Conquistador has an abscess in his hoof

Yesterday, when calling the horses in for grain, I saw that Con was not coming very fast. He was limping (more like hopping) and had stopped. I walked down to him in the field and determined that he was really lame. I fed him right there, in the field and called the vet. She thought abscess and we decided to have her come out as soon as she could. This morning she came and with her big hoof pinchers, she diagnosed an abscess and knew where it was.. Within 10 minutes she had dug a hole in his hoof and the blood and puss was bubbling out. She must be old school or something.. I like it, for she gets out the duct tape and a diaper and proceeds to get his foot soaked in Epsom salt water and then patch the hole with baetidine and sugar.. She wrapped the foot in a baby diaper, vet wrap and duct tape. I get to soak his hoof and rewrap in the same manner over and over again for the next week and a half.
It has been 10 hours since she was here and boy you can see a difference in Conquistador. Poor guy.
This was our first injury with him and he was a trooper.