Posted by Phil Armitage on November 30, 2003 at 00:27:00:
In Reply to: Help...could this be hotnail or ???? posted by L.J. on November 29, 2003 at 00:37:36:
: Please help me...asap. Last Friday my daughters quarter horse was shod. on Sat or Sun I noticed the horse limp so I told her not to ride her. We gave her some bute each day. Today a week later I had my daughter trot her on hard ground and still saw a limp. Then...she just would put no pressure on her foot. I just had X rays on her last month and this leg was fine. This is our first horse and I about hit the roof when I read about hot nail. My farrier just called as I am typing this. He seems to feel that if it were hot nail she would have been 3 legged lame within 24 hrs of the shoeing. He said maybe some sand was lodged under her foot and worked its way in which would cause intermittent lameness. However this right foot lameness started right after she was shod and a week later seems worse. She is in a very sandy pen thank goodness and it's not as noticeable until you put her on hard ground. What do you all think? Would a horse go completely lame in 24 hrs from hotnail or could it take longer? could it just be positioned in a way to irritate her and make it worse when she trots? What else could it be and what should I look for and ask the farrier when he comes out tomorrow? Can hotnail leave a horse lame for the rest of it's life? Thanks to all of you in advance who take the time to read this. She is not just a horse but our family member!
It could be several things, it could be a hot nail, how soon the lameness shows up depends on if the nail went directly into live tissue, lameness would be imediate or the nail could be close to live tissue and it could take a few days before it becomes sore. It could also be that it is not related to shoeing at all the horse may have sprained his leg or stepped on a rock just prior to shoeing by playing and running around in the paddock. I think the best thing to do right now is have your farrier come out as soon as possible and rule out the shoeing and nailing as a cause. Then go from there. By the way I understand that she is more than a horse to your family, it is that way for most horse owners. Trust me when a horse is lame after shoeing farriers feel awfull and it can bother us until we figure out what is going on and fix it. Mistakes happen and other things happen that we never know why and how it was caused, horses play and run around and do things we never see during the day. I hope all works out well, I have never seen a horse go permantly lame from a hot nail, I have had it happen to me and also have customers that there horses have stepped on 10 penney nails that have come out the back part of there foot through the bulbs and fully recover within weeks. I'm sure your farrier will figure out what is going on and if it continues to be a problem do not hesitate to call your vet.
Phil