barefoot trim for hock arthritis

SEL

SEL

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Just trying to get myself clued up really.

So the horse was recently diagnosed with arthritis in both hocks. She will be 4 weeks overdue for her trim on her next appointment (catalogue of issues with both me & trimmer) and I've let the trimmer know about the diagnosis.

Is there anything specific the trimmer should be doing? Whilst I'm pretty sure she knows her job better than I do, I'm in that stage of having a horse who has been "off" for 12 months now and moving into OCD mode on everything to do with her health.
 
I would not allow anyone to trim the hind feet of a horse with hock arthritis. I would get the horse to shape its own feet on tarmac roads. My experience of a horse with this condition is that the balance of the feet changed from one week to the next according to the progression of the disease and the weather conditions. No trimmer can do that.

You trimmer may know more than you, but your horse knows better than both of you.

The horse I had was able to work through with no pain relief until I rehomed him to flat ground and he began to be trimmed by a farrier.

Of course, this approach is not necessarily possible for everyone.
 
I never did anything with F's hinds other than roll the toe a bit occasionally but mostly sorted for himself. His near hind was wonky way before we got an actually hock arthritis diagnosis but I had my suspicions because of that.
 
ester said:
I never did anything with F's hinds other than roll the toe a bit occasionally but mostly sorted for himself. His near hind was wonky way before we got an actually hock arthritis diagnosis but I had my suspicions because of that.
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We have pretty wonky feet too. She's always been cow hocked so I did wonder whether it was conformation based - but I guess that's probably what's given her arthritis at a young age anyway. Front feet get quite a flare on them too.
 
ycbm said:
I would not allow anyone to trim the hind feet of a horse with hock arthritis. I would get the horse to shape its own feet on tarmac roads. My experience of a horse with this condition is that the balance of the feet changed from one week to the next according to the progression of the disease and the weather conditions. No trimmer can do that.

You trimmer may know more than you, but your horse knows better than both of you.

The horse I had was able to work through with no pain relief until I rehomed him to flat ground and he began to be trimmed by a farrier.

Of course, this approach is not necessarily possible for everyone.
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Trouble is she isn't a great hack & definitely not on the roads where we live - drivers think nothing of squeezing past horses at speed - so I tend to take her on bridle paths and fields where the ground is obviously softer.

She's never been shod & has tough old feet but they do seem to grow & grow and then snap off in chunks. Not sure that's a good thing - it's certainly not pretty!

Is it even possible for those of us who can't ride on roads to have horses that self trim???
 
It's very difficult! I have a friend who was able to build a pea gravel pen that her horses are in for several hours a day. I'm not doing much road work now, and mine are self trimming in a dry barn overnight, but of course they move around a lot. Can you find a trimmer who will teach you to take off a fraction every few days instead of making one big adjustment every x weeks?
 
FfionWinnie said:
It is possible but definitely easier on tarmac. Can you lead her out on the road perhaps?
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If I can work out the times the DPD & TNT drivers come down our lane then I'm happy to lead her out. TNT put us in the ditch a few months ago, which was nice of them. A bit of in hand work wouldn't go amiss anyway - she's pretty spooky.
 
ycbm said:
It's very difficult! I have a friend who was able to build a pea gravel pen that her horses are in for several hours a day. I'm not doing much road work now, and mine are self trimming in a dry barn overnight, but of course they move around a lot. Can you find a trimmer who will teach you to take off a fraction every few days instead of making one big adjustment every x weeks?
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Now that's a plan. I was filing her feet when I was teaching her not to kill the farrier / trimmer, but I stopped when she was safe because I was worried about doing it wrong. My trimmer is pretty chilled so I think she'd be ok with that.
 
My horse has spavins in both. Barefoot has been a revelation for him. His back feet haven't been touched by farrier in ages. They just seem to take care of themselves
 
I trim an Arab with hock arthritis, vet wanted him shod as he twisted his hoof.
He has been barefoot about a year now, and completely transformed. No longer twists his foot which is great. Get has been back out and is very happy.
I think the key for him has been getting his heels working as his frogs have almost doubled in size!!
 
Hi, just found this thread, my mare has never been barefoot but we took the shoes off and left her in the field for a while to see if the 'spavins' sorted themselves out. My question is, would I be able to bring her back into work shoeless if she's always been shod? On the odd occasion in the past if we lost a shoe or whatever she was like 'ouch' I can't walk, I'm lame'!?
 
4x4 said:
Hi, just found this thread, my mare has never been barefoot but we took the shoes off and left her in the field for a while to see if the 'spavins' sorted themselves out. My question is, would I be able to bring her back into work shoeless if she's always been shod? On the odd occasion in the past if we lost a shoe or whatever she was like 'ouch' I can't walk, I'm lame'!?
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Yes. How long have the shoes been off, what's her diet and general hoof health look like? I find the horses most crippled without shoes are the ones who most desperately need a break from them to sort themselves out. I took shoes off my jumper for an injury, did time with rehab and diet changes.... and was so pleased with a longer stride, better movement and better jump that I just haven't gone back to shoes. Still on the fence whether I will for hunting season next year (just because the terrain can be mixed and erratic and I just don't have the time to put in the hours of exercise she would need to be comfortable barefoot for that).

Most basic advice- sort out diet (basically treat them like a Cushings horse, lots of fiber, no sugar, lots of turnout), any lingering thrush, get a good trimmer... and I presume you'll increase the workload slowly anyway since your horse has had time off.
 
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