What you need to know about chronic hoof abscesses
When a horse is three-legged lame, there’s generally one phrase his owner hopes to hear from the veterinarian or farrier: “It’s an abscess.”
That’s for good reason.
In most cases hoof abscesses resolve completely without the time, expense, complications, and varied prognoses that can accompany other causes of severe lameness in horses, such as fractures or soft-tissue injuries. But in some cases abscesses can become just as frustrating and costly as their more serious counterparts.
Why do some abscesses heal quickly while others linger? Why are some one-off occurrences while others keep coming back? And why do most resolve without complications, whereas a pesky few turn into potentially life-threatening issues?