Any ideas?

OP, my friends horse had similar symptoms to hours, she was reactive in a small area when the farrier used the hoof testers, they treated it as an abscess, she got a little better but still unlevel, had x rays and she had fractured her pedal bone. They have no idea how she did it. She is now sound and back in work.
I do get a little fed up with the `take its shoes off ` comments to almost every single foot related question on here, yes it may help some, I have one horse of my own totally barefoot and one with just fronts, however, not everyone wants to go down this route but if they beg to differ they get jumped on.
Not everyone wants to go barefoot, some are happy with their shod horses.
 
MrsD123 said:
OK, not sure what you wanted people to say ......... after all you have already asked everyone who has seen the horse and they are, and I quote "stumped and worried"
The usual advice is is "call the vet"...............

P.S. just out of interest is it normal for a vet to agree to X-rays without seeing the horse first, I am sure one could persuade him if that is what one wants, but it seems rather odd. I am not being difficult, just curious, it means you must have spoken to the vet, my experience of vets is that they will want to come out and look at a horse with this sort of thing....
The X-rays are going to cost £50.00 presumably.
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My vets would x ray without seeing the horse first, they come with the mobile unit and do the whole assessment and x ray in one go. Oh and more like £200 for the xrays by the time they have assessed, sedated and x rayed.
 
C76 - I was told by my new Farrier that it would be impossible to improve my mare's hooves with shoes on. Once they were improved, I could shoe again if I wanted.

But I have no say in what others do with their horses. They can disregard all my posts if they like.
 
Faracat said:
C76 - I was told by my new Farrier that it would be impossible to improve my mare's hooves with shoes on. Once they were improved, I could shoe again if I wanted.

But I have no say in what others do with their horses. They can disregard all my posts if they like.
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I'm not saying that in some cases it doesn't help, but there is a distinct feeling on this bit of the forum in particular that its barefoot way or no way and if you dare to disagree and think that actually you are happy with your horse remaining shod then you are almost shinned. I have read it again and again and its put me off every putting a post about feet on here . my own horse had terrible back feet, the wall kept breaking and the shoes kept coming off making it even harder to have some thing to nail to. I let him go barefoot and he was fine and they improved and the shoes went back on, this was three yes ago, the same thing happened this year so I tried the barefoot option again and it crippled him, he wouldnt even stand on his back feet in the yard. Despite my best efforts he got lamer and lamer so we re shod him and he was happy again. So , yes, it might help some and I am more than happy that people choose that option but feel its a little unfair when some members imply that this is what you should do with every horse who has the odd foot problem
 
I don't feel confident that shoeing a lame horse solves anything in the long term. Masks a few things yes, but surely it would be better to keep trying to find the root cause of the issue? Poor horn, badly shaped feet can be helped. We may get very little riding in during the time it takes, but in the long term it is worth it.

I spent about a year growing out my old mare's hooves as they were awful when we got her. It took a complete change of management and a very long time, but it was worth it.

Regardless of this, if a horse is lame then call the vet and the farrier and ask them to collaberate on the best form of treatment.
 
charlie76 said:
So , yes, it might help some and I am more than happy that people choose that option [sic barefoot] but feel its a little unfair when some members imply that this is what you should do with every horse who has the odd foot problem
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I am not sure that anyone has suggested this horse MUST go barefoot, and all the problems will be solved. It was suggested that "typical" TB feet are not inevitable.
In this case as in many others the suggestion is that a horse which has poor feet , whether sound or not, can be improved, and one of the things is to improve the diet.
The barefoot horse will often be more sensitive to dietary changes, and it has been found that a diet of hi fibre, low sugar, balanced minerals and micronised linseed will improve hoof health. An improvement in hoof health due to diet will occur in both shod and unshod horses.
I know I suggested removing both shoes, but this was not to allow the horse to go barefoot now or in future, but in order to allow the horse to be more comfortable, more level. I have seen people ask the farrier to replace one shoe on a horse, and it walks away unevenly, due to imbalance, this is predictable.
In this particular case, whether the horse needs box rest or not, now it has only one shoe on the front, and by the time the farrier comes back it might be about time for a new pair of fronts.
Re the cost of X-rays, the OP did suggest that she did not want to call the vet out to every minor problem because it would cost £50.00, fair enough, but the problem may not be minor and may not be transient, so she has asked for X-rays on the advice of the farrier, fair enough, but it is going to cost more than the £50.00 she baulked at initially.
 
Arizahn said:
I spent about a year growing out my old mare's hooves as they were awful when we got her. It took a complete change of management and a very long time, but it was worth it.

Regardless of this, if a horse is lame then call the vet and the farrier and ask them to collaberate on the best form of treatment.
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This seems like common sense to me.
 
I am a relative newbie to the barefoot thing but please checkout the rockely blog on my horse Dylan if you want to see the improvements that can be made to 'typical TB feet '
 
Sometimes when feet get into this condition and the white line is compromised, then bruising can result which produces serum and causes pain the same as a abscess. Though in this case, I would still suspect an abscess.

If hooves are of poor quality, then haylage alone is not sufficient to support good hoof growth. The horse needs a good balancer such as Pro hoof.
 
charlie76 said:
I'm not saying that in some cases it doesn't help, but there is a distinct feeling on this bit of the forum in particular that its barefoot way or no way and if you dare to disagree and think that actually you are happy with your horse remaining shod then you are almost shinned. I have read it again and again and its put me off every putting a post about feet on here . my own horse had terrible back feet, the wall kept breaking and the shoes kept coming off making it even harder to have some thing to nail to. I let him go barefoot and he was fine and they improved and the shoes went back on, this was three yes ago, the same thing happened this year so I tried the barefoot option again and it crippled him, he wouldnt even stand on his back feet in the yard. Despite my best efforts he got lamer and lamer so we re shod him and he was happy again. So , yes, it might help some and I am more than happy that people choose that option but feel its a little unfair when some members imply that this is what you should do with every horse who has the odd foot problem
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I ended up bf by default, I took my mares shoes off (she always had excellent feet) because I wasn't riding, then one day I decided to go for a hack up the road, she was fine with it, so went for another hack, and another and I never got around to putting them back on, realised there wasn't much point. The only time I shod her was once last year for the shows and I was shocked at how much she slipped on the roads. Subsequently, since she had coped so well and I'd noticed a difference in grip (plus my wallet wasn't complaining) I didn't bother with shoeing my youngster he's been going bf for 17 months now. For me it was never a conscious decision, however, now it's so much more. I recognise the physiological benefits, the hooves are stronger than they would be shod, grip is better, I know far sooner if anything is wrong with the feet than I would if there were shoes on. It's made me more conscious of feeding and as such I feel much better knowing I'm feeding correctly for the horse, not packing him full of sugar, I feel good knowing that my horse is a little bit healthier with better hooves. That's why people are so passionate about bf, because they recognise the measurable improvement to the horses health and well being that can be gained from this change. I'm not even anti shoeing, but from my experiences now, I would never keep shoes on long term, I would always have a lay off barefoot period to ensure that they maintain the best possible quality to give them time to strengthen and grow. Even if I were to shoe, this has affected the way I keep my horses to the extent that I would never feed a non 'barefoot diet'. It's given me a newer and fuller perspective.

For me, it's all about providing the best care possible for your horse and I believe (because I have witnessed) that there is a change for the positive when you go down this route, even if you only recognise that feeding a high fibre low sugar diet and taking shoes off for a set amount of time each year is beneficial to your horse.
 
Hi,
I can really sympathise with you.

I have an ex racehorse Monty, got him straight off the track as a bleeder and had him for over 4 years now and it has been one step forward and about 3 backwards all the way! (Operations on hind legs, tore a ligament in back to name but a couple of things, also have to have a stock of saddles as he changes shape at the drop of a hat).

I have had endless foot, lameness and back problems with him and got so desperate that I had glue on shoes last winter - but could only afford 4 sets as part of remedial farriery. Went back to steel shoes in February and actually finished a whole hunting season on him - get the flags out!!

The celebrations did not last long as got to the 3rd set of steel shoes and he could not keep them on and noting left to nail to. Same story as yours flat feet thin soles and under run heels. At one point I had 3 shoes on and 1 off for 3 weeks in April the hoof with no shoe grew half an inch the other 3 less than a millimetre in the same time period. That decided me, the shoes came off, I had tried everything else!! The farrier reckoned it would be 6 weeks before I could ride, about 3 days later I was watching him charging round the field playing with his mates perfectly sound. So I shoved a few tubs in the field with letters on and called it a ménage and started schooling gently for short periods which I slowly built up!

Monty's feet have gone from being flat to concave with a tight white line and half inch heels, he has developed a really tough rim round the edge and good tough bulbs and frog. Farrier and vets are amazed at the change in his feet! Not only that but he has muscled up and developed a good top line, he hacks out happily on tarmac and tracks.

I do use hoof boots if I am doing a lot of road work but they bring their own problem as they are not designed for the delicate TB hoof and I have to watch they do not rub.

We have hunted this season barefoot kept the days short and have had a great time. Unfortunately we hit a flint a couple of weeks ago which chipped his sole and with the wet weather it has turned into a split - so no change there Monty is off work again - welcome to the world of ex racehorses!!

Anyone got a magical cure for the above - We are missing our hunting..........
 
An excellent post Prancer & Vixen! I must point out that 'typical TB feet' (I prefer the term 'hooves'!) are actually made, not genetic. From weaning on the foals are fed high sugar/high energy feed to get as much growth as possible and often boxed as well. This is detrimental to their hoof health, as is shoeing at around 18 months, or less, when they are backed. Good hoof health requires balanced minerals, high fibre, low sugar feed, and plenty of movement.....If anyone is interested shoeing limits the hoof movement and restricts blood flow which is why shoeing often masks lameness without healing the cause. Healthy hooves are constantly growing and usually take about a year to grow from periople/coronet to ground level, which is why going barefoot requires much patience on the part of the owner!! Hoof boots are an excellent tool but they do need to be fitted carefully. There are quite a few different styles to chose from....And abcesses are natures way of getting rid of foreign bodies/necrotic tissue in the body.....
 
Prancer & Vixen said:
I ended up bf by default, I took my mares shoes off (she always had excellent feet) because I wasn't riding, then one day I decided to go for a hack up the road, she was fine with it, so went for another hack, and another and I never got around to putting them back on, realised there wasn't much point. The only time I shod her was once last year for the shows and I was shocked at how much she slipped on the roads. Subsequently, since she had coped so well and I'd noticed a difference in grip (plus my wallet wasn't complaining) I didn't bother with shoeing my youngster he's been going bf for 17 months now. For me it was never a conscious decision, however, now it's so much more. I recognise the physiological benefits, the hooves are stronger than they would be shod, grip is better, I know far sooner if anything is wrong with the feet than I would if there were shoes on. It's made me more conscious of feeding and as such I feel much better knowing I'm feeding correctly for the horse, not packing him full of sugar, I feel good knowing that my horse is a little bit healthier with better hooves. That's why people are so passionate about bf, because they recognise the measurable improvement to the horses health and well being that can be gained from this change. I'm not even anti shoeing, but from my experiences now, I would never keep shoes on long term, I would always have a lay off barefoot period to ensure that they maintain the best possible quality to give them time to strengthen and grow. Even if I were to shoe, this has affected the way I keep my horses to the extent that I would never feed a non 'barefoot diet'. It's given me a newer and fuller perspective.

For me, it's all about providing the best care possible for your horse and I believe (because I have witnessed) that there is a change for the positive when you go down this route, even if you only recognise that feeding a high fibre low sugar diet and taking shoes off for a set amount of time each year is beneficial to your horse.
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This!!! I think back to what I fed my gelding last winter in an attempt to keep weight on him and I'm disgusted at my ignorance, rather like raising a child on Happy Meals and blue smarties! Barefoot isn't just about taking shoes off, if you have a happy barefoot horse then you can be pretty sure that the rest of him is healthy too.
 
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