Arthritis in front feet and shoes

M

MileyMouse

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 October 2009
Messages
296
Visit site
I have recently had to retire my girl due to arthritis in both front feet (pasterns and coffin joints).

I am thinking about taking her shoes off as she is now taken on the official role as 'chief lawnmower'.

Does anyone have any experiences in this regard ? Is this a good idea or would it make her lamer ? (she is currently only 1/10 lame on front right) or would she have more support without shoes ?

Have asked both vet and farrier and they said up to me to decide !
 
It really depends on her feet, her diet and how much you are happy to compromise this if necessary to help her grow healthy feet.

I personally would as there would be less concussion without the shoes, but I would be investing in some boots just incase she is foot sore. You may find she has to have less grass to stop her getting footy, you may find she is sound enough to turnout without adjusting diet an awful lot... I would try it - after all you can always have the shoes put back on :D
 
be guided by the vet and farrier. if they deem it necessary to have the shoes on they would (i shoudl imagine) say she needs shoes on! xx
 
I recently had a similar decision to make as the concussion from shoeing was making my retired gelding's athritic forelegs worse.
He has poor foot condition as he's just getting over (drug induced) laminitis.

I had his heartbars removed and bought him a pair of Old Mac boots and to be honest we haven't looked back. He wears the boots only if he needs to negotiate stony ground and his feet are improving in condition.
I would say that it's certainly worth a try, you can always have shoes put back on is needed.

Good Luck :)

ETA..Have you thought of trying 'Imprint' shoes which are glued on rather than nailed?
 
Dancing Queen - Unfortunately they offered no advice when I asked their opinions and they said that the decision was up to me!

Ginger Cat - good to hear your lad is improving :-) she will be mostly turned out but when she comes in we have to walk up a gravel path and on concrete so will have a look into the stick on shoes!

In terms of taking the shoes off (to see how she gets on) when would be a good time to do it? do I wait until winter when the ground is softer?
 
Do it when the ground has gone soft, but if she goes footie next spring when the ground goes hard, be aware that it is as likely or even more likely that the cause is the grass and not the hard ground.

You could do with reading Feet First to give you the info about the kind of diet that they do best on, and get that perfect before the shoes come off.

Can you come back and tell us if she is any sounder without them on?
 
I had the exact same problem in one of my boys, plus he has bone spavin behind too. I decided to retire him (he's elderly after all) and had his shoes taken off for that reason, however I noticed he walked so much freer when leading him to and from the field along a stone track.

My other horse has recently suffered an injury which will mean several months of box rest, so I decided to take my retired boy out for a potter last week, just to keep me sane and to see if he'd enjoy it. Know what? He felt incredible. We only walked (hadn't ridden him for over 3 months) and we stuck to fairly even ground just in case, but the difference between just before I retired him, with shoes, to now is incredible. I'll never again have shoes put back on him, whether I keep him in work or not when my other horse is back in action. My other boy is shod, I hasten to add, so I am speaking purely based on the needs of my individual horses.

I recommend giving it a go. Good luck! :)
 
CPTrayes, thank you for your response, will wait til later in year to take shoes off. Is this the book you mentioned ? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0851319602/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1313436383&sr=8-1

Thank you also for your response mytwofriends, it's good to hear you have had positive experiences taking shoes off ! Like your boy, my girl too has spavins behind aswell :-(

I will let you know how we get on !
 
my 8yo warmblood has arthritis in both front coffin joints and a spavin behind but he has had them 'treated' with steriod joint injections, why is everybody retiring there horses?!
he has rolled toed shoes in front, and has improved beyond my expectations, although i am fully aware the injections are not long term.
my vet has advised me to ask my farrier to use lateral extensions behind,
horses are so individual!
 
diablo said:
my 8yo warmblood has arthritis in both front coffin joints and a spavin behind but he has had them 'treated' with steriod joint injections, why is everybody retiring there horses?!
he has rolled toed shoes in front, and has improved beyond my expectations, although i am fully aware the injections are not long term.
my vet has advised me to ask my farrier to use lateral extensions behind,
horses are so individual!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately my horse didn't respond well to steroid injections, Tildren, nor remedial shoeing. For those reasons, plus the fact he's in his late-teens, I decided to retire him. It was purely by chance that removing the shoes worked, at least for the moment!
 
Believe me I did not want to retire my girl at the age of 15. She has had the injections twice in front but it just doesn't work, she also has rolled toe shoes in front and is on a good joint supplement and on devils claw.

The vets have said they can do no more other than to prescribe bute when she needs it in the future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top