sand sores

["Judy Weaver" <JWEAV@sc.co.contra-costa.ca.us>]

I*m a long time lurker, finally getting up the wherewithal to post to =
Ridecamp and seek your collective experience with some of my concerns.

I own a 15 year Arab gelding (or rather he owns me).  Toot*s idea of =
exercise is to have a good roll and then stretch out and take a nap and =
therein lies my problem.  He is not particularly light on his feet and =
when he lies down he sort of *plops* down to the ground and when he gets =
up he *lurches* and as he does this he grinds his legs into the ground.  =
He has developed what I describe as *sand sores* on his hocks.  Right now =
these are raw areas about 3/4" in diameter on the outside of his legs just =
forward of the point of his hocks.  He also has some worn areas at (which =
are not raw) at the back of his legs just above  his hocks.  I have tried =
cleaning the areas and applying Novalsan or Corona ointment, but this =
seems to attract dirt, keeps the area soft and likely to develop a new =
sore.  But if I ignore it the raw skin attracts more dirt and sand, looks =
horrible and it still doesn*t scab over and heal.  I tried covering the =
hock with gauze and wrapping loosely with vet wrap but, no surprise here, =
the wrap ended up making a nice *fetlock bracelet* when it loosened and =
dropped off the hock area.  In the meantime Toots has decided he is tired =
of me futzing with his hocks and lets me know with tail swishing, lifting =
of affected leg and head swinging that he wants me to leave him alone.  I =
do not detect heat or other signs of infection, yet.

Now for my question:   Is there a way to wrap a horse*s hocks so he can =
still move and bend the leg with cutting off circulation or causing other =
problems.  I thought about buying some hock boots which State Line carries =
in their catalog, but could these restrict air circulation and possibly =
set the stage for infection?

Any ideas???

Judy in No. Cal. (where is finally raining)
Toots (touch my leg once more and......)  =20


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