In mid-September, Todd and Leighette Davidson knew their young horse Tybee had a problem. Identifying it was easy — the Quarter Horse had broken off part of the hoof wall on the lateral side of its front left foot (Figure 1). As best they could tell from the location of the recovered piece of hoof wall (Figure 2), the horse caught its foot on a broken pipe, which created the trauma.

Dr. Stephanie Collins of Chaparral Veterinary Service in Jourdonton, Texas, made the farm visit for Tybee. After inspecting and flushing the injury site (Figure 3), she bandaged and stabilized the foot. The plan would be to monitor the horse until it could be seen by a farrier.

Over the next 2 weeks, Collins reported that the horse remained sound and could bear weight on the injured foot.

Farrier Intervention And First Shoeing

Corpus Christi, Texas, farrier Virgil Conde handles footcare cases for the vet clinic. Overall, the second-generation farrier’s practice covers therapeutic and performance horses throughout southeast Texas. Collins sent Conde images of the exterior injury. No radiographs were taken. It was determined to continue with the veterinary bandaging.

“They had…