Why it's important to check feet!

Brushed Eli down, and when hoof picking discovered a nail in his front left foot. Yikes! I called my trainer for advice as to whether or not I should attempt removing it ( described where and how deep it could possibly be - hard to determine what size nail, etc ) deciding its better than leaving it in to be pushed in further we grabbed some pliers, took a breath and pulled it out. Will have to keep a close eye on it now, but luckily it was a relatively short nail and didn't seem to have gone in deep. Apparently it was a roofing nail and I think that he picked it up in the arena dirt.

Afterwards, as he wasn't showing any sign of lameness, we tacked him up and went for a ride to determine if he would limp with extra weight. I think I might soak it in Epsom salts just to be sure. Farriers coming this week so will show him thee photo and provide an update.

UPDATE: while waiting for the Farrier Appointment I made it a point to go out to the barn twice ~ the Wednesday and the Saturday to soak Eli's hoof. Wednesday the Stable/Facility owner kindly gave me a hand a some pointers on what to use and what to do. 

First of all I went out and brought Eli in from his paddocked, walked him across the concrete and then brought him directly into the Arena. In the Arena I turned him loose where he casually walked along but stopped to roll once before coming back over. I bent down and checked his hoof for any signs of heat. There was a slight difference in comparison to his other foot, but not much. After checking the temperature of his foot I lunged him in both directions at both a walk & a trot. I didn't seen any signs of lameness, limping or favoring his foot ~ he didn't stumble or seem to be any any pain. 

Following this assessment the owner and I proceeded to heat up some water, add some Epsom Salt and Iodine and a bit of cool water (making sure it's not too hot) we weren't sure how he'd react soaking his foot, I was pleasantly surprised when he didn't freak out. He was lifting his foot back up, but wasn't attempting to walk forward or yell about it. I grabbed his feed bucket and let him much on his Soaked Beet Pulp, that took him all of 5 minutes or so, but being full he stood quietly for another 5 - 8 minutes. 

After soaking for about 10 - 12 minutes we wrapped his foot using, duct tape (not on the fur) making a boot type pad by sticking or attaching the glued part of the tape to each other forming a square. Next we lined the squared shape duct tape with 2 panty liners (just as good as gauze), we added the paste that the owner made (table salt, iodine and water mixed to a pasty or sticky consistency). Once the paste was added to the liners the make shift boot was slapped on to the bottom of his foot (paste side up sticking beneath the hoof, duct tape side facing outwards to connect with the ground) then white gauze was wrapped around to help keep the boot on everything was wrapped with a self adhesive bandage similar to a tensor wrap. We were careful to:

• A. Not wrap it too tight
• B. Not stick the duct tape onto the fur 

The second time I went out to soak his foot I didn't wrap it afterwards. 

Farrier will provide an update once he's able to come out and start trimming away the hoof ~ maybe it will turn out to be a good thing that Eli's a bit overdue for a trim.