Sorry I missed this, with all your worry! Yes, abscesses do blow and they can blow away a whole hoof if they're big enough. I hope that all is well and healing by now. I can tell you where this abscess originated from and why it happened, though, just for looking back's sake. The problem originated towards the back of the foot and migrated forward to find a way out at the toe. Probably, the time of so much pain was when it was doing this. The heels seem to be long, flared and out of balance, What is high is the bars. The bars should merge up from the sole 1/2 way back on the frog and literally ramp up in a straight line to meet the heel platforms dead on even.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92429952@N03/8472463382/ Sorry, I can't seem to get the pic here. I'm having major problems with Photobucket and am trying to master Flickr at present. The horse is born to move forward, so everything grows, migrates or get shoved forward, for the most part.
The abscess started on the left side of the frog, right where the support of the bar ramp ended and the pressure was then allowed to punch into the hoof after the end of the ramp. See the pink blob with two more tracts coming out to the side? That's it. The migration of exudent went down the groove, to come out the toe, following the path of least resistance....with the growth.
I have tried to outline the contours of the bars in the foot, (pink lines) so you can see just how high up from the groove these retaining walls of bar are. When the bar is lower and merging out of the sole at this point to start the ramp to the heels, you avoid this punch.
See the whole hoof, the wall coming out of the sole straight up from it on the left side. Then look inside that to see the same steep bar wall coming out of the groove on the same side. Now look over at the other wall. It is not coming straight up, but up and outward (flaring, so is the heel).
Now look at the groove and bar wall on that side. Slanted and high. The inside of the hoof is higher than the outside (medial/lateral imbalance) that straight up wall and straight up bar ramp are being pounded straight down into the hoof. The bar ramp has fractured and disengaged from the heel from impact and that's ON the ramp, so you can imagine the punch when the impact reached the end of the ramp....voila, abscess.
I drew a line from the punch to the toe to show you exudent's escape route. Also in evidence that the left side is higher, is the toe quarter (arrow) and the distance it has bumped out and one bar ramp being longer than the other.
The green circle is the size and shape the hoof should be in the end, the thick black arrow showing how much the toe still needs to come back. I've also drawn in the shape and height of the bar ramps as they should be with arrows showing the different heights between the existing. That's all the bar that should be showing. All the pink lines are bar and showing how squiggly/lumpy they can get when excessive and under pressure.
No.2 is the highest elevation of a big mound of bar that is keeping the high side high. Bars will cause this punch, bridge under the frog, splat out over the sole like a blanket and can literally push the sole out of its way. What you see in the toe shot is false sole, not to worry. These hooves are bit long. The heels are long, the bars are long and wall height is long as well as a medial/lateral imbalance. The higher bar on the higher impact side is what caused this abscess.
Neither is this a barefoot trim, there is no bevel and all torque that could be on this hoof is on it. It is a pasture trim. That means sliding back to square one again every time he's trimmed, instead of moving forward between trims. Since you have had some farrier trouble and this one seems to at least be there for you when you need him, give him a chance, but don't let him forget the bars. He should have known this explanation, not me.
If you ever get a whiff of a barefoot trimmer in your area, grab him...he will know these things. You don't know how many times I see the bars forgotten. Maybe its because he's shoe oriented which raises the hoof off the ground and allows space for the bars to be high/long, so in his eyes, they can be forgotten. This can still happen with a shoe on, though. This was not the ground conditions or a bad step, or Murphy's Law. This was the trim's fault. What you leave the horse is just as important as what you take. Hope this helps your understanding. If anyone knows how to get a picture on here from Flickr, instead of a link, would be much appreciated, I'm sure, by all.
Oh, and if you compare this pic to the same one without lines, you'll see the lines by yourself and train your eye, then you'll see it out at the barn as well. For example: The white line going around the hoof that I hand drew? At the toe, its on top of the white line where its supposed to be (yellow tinged), not way out where you think it is. What is out beyond that white line is pure torque on the toe. Like a clown's shoe, like walking on your fingernail and bending it backwards kind of discomfort, exactly the pathology that leads to navicular and why he lifts his knees to get it clear of the ground with that toe and landing flat, not heel first, with a more economical sweeping/gliding movement. That is why he needs a bevel. The relief and improved movement would be instant. Now lets hope that the link works...grrrr. The preview here doesn't seem to working either.