Advise needed please on hoof boots and tendon injuries

picolenicole

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I'll keep this as short as I can. Also if I don't answer questions it may be I'm out on site as I'm at work (lunch time, at the min)

In June last year King got tied up in his rug, no injuries to be seen or lameness just sore in his back for walking sideways for a day.

Still didn't seam right after a few weeks and McTimony coming out, so went to vet. Trot up sound nothing the vet could see she agreed it was sorness and it seamed to be clearing up, but trotted on hard ground on the lunge and was less than 1/10th lame front left. (It was his hind leg he tied up)

Did as advised by the vet and ended up with x-rays and one in love vet as King didn't need to be sedated for them :) x-ray clear foot balance was to die for and vet complimented my farrier a number of times :) so next step MRI.

Almost got sent home from New Market as the vet there said his lameness so so little she wasn't worried but seeing as we had driven from Derbyshire to New Market she would do the MRI. Rang the day after and said she was supprised King could walk :( all four tendons around the coffin joint in both front legs inflamed and swollen and the cartilidge in both front feet were calcifying!!!

Nearly 6 months on and our box/field rest will be over THANK GOD!!!!!!! I have done as requested by all the vets involved. We have been riding now for nearly three months, at 20 mins a day walk mostly. As I can only trot of soft ground, problem with that is it now so churned up and boggy I feel it will do more harm than good so I just walk him to streach his legs. As it's either in his stable or a stable size turn out.

Now King has been unshod for nearly 5 years, but when we had all that rain in the summer all thoes years ago he went footie (had front shoes on as farrier said most horses without fronts were finding it hard going) and has been getting slowly worse :(

He is fine on any soft ground or smoth ground but any stones the size of about 6mm upwards (really big stones don't bother him) and he is in pain and trips on them. I have hoof boots Easyboot Gloves, got them after his shoes came off for the second time and he still seamed off. They are brill, but my farrier has said not to use them all the time or he will be dependent on them.

He isn't fed as I tried the barefoot diet and he just put weight on, he is a really, really good doer!!! Has 24/7 turn out normally, with nothing else unless under snow that can cannot get through, and restricted grazing in summer.

I don't want to shoe him as I NEED to reduce impaction due to the tendons etc... So can I use my hoof boots everytime I hack just incase as these will reduce impaction and stop stones? or will it make it worse in the long run, sometimes I really think it would be easier not to have a horse then I wouldn't have as much to worry about. Oh I have pads in the boots as well.

Thank you for reading sorry it's not that short.
 

Orangehorse

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My understanding is that if you use the pads inside the hoof boots, they are supporting the foot and providing the correct stimulation to the sole, so they will actually improve the health of the foot more quickly than riding without boots. So I don't think the horse would be "dependent" on them, but they would provide more cushioning and protection.

I wouldn't suddenly go for a long ride in them, start with about 10 minutes and gradually work up, as I do think the horse needs to get used to them.
 

picolenicole

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Thank you for the reply Orangehorse :)

King is used to his hoof boots I've had them two years (I think) but only used them before he got injured so I may have to start again, but we'll only be doing short rides to begin with anyway as he needs to build his fitness up again.
 

Brightbay

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Thank you for the reply Orangehorse :)

King is used to his hoof boots I've had them two years (I think) but only used them before he got injured so I may have to start again, but we'll only be doing short rides to begin with anyway as he needs to build his fitness up again.

I do try to alternate, but that's more for wear than stimulation. I think the hoof gets quite a lot of stimulation in boots with pads, but not the wear, and I need the wear to keep the hooves trim. So we do alternating rides with and without boots (I also use the Gloves).

Just a note re the diet... my horse is also a very good do-er. He does get a bucket feed, but my most recent discovery is the Equimins Advance pellets. They have all the barefoot useful minerals - and if I add the small two scoop daily dose to a few fibre nuts, he'll actually eat them out of my hand! Yay! I was having to increase the amount of bucket feed to get the powdered minerals into him, given half a chance he'd walk off and leave his (very expensive) bucket feed. Now I know he's eating them :D And they make a huge difference to his hoofy comfort levels. Without the minerals, hooves look superficially OK, but he is ouchy over small stones. With the minerals, he stops noticing the stones!
 

picolenicole

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Brightbay, my pony is the same he'll only come to you and eat what he thinks is worth it. For example he would gallop across the field for a bucket of chaff, untill he figured it was just chaff and it wasn't worth the energy coming in for it. He is a very strange cob :D

Never heard of Equimins Advance, will google it. I do give him a little feed sometimes which is Chopped Oat Straw Chaff with Fast Fibre, but to get the powered minerals amount in him I had to give him loads and even on this he can put weight on.

If anyone knows anything else about Equimins Advance I would love to know.
 
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