Like DJD & many other horse related injuries & ailments, hock sores(bed sores/rug burns) have been around for centuries. And people are continually trying to cure/prevent them constantly. Just Google the thousands of complaints & remedies that have been wrote on them. As at the least they are a blemish, & at the worst if not cured/treated & healed, can lead to infection, ulcers, proud flesh & involve the total bone & joint...

This article below says it much better than I could possibly explain about sores on the hocks/rug burn/bed sores.

Also, using straw bedding is much better at preventing hock sores in a stall, as it mattes together & doesn't push away like shavings do to reach the hard bed-pan of the stall. Also working up the paddock like you would an arena helps for horses that like to lay out & sun themselves a lot. 

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What are "bed sores" (horses)?

I know it's something along the lines of circulation being cut off when a horse lies down but can someone elaborate?
  • 2 years ago

Additional Details

Gallop: What causes the sore?

2 years ago

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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

They are called decubitus ulcers in humans, or pressure sores, or bed sores. Continuous pressure, usually where a bone is close to the surface, compresses theblood vessels and deprives the tissue of blood circulation and the tissue degenerates and eventually becomes necrotic (tissue dies). It starts out with minor sores but can progress to deep ulcers that are difficult to heal if the source of the pressure is not removed.

Add....death of tissue cells. The cells deprived of blood supply die off. If blood supply is restored, the dead cells are removed by the immune system, and healing occurs. But, if the area is repeatedly deprived of blood supply, more cell death will occur, and more inflammatory immune response, and that can become damaging as free radicalsget involved, and infection may set in (common), and healing becomes increasingly impaired, so it progresses and some pretty serious ulcers and scarring can develop.

Add....In some cases, abrasion is a cause of sores, or may worsen a pressure sore. But a bedsore is a pressure sore, and in horses they may also involve development of subcutaneous bursae which become inflamed as you see in capped elbows and hocks, and are typically the result of prolonged recumbency or from lying on hard surfaces. Fibrous scarring may also occur. No surface abrasion is necessary to develop pressure sores, but the sores may also be abraded on the surface. Horses also develop pressure sores from ill fitting saddles (saddle sores) and other sources of pressure.
Pressure sores in horses are common, and the sores are hard to treat because they are ulcers, which are different from abrasions.
I guess it depends on what you are defining as a bedsore.

Source(s):

RN and 57 years with horses

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Last Edited By: HorseHawk Apr 11 11 6:00 AM. Edited 1 times.