Misplaced Nail

I noticed my farrier put two nails in too high. She won’t put weight on it. How long until it heals?
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Q. Two days after my farrier shod my mare, she became lame on a front hoof. I pulled the shoe and put a boot on her until he could return. However, when I pulled the shoe, I saw that he had put two nails in too high. She is painful and won’t put any weight on it at all. How long will this go on?

Richard, via e-mail


A. Lameness and infection caused by a misplaced nail can have serious consequences if not treated appropriately.

It’s not that the nail is driven too high, it’s that the nail is placed too deep, where it invades the sensitive laminae. The nail damages the laminae, and seeds the area with bacteria. The nail itself acts as a foreign body leading to an infection. Upon removing the shoe, the suspected nail’s entrance will be located inside the white zone on the bottom of the foot. A pain response is confirmed when hoof testers are used over the nail hole

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Stephen E. O’Grady, DVM, MRCVS, was a professional farrier for 10 years prior to obtaining his degree in veterinary medicine. He learned farriery through a formal apprenticeship under Hall of Fame farrier Joseph M. Pierce of West Chester, Penn. After graduating from veterinary school, O’Grady did an internship in Capetown, South Africa. Then he joined Dan Flynn, VMD, at Georgetown Equine Hospital in Charlottesville, Va., as an associate for five years. Since that time, he has operated a private practice in Virginia and South Africa, with a large portion of the practice devoted to equine podiatry. He has published numerous articles and lectured extensively on equine foot problems. His web site is www.equipodiatry.com.””tephen E. O’Grady

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
320 votes · 320 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!