Swollen Heels

Question
Hi!

This question doesn't pertain to the hoof exactly but I figure you probably would know seeing how close related the heel is to the hoof.

My mare (a nine yr old OTTB) came in yesterday evening with swollen heels. They have turned grayish white and a kind of squishy. It reminds me of when you have your hands in water too long and they become prune-y.

I belive it is from the mud and rain we've had the past couple of days and the fact that she had been in a muddy paddock all day (normally she is in a field but she broke the gate). Her front heels were the worst and the coronet bands were slightly swollen too. I am assuming that they are worse because of her bell boots. The hind were swollen too but not near as bad.

I hosed her fee off to remove the mud and removed the bellboots and put corona on the swollen heels and coronet. She went back out last night in the paddock.

This morning I hosed the mud off her feet again and put her in a stall for the day and this afternoon the swelling was completely down. She went back out tonight to the paddock.

She will be in this paddock for a week or two until we get a new gate and it is suppose to rain all week. Some days she can come in but not everyday and she will have to spend all her nights in the paddock.

Is there anything I can do for her?
Can the mud really injure her?
Should I just leave it alone?

I've thought of putting easyboots on her but I think the mud would pull them off or that mud/water would get in them and irritated her.

Thanks for any advice.

Corey


Answer
Hi Corey ... oh, man .. talk about M-U-D!!  Sometimes I feel like we've had YEARS of mud! and yeah, it can be tiresome and bothersome for sure. *GRIN*

As long as she's able to get dry every so often the mud shouldn't be too much of a problem for the hooves short term. Can you walk her daily on dry ground? (or relatively dry like a tarred road or driveway ... do so in between the rainy spells?) Check her fetlocks regularly and get the mud cleaned off her feathers. Try to ensure she's moving around adequately and that her hooves are in good form and function. Yes, the mud would get into her boots and irritate her so wouldn't do that. She *should* be fine when all's done. Just keep checking her soft tissue for irritations and clean/dry her off regularly if you can.

:)