A very foot sore little pony - please help

YasandCrystal said:
Why the need for a feed? Unmollassed chaff to carry a supplement and any meds should suffice. I would only be feeding soaked hay and chaff,
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Sorry, I should have been clearer -his feed is a tiny amount of unmollassed chop with a handful of soaked lucie pellets (made from lucrene so low sugar high fibre), i add his danilon and supplement to this.
 
cptrayes said:
If he has flat feet then his frogs are probably already on the floor. Can you ask your vet why he thinks supporting the back half of the frog on a bar of steel will do a better job than supporting the whole thing on the floor?

He shouldn't need shoes if this is laminitis and you can get his diet under control.
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I will definitely ask the vet that - she is coming back next week so will be spending the time until then reading up on this!
 
You would be really well armed if you can get hold of Jaime Jackson's book "Founder", it's a goldmine for laminitic owners. I think you will also find stuff on hoofrehab.com by Pete Ramey. And if you PM Moorman, a user on hear and a barefoot farrier, he might also be good enough to give you some answers for your vet.

Good Luck!
 
cptrayes said:
You would be really well armed if you can get hold of Jaime Jackson's book "Founder", it's a goldmine for laminitic owners. I think you will also find stuff on hoofrehab.com by Pete Ramey. And if you PM Moorman, a user on hear and a barefoot farrier, he might also be good enough to give you some answers for your vet.

Good Luck!
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Totally agree with this!! Vets always reccommend shoes as that is what they are taught at vet school...it would take an exceptional vet to have researched and learned about barefoot treatments....
If the diet is sorted (and I would drop the lucerne...) then the next thing he needs is movement...slow movement on tarseal would be ideal. Horses need to be able to move steadily for almost 24 hours a day....And the tarseal will help to keep the wall "trimmed". You will find that if barefoot horses are ridden sufficiently on tarseal they will "self trim" and will only need a roll kept around the bottom of the hoof. And this is why the track systems have become so popular all round the world....Good luck!
 
Alyth said:
Totally agree with this!! Vets always reccommend shoes as that is what they are taught at vet school...it would take an exceptional vet to have researched and learned about barefoot treatments....
If the diet is sorted (and I would drop the lucerne...) then the next thing he needs is movement...slow movement on tarseal would be ideal. Horses need to be able to move steadily for almost 24 hours a day....And the tarseal will help to keep the wall "trimmed". You will find that if barefoot horses are ridden sufficiently on tarseal they will "self trim" and will only need a roll kept around the bottom of the hoof. And this is why the track systems have become so popular all round the world....Good luck!
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What is tarseal ?
 
I was wondering about the whole Tarseal bit too! Tarmac is more commonly used here :)

Also agree with Cptrayes, what better support for a frog can there be than putting the whole of it on the ground? Go gently with the vet though because they really aren't taught about barefoot so best to approach it tactfully! Although it really does bug me these days hearing how shoes support the hoof and hold it together, as if the horse can't manage to keep its own hoof working properly (with the right diet of course!) Still Rome wasn't built in a day as they say.

Lots of good advice to be had on here so make the most of it and I hope he's better soon. X
 
Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for their responses, suggestions and advice - it has been invaluable!

The ponio is on boxrest, I have started to give him formula4feet, his hay is soaked, bed deep and am looking into getting his forage anaylsed. He has the frog support on from the vet.

The vet is coming back on Friday but I have also been given the contact details of a farrier and barefoot specialist who has done a lot of work with laminitic horses and is happy for me to call for advice. I have a copy of founder on order!

And, here is a picture of the boy in question - he is already so much more comfortable and seems a lot brighter!

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