Abscesses

Question
Hi, i have a 14.3hh 4 year old quarter horse gelding. He is very healthy and happy. He gets ridden about 4-5 days a week and is worked in and indoor arena. He is stabled but has a large private pasture connected to his stall. The pasture has no grass, all dirt, and no rocks. It is very dry in the summer, and very muddy in the winter. My horse got 4 abscesses last year all around the same time [spring time]. He is not shoed and has his feet trimmed every 7 weeks, my farrier says he has very healthy feet. I just don't understand what is causing all these abscesses, and what can i do to help prevent them?

Answer
Hi Mariah,

It is difficult to state what would be causing the abcessess in this situation.  Abcessess occur when foreign matter is introduced into the body and the body's immune system is attacking the intruder.  The resulting pus is the lymphocytes that are involved in the defence of the body.

Abcessess can be caused through injury, penetration of the skin by foreign matter or through an allergic response.

My suggestion is to get a vet to run a blood test to see if there are any allergens present that may be causing the reaction.  Also, if you horse develops abcesses again this year to have the vet swab one of them so that they can be analysed for bacteria.  Once you know what pathogen is causing them in the first place, you can try and work out how they happen he is coming into contact with them.

good luck