any advice on how to manage ring bone?

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Lizzy3

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Hi guys,

My girl was diagnosed with both high and low ring bone in both fronts last week, she is only 9 :( The left is worse than the right and she is intermittently lame, some days worse than others. It is in the very early stages at the moment so I have caught it early. I have put her on a very strict diet to get her weight down and the vet advised giving her bute so I can ride (only walk) to get her weight off but drugging her to ride just feels very wrong to me. She has never been this big before but she has had 6 months off as I was dealing with a serious operation and have been very ill so Just started bringing her back into work slowly and noticed she wasn't right. She is a very heavy shire x warmblood and naturally a very good doer.

Vets suggested heart bars but my farrier disagrees and suggests keeping them short and rolled. Once I have got some weight off vet said she could try steroid injections but she didn't seem confident it would help and seemed very negative so I have been feeling devastated as I have had her from a foal and always been so careful with her work and her weight so it was a blow to say the least! Especially after battling a brain tumor for the last 6 months :(

She is on a good joint supplement, has magnetic bands and I am also giving her Boswellia now so hopefully I can get her off the bute. Does anyone have any advice on how to manage a horse with ring bone?

Thanks in advance xx
 
I've got a heavy horse with advanced ringbone and I would definitely go down the bute route. I don't really ride him now, but if he starts being a bit of a thug on the ground then we do some groundwork to occupy him and I always bute afterwards. Plus for farrier. I'm afraid I've found joint supplements get nowhere near making him sound (& I think I've tried pretty much all of them!)

I'm so sorry you've had to deal with this at the end of what sounds like an awful few months. Just remember bute is an anti inflammatory and most horses do well on it at low doses for years. I am going to ask the vet about cartrophen for mine - but I suspect your vet might have mentioned it if they thought it would work.
 
Hi,
Thanks for your advice! I’m just concerned about keeping her on bute now because she’s only 9 and I want to keep her comfortable as long as possible so worried I’ll have nowhere to go when it progresses and she’s in more pain :( at the moment it’s not too bad and once she gets some weight off that will also help so thought I would try the natural route for now.
Just gutted and not sure what to expect. Vets did mention an injection but I can’t remember the name but said it’s very expensive and doesn’t always work :(
 
You should find that ringbone will settle down once it’s fully formed and she’ll have a good chance of coming sound.
Don’t worry about giving her low doses of Bute, one a day won’t harm her and will give some relief. If you want to try an alternative then Devils Claw can have good results.
 
There's nothing wrong with giving a lame horse bute so that you can work it on veterinary advice, and under veterinary supervision. You have to get the weight off, so that she isn't putting additional strain on already compromised limbs, but you can't work her if she in pain - so bute is a no brainer.

Natural isn't necessarily better - quite a few herbals are pretty hard on the innards as well.
 
Thank you all for your help. If the boswellia/joint supplement doesn’t help then yes I will continue with the Bute, just giving this a try. I have heard that devils claw isn’t good for them long term so thats why I opted for boswellia first.

My friend told me the same and that she will come sound once it’s fused as did my farrier but vets were very Negative so not sure what to think :|
 
Friends horse was diagnosed with ring bone in his early teens can't remember if high or low, He took the shoes off & turned away for 12 months (had some Bute for initial couple of months)
Slowly brought back into work, shoes never went back on & horse stayed sound for hacking until mid 20's. You could see horse was not 100% on tight turns, so wouldn't have schooled or jumped, but did lots of fast work on the moor.
It was the days before barefoot was a 'thing' but lack of shoes may have helped. In his case the shoes were taken off as there was no point shoeing a non working horse & as he came back into work didn't appear to need them. I wonder now if the 'barefoot' helped perhaps by reducing concussion?
 
Have you tried to get the opinion of an equine podiatrist? It might be worth a second opinion. Barefoot is definitely best as ringbone development is due to the foot compensating for improper balance. Definitely do not get heartbars - vets recommend it because they have been taught that it stabilises the foot but it doesn't. It constricts the foot even more and the cartilages will rub and become inflamed on the new growth. Proper foot stability comes from proper balance and support from the internal structures of the foot itself.

Taking shoes off and turning away for 12mo isn't a bad idea but you must balance the feet properly.
 
You can’t afford to be fluffy about this if you want to give the best chance of a future.
The weight needs to come off, so you should do what it takes. For me that is exactly what your vet has advised, don’t faff with herbs, get the bute in and get her moving - alongside usual dieting/feed management.
When she is slimmer and more mobile she will be less of a risk if you want to inject the joints.
I’d also do a course of pentosan
 
boswellia is great, it isn't comparable to bute though! Getting her off bute would absolutely not be my aim now, getting the weight off would be.
 
Sorry I couldn't reply my password wouldn't let me log in :/

Thanks for your advice. The problem I have is that I have to ride to get her weight down and she gets terribly foot sore without shoes and I tried her without for 6 months before (with supplements and regular trims) but had to put them back on because they hadn't settled down at all and she was sore just in the field bless her! As soon as the shoes went back on she was back to normal. I can't turn her away for a year because she's such a good doer she would be a hippo lol! (we have very good grass) X-rays did show that her feet are actually well balanced.

I will maybe see if I can speak to a podiatrist, thank you x
 
Lizzy3 said:
Sorry I couldn't reply my password wouldn't let me log in :/

Thanks for your advice. The problem I have is that I have to ride to get her weight down and she gets terribly foot sore without shoes and I tried her without for 6 months before (with supplements and regular trims) but had to put them back on because they hadn't settled down at all and she was sore just in the field bless her! As soon as the shoes went back on she was back to normal. I can't turn her away for a year because she's such a good doer she would be a hippo lol! (we have very good grass) X-rays did show that her feet are actually well balanced.

I will maybe see if I can speak to a podiatrist, thank you x
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If you look up hoof boots, you will be amazed how far they have come! There are some amazing designs!!! My fusions are two years old and I hardly wear them now and not worn out so I can't justify a new pair of scoots :)
 
My gelding also has ring bone, I notice you use a joint supplement and boswelia. I use Premier Flex Plus by Equine Answers and it has transformed my horse. I can't speak highly enough of the product and now 2 other liveries at my yard also use it with great results. They only sell direct to the customer at www.equineanswers.co.uk. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for your help, I am trying her on feedmark - Extraflex HA as I know a few people who swear by it but if no good then I’ll try the one you recommend. Thanks again.
 
I have taken boswellia myself, and found it to be as effective as naproxen. Different species of course, but my horse seems very comfortable on it. He has ringbone and sidebone.
 
Lizzy3 said:
Sorry I couldn't reply my password wouldn't let me log in :/

Thanks for your advice. The problem I have is that I have to ride to get her weight down and she gets terribly foot sore without shoes and I tried her without for 6 months before (with supplements and regular trims) but had to put them back on because they hadn't settled down at all and she was sore just in the field bless her! As soon as the shoes went back on she was back to normal. I can't turn her away for a year because she's such a good doer she would be a hippo lol! (we have very good grass) X-rays did show that her feet are actually well balanced.

I will maybe see if I can speak to a podiatrist, thank you x
Click to expand...

Could you muzzle her ? I hate the things and couldn't imagine any of mine wearing a muzzle, but if it meant a life was saved and the horse returned to being comfortable and active again it would be worthwhile. Better being able to wander around big lush fields muzzled than stood in a postage stamp of mud or dust.
 
I agree, I don’t like muzzles either but at this point I have no choice :( I have been researching them ready for the spring. I have tried them once before but she managed to break 4 different types so I need an industrial muzzle this time and a spare lol! She did work out how to graze with them and I worked her time up very slowly but she still managed to break them all! I don’t want to keep her in a small starvation paddock alone for the rest of her life so muzzle would be the best option.
She has dropped some weight already thankfully!
 
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