horse hoof falling off

Question
I have a eight year old gray he got his rear right foot caught up in some rope I found him about ten hours later cut the rope off and cleaned the rope burns the temp. was around O degrees his leg is swelled up and he ended up loosing his hoof the vet told me to put him down have been cleaning the hoof daily he is in a dry stall and have been giving him penicillin he has lost about 150 pounds but is still very alert any ideas thanks Chad

Answer
Hi Chad -- what a horrific thing to have happen. I'm so sorry !!

Only you, as the horse's human, can know when it is time to have your animal humanely euthanized. There are recorded instances when horses have recovered from similar accidents and of course they *can* regrow a hoof capsule. That being said, it is an arduous and time consuming task to care for the horse and again, only you know what kind of care you can honestly give. I am certainly not in a position to say yay or nay here.

You can always get a secondary consult from another vet who, maybe, specializes in hoof or leg trauma/pathologies/lameness and see what he or she may say. I would suggest that you have another vet take a look and see what is advised.

I wish you and your horse the very best.

--Gwen