up and down week

Last Sunday Nina was three-legged lame (again).  When I got there she was balancing on the toe on her right front.  It looked like the tendon to me, she had a wide range of movement in the leg and foot, but didn't want to put weight on her heel. Since it was the right front I was afraid that it was caused by turning her out and letting her run.  I figured that right front was not completely healed, was weak and resulting in a bow.  I really cannot afford a bunch of diagnostic tests right now so I decided to wrap all four legs, give her some bute and see how it looked after a few days.  Today it was very slightly better, the puzzling thing was there has been no heat or swelling in the leg.  She really was starting to look like she had an abscess.  So I got the hoof testers out and I did find a tender spot on her sole.  I am going to soak it and see if it breaks through in a few days.  If it is an abscess I would prefer not to have to cut it open.  I also switched her to aspirin which she will eat in her feed instead of going through the half hour fight over bute.
It will be great if it is an abscess, a few weeks off instead of a year.