She would tip the bucket over and would take the soaking boot off by vigorously shaking her leg.

We talked to Mark and he had a horse that would do the exact same thing. He told us to take an inner tube from a tire and cut a three-foot section. He then said to take one open end of the inner tube and slide Gabby’s hoof into it. Once the inner tube was far enough up Gabby’s leg, we duct-tape the inner tube to her leg. With the remaining open end, we pour the betadine solution into the tube, fold the inner tube in half, and duct-tape the second open end to her leg.

Success! Gabby had a boot that would soak her hoof, but that she could walk around in and not take off.

Don’t miss out on the latest news from the ranch! Sign up for our monthly newsletter today.