Use a T-Nut for Draining and Protecting Compromised Hoof Wall

It’s always a good idea to provide drainage access when dealing with an injured or compromised hoof wall. Sometimes, though, the site needs a little more protection than a tube protruding from a patch can provide.

After a keratoma surgery, University of Pennsylvania farrier Pat Reilly wanted a better way to keep the horse’s wound clean (Figure 1).

“We wanted to put almost a bit of a permanent bandage on it, but still have some degree of access to treat the foot and flush it out if necessary,” he told attendees at the 2016 International Hoof-Care Summit in Cincinnati, Ohio.

By using a T-nut, Reilly not only can secure it with the patch material, but maintain access to the wound.

“It’s a little nut with anchor points in it and a little screw that goes in place (Figure 2),” he explains. “I just poke it through the fabric before I laminate and put it on the horse’s foot.

Figure 1

“It’s almost like a hospital plate mentality (Figure 3). I can unscrew it and I have a little port that I can flush out the foot with whatever medications that the veterinarian would like to apply. Then, you screw it back in and we can hold everything in place and keep the foot protected while we’re waiting for it to heal.”

Learn more tips from Reilly and Vettec’s Frank Dugan by reading, “How Do Adhesives Affect Hoof Wall?” in the July/August issue of American Farriers Journal.

Figure 2

Figure 3