In Dealing with Wet Hooves I mentioned that Freedom had a hoof abscess after a fast hunt on rough terrain, exacerbated by the wet conditions. Well, it turned out he really had two abscesses. Although the vet thought that his discomfort on the left hind was caused by putting more weight on it. Actually, it was a second abscess.
After the vet left I packed both hinds with Magic Cushion for the next couple of days and he came sound. The problem with Magic Cushion is that it’s so gloppy you can’t see if an abscess has burst. All you can tell is that your horse is feeling better. When my farrier came last week, however, she found the tell tale signs as she trimmed his feet. The Magic Cushion had helped draw out the abscess even though I wasn’t aware he had one!
This is definitely a product to keep in your tack room.
I have had a couple of abcess problems over the years, so I’m going to keep this product in mind! Thanks for the tip.
I don’t think my horse has had an abscess yet (in 6 years off the track), but he does have thin soles prone to sensitivity to stone bruises. While he ADORES the footing we just had put in our arena, I believe in cross-training, and know we’ll encounter some rocks outside the arena. Due to a recent incident in which we stabbed himself with the clip of his shoe we have pads on him right now, but it’s definitely not something I want to do long-term. He is barefoot in back. Would you say this seems to be a product which would work well? I’ll of course look around for other options, too. I just want to be prepared for ways to keep my horse happy and sound while putting as little on his hooves as possible.
I pack with Magic Cushion proactively if I think we’ve been out on very hard or very rocky territory. With a barefoot horse it’s a bit harder to keep the Magic Cushion in the foot. I have two techniques: I cover the MC with some heavy paper (like from a grain bag) then wrap with vet wrap. Or, I cover with paper and then stick a hoof boot over it. Just depends on how long I want to keep the hoof packing in.