It’s a scenario that’s all too easy to imagine. You notice your horse limping, go to take a look and see a nail sticking out of their hoof. What a nightmare!
However, it’s important to stay calm as what you do next could save your beloved equine’s life! The horse’s hoof is an incredibly sensitive structure, so a nail in it can be potentially life threatening.
Read our step-by-step guide on how to deal with a nail in your horse’s hoof, and be ready to deal with this situation.
Being prepared for any eventuality is part and parcel of responsible horse ownership. That’s why Equesure has crafted a range of insurance solutions for you and your equine friend. From insurance for a horse rider to horse insurance, we’ve got you covered.
The hoof capsule contains incredibly complex and sensitive structures vital to the life of a horse. The main parts potentially affected by a penetration of the hoof capsule include the coffin joint and bone, the navicular bone and bursae, the laminae and the deep digital flexor tendon.
A nail penetrating any of these structures is a serious injury. A combination of bacterial infection and inflammation can soon develop and cause such extensive damage that the horse could suffer chronic lameness and may even be put down.
Emergency surgery and treatment is often the only way to treat infection of these structures. Any delay could be catastrophic.
Clearly the size and position of the penetrating nail will have a big effect on whether the vital structures are affected.
There really is no one-size-fits-all answer. But no matter what the situation is, it’s important to know what to do. Follow these steps to give your horse the best possible chance of recovering.
Your natural instinct will probably be to pull out the nail. However, unless you know it has only gone in a very short distance then it’s almost always better to leave it in. Once you remove it, it’s almost impossible to see exactly where it went in and at what angle. This makes it much harder for your vet to assess how much damage has been caused inside.
If the nail is sticking out and could be forced in further, the best thing to do is to keep the horse calm and to try to prevent them standing or walking on the injured foot. This may not always be possible but try to pad the foot around the nail and leave it in place.
Your vet will want to know as much about the injury as possible. So, pay very close attention to where exactly the nail went in, the angle it went in at, and how far the nail penetrated the foot. If possible, take a photo or video of the injury on your mobile phone.
Call out your vet and tell them your horse has a nail in the hoof. Send them the picture and as much information as possible.
They might be able to tell you to remove the nail or not before they arrive. If the nail has penetrated deeply then your vet might bring a mobile X-ray machine to assess the injury.
Usually only an X-ray can show the true damage a nail has done. It will enable the vet to see precisely where within the foot the nail has gone and provide the best treatment.
If you’ve had to remove the nail before the vet has arrived then it’s important to keep the area clean and protected to reduce the chance of infection. If possible, apply a clean dry dressing and/or poultice to the hoof. A good idea is to video the removal so your vet can more accurately diagnose the extent of any damage.
Don’t just throw the nail away once it’s been removed. Your vet will need to see it and how far it penetrated.
Treatment will obviously depend on the seriousness of the injury. Penetration by a nail carries a high risk of tetanus so a tetanus injection might be given along with antibiotics to fight any infection.
If deeper structures could have been damaged then surgery, anaesthesia or prolonged antibiotics might be involved.
Veterinary treatment can soon become expensive. That’s why having horse insurance to complement your horse rider insurance is so important.
Monitoring your horse’s hooves daily is a good way to spot health issues before they take hold.
Any problems that affect a horse’s balance could mean big trouble for you, and see you claiming on your horse rider insurance for any accidents or injury.
Here are five common hoof problems to look out for:
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With over 60 years of experience in the insurance market, our specialist team can offer you a bespoke policy suited to rider’s needs.
Policies from our varied and trusted panel of insurers can include:
Get a quote for horse rider insurance today.
Policy benefits and features offered may very between insurance schemes or cover selected and are subject to underwriting criteria. Information contained within this article is accurate at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.
Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.