Barefoot gang! Help needed

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Hi guys; my horse (tb) is having surgery in 2 weeks & we've taken shoes off while she's on field rest (coming in every other day) she's 80% ok on her hind feet but she is seriously foot sore on fronts - only on gravel & stones. She has very flat soles & little heel.

It's breaking my heart to see her suffer so much. Is there anything we can do to try help her? I'm looking at pro-hoof...
 
Yes, overhauling her diet to a hoof friendly one is a good start. I would get her some hoof boots too, to help her when she needs to walk over currently difficult surfaces.
 
Thanks; is pro hoof balanced aswell? As she's on a balancer currently too. What boots would you reccommend? Also; would you suggest keeping her in over night aswell so she has to keep walking on different surfaces or would you leave her out?
 
I've never needed to use boots, but hopefully someone will be along who knows all about them soon. I know that Cavallos have been mentioned as good starter boots if your horse fits them (there are measurement charts online).

RE diet cut sugar and starch and make it high in fibre. NO molasses (you'd be amazed how much feed it's in - sometimes called molgo, or something like that). Pro Hoof, Pro Balance and Forage Plus all seem to be good supplements. Cut out the other balancer. Don't trust the laminitis trust logo. Some horses are fine with alfalfa, others aren't. Speedibeet or fast fibre seem to work as a base feed. Oats are OK, Linseed (micronised) is OK and molasses free chaff if you want to add bulk.

Keep her on surfaces where she is comfortable. I like to let them move, so if she's OK on in the field, turn her out. If you want to stable her some of the time to restrict grass intake/escape from the flies/other reason, then do that. You might want to give her a big bed. Judge by how she is coping.
 
If she is really footsore, can you give her some Bute, just to start with, my TB was really sore, over the stones outside our yard, I gave him some Bute for a week, and covered his feet to walk him over the stones, it didn't take long for him to harden up but it helped in the interim as he was sore bless him :( others will have better advice for diet and the long term :)
 
I think I will pop a bute in dinner tomorrow as she's having her jabs Tuesday and if vet won't jab in the field then she will have to come in. My friends letting me borrow her hoof boots to try. What did you cover your horses feet with at the start wellybaggins.
 
Faracat- yes fine on grass. Like above jabs Tuesday & she has to be reasonable & not too sore as she will need to walk abit at the vets! Poor thing, horrid to see her so sore
 
I bodged with some gamgee and tubigrip with a knot in the end to make pull on sock things, i put the gamgee on his feet then pulled the tubigrip on , they stayed on long enough for me to get him to the field where he was fine, he looked a bit silly but it was the best I could do until his hoof bandages (http://www.viovet.co.uk/Mossy_Creek..._find=131941&gclid=CKyB5KjFu78CFQQIwwodlJcAug) arrived :) I got these to tide me over the sore stage, not much good for anything other than short trips but very useful :)
 
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They look good! Il nip to the shop tomorrow & get some gamgee & tubigrip after work. Sounds like these May do the trick! I was thing about baby nappies ? As an alternative ?!
 
Can you feed some hay [as grass has more sugars], if stabled soak the hay, but it is a trade off if she is so sore en route.
Yes to pro hoof from pro earth, but no to any normal pony cubes. Balancer is not as good in this instance.
I used dengie lo alfa non molassed which is tasty, feed damp. She won't really need anything else if on ad lib hay and box rest / filed rest.
Nappies are not much use tbh.
You can ask vet to continue with non sugar diet, add 50gms micronised linseed to diet, it will do her good to have some walking when at vets, they will avoid gravel.
The pro hoof is balanced minerals with magnesium which is essential, that and regular walking in hand, say 30 mins min on tarmac will help to build better feet.
 
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Thank you! She's not really on much hard food. Token gesture really so I can fly spray & things. She can't do any walking at the minute apart from what she's doing in the field & to her stable. It upsets me to see her sore. Reality is she will probably have her front shoes on after surgery! I've made up some hoof covers with fluffy material which really helped today on gravel; just for her to feel more confident. She was very reluctant to come in today bless her. Tbh I think as of tomorrow I'm going to bring her in during the daytime to keep her off the grass!
Interestingly you can tell so much more the leg she's lame on now
 
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