hot hoof

Question
i own a standerdbred xracehorse.i keep her barefoot. her front right hoof is hot; but only a small section is hot near the coronet band on the far left side. she is limping and being protective of it. our farier looked at it and didnt say anything when we asked him about it. we put some hooflex and lisol on it she is still sore. we cant get a vet out right now cause its 12:07 am . what can we do.should we give her some banamine? what is this and how can i fix it? ky

Answer
I cant tell you what this is without being able to examine this. I would strongly recommend someone put a set of hooftesters on this foot and chack for a strong pulse in the foot. I "sounds" to me like there may be an abscess or a gravel forming and preparing to break out of the foot. they are VERY painful, cause severe lameness, heat in th affected foot and increases in the pulse in the foot. Id continue to soak the foot in warm water and epsom salts 2 times a day for 15-20 min. Give the horse a gram to 2 grams of bute orally every day. Get a vet or another farrier out to look at the hoof, test it with hoof testers and ascertain if there may be an abscess or a gravel. If there is no clear evidence of this, then the foot needs to be blocked- to prove the problem is in the foot- and then it needs to be radiographed to evaluate for a cause of the problem.
In the meanwhile, its important to help the horse feel less pain. Give the bute I described and keep her confined to a small area or a stall. Most likely, this is a routine abscess of some sort, but if its not, you need to have had this fully evaluated in order to detect the cause of the problem. Get a vet involved as soon as you can. Good luck to you. Happy new year to you and yours. feel free to contact me again if there are any other questions regarding this or anything else.