Barefooted Problems

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pollypock1211

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My horse tends to "generally" have good hooves. She is usually shod in front & left unshod behind & has been absolutely fine with this. I recently found out I was pregnant so was doing very little work with her & she developed this problem of catching her hind hooves with her front shoes in the stable & actually cutting them. Myself & my farrier decided to try her barefooted which she's been fine with since November. My friend rode her for the first time being barefooted & she was fine but the week later she came up lame. She's fine on soft ground but very pottery on concrete & pebbly surfaces. This has got no better and she now has a raised pulse, sensitivity across her inner sole & heat around the coronet band on both hooves she also really struggles when turning. I have spoke to the vet who is coming out to rule laminitis. Im suspecting she has bruised soles & wondered if i shod her again would the lameness subside if it was, in fact, bruised soles? Any advice please?
 
How far did friend ride? Had she just been in field before that? Though week after being lame might mean not related. What are her feet like generally? Blue chip and alfalfa a both seen to contribute to footiness in some ponies.
 
Really ! maybe I should swop to Alfa A Lite? Friend did not ride far it was just a gentle hack at walk. Prior to this, since being with me, we have hunted, done the hunter trials, cross country & local sj. However since finding out I was pregnant in November I stopped riding.
 
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I would strongly suspect this is related to the start of spring grass, has the grass just started growing? Two years ago at about this time of year my boy went very lame after over a year sound barefoot, the reason was that he had got through the hedge into the field next door and the grass was too good for him. He didn't have "true" laminitis and the vet said it was bruised soles from riding unshod, but I know it was the grass - too much coincidence and his work hadn't changed. He was very lame for over a week and I experienced a lot of pressure to shoe him, but the logic didn't make sense to me and the reasons I took his shoes off hadn't gone away! Instead I got him some boots which he had to wear over any stones and for hacking for nearly a month before he fully recovered, and also put him on Global Herbs Alphabute and then when he started to improve Global Herbs Restore. He's been sound barefoot for 3 years since.

Has she put on a bit of weight with being off work (I know mine did when I was pregnant despite my best efforts)?

If you shoe your mare she will probably be more comfortable right away, the problem is you won't be able to tell whether you have actually resolved the problem or not until you try taking the shoes off again. If it is grass related it may continue with the shoes masking the symptoms until she ends up with a full-blown episode of laminitis down the road. Of course it may also be a one-off upset that resolves itself fine whilst she is shod and shoeing is certainly a valid way of dealing with the issue, especially since you are pregnant so probably not wanting to deal with boots etc.
 
Thanks Laura that is really useful advice :) she probably has put on a little weight since not being in much work but the suspected lami has surprised me as she was out 24/7 last year with no probs. She's also never had lami in her entire life I know that doesn't mean she can't get it but I just thought the riding and Unshod hooves seem to coincide with the bruised soles.

Would you suggest getting her shod to elevate her hooves (hopefully taking off some pressure) & then restrict her grazing?
 
I think you (possibly in conjunction with your farrier and / or vet if they are open minded and can have a sensible discussion with you about it) need to make the decision as to whether to shoe, boot or even box rest for a few days. It depends on so many things, I certainly would have shod rather than booted my old mare in a similar situation as she wasn't great with her hoof handling and booting does need a horse that is good with that stuff. Sorry not to be more help!

Whichever you go with I would try and restrict her grazing and get a bit of weight off, i.e. basically treat her as a laminitic even if the vet doesn't think she is, it can't do any harm and may well do a lot of good.
 
How old is she?

The alfa thing is the alfalfa, those that barefoot tend to keep to either unmolassed straw, or unmolassed grass chops.

I do think lami could be an issue rather than it relating to her not being shod at the moment, you definitely need to check. If not though going forwards I think it is up to you whether you want to embrace the bare and alter diet a bit and boot as required (boots are pretty good these days!) or continue shoeing.

I would be reluctant to shoe an already sore/compromised hoof, I would rather provide a supportive surface or boot.
 
Elevating her hooves means that she will no longer weight bare on her sole and frog, so it will increase the stress on the laminae.

RE diet - alfalfa can be an issue for BF horses. You need to cut out molasses and most chaffs are covered in it, so beware. I had a real struggle finding a molasses and alfalfa free chaff, so I now feed plain straw chaff which isn't always in stock so I often have to get the feed shop to order it in.
 
Alfa A do a molasses free range. My farrier has suggested shoeing her now with heart bars. The vet has said if she has bruised soles this should resolve then I can always continue to restrict her grazing etc - if she's not sound with shoes then we will proceed down the lami route :(
 
Is it still made with alfalfa though?

I personally would treat as a laminitic IE get her off grass and onto a soft bed now. No harm in being safe rather than sorry.
 
Ok I see, I am totally new to being barefooted. She has been off grass today and has a deep bed today won't hurt but she's really not a horse that settles to box rest! She's a big Warmblood & likes to get out lol ! She can only have a couple of days in before she goes mad so she will have to be turned out. The grass has bearly grown or appears not to have, and there is restricted atm as i have sectioned it all off in readiness for the spring.
 
ditto faracat. What is point of putting heart bars on?? TBH I would be surprised if she has bruised her soles but it not become apparent for a week post the ride.

I asked age in case she was a cushings possibility OP which might explain a lami episode for the first time.
 
don't worry too much yet though we do always worry about them one step at a time. Keep her in atm if you can until vet visits and treat as lami.
Get vet to see and poss take blood for cushings test (it's treatable).
If vet thinks lami treat as they suggest.
Muzzle shop for the future. I just posted on another thread about them here

https://forums-secure.horseandhound...Grazing-muzzles-!-!-!&p=12845272#post12845272
 
The vet won't let you shoe bruised feet, you will need to either box rest or boot and pad while the bruising subsides.

My mare bruised her soles and heels and had her shoes pulled while she recovered. She was not good with her feet, she'd always been tricky to shoe and had to be sedated for the vet to use hoof testers so I was unsure about boots but I bought cavallo boots (partly because they suited her hoof shape and partly because they were easy to put on and cheap if they didn't work out). I used them with EPS pads. After the first time she was brilliant about having them on, she loved them and would volunteer her foot and put it down on command. She was instantly sound in them and positively bouncy! This meant we could start exercise much sooner than if we had waited until we could shoe (even with imprints) this was the most important thing as she is not a horse who copes well with box rest.

I really can't recommend boots highly enough. They are easy to use, and do an amazing job.

My girl is now hunting barefoot but on her journey she has covered all kinds of terrain in her Cavallo boots and has converted quite a few other horse owners in the process!
 
pollypock1211 said:
My farrier has suggested shoeing her now with heart bars.
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I really dislike heart bars. I know there is an argument for them, especially with laminitis, but I'm not sure about the proof and they have such a detrimental effect on the hoof. Also I believe when used for laminitis they should be fitted with the use of x-rays to get the proper fit, but I've never known this to be done.

IMO they tend to be a slippery slope towards poor feet that it is hard to come back from. I've known a few horses go into heart bars and sure it makes them sound but two years later they have navicular syndrome or their feet are so poor they can't even be turned out once they've lost a shoe. If you do go with heart bars make sure it is a temporary thing, if she's not out of them again in a couple of shoeing cycles I'd be very worried.
 
I prefer to use dodson and horrells just grass AA, readigrass is only ryegrass (not great) and I think soya coated, the D+H is a mix, and not coated. Grass chaffs/nuts in general do seem to be well tolerated by most.
 
Thanks Ester, I use Just Grass for Martha who is able to cross most terrains, although the odd sharp stone will get her hopping. I have bought the Readigrass recently thinking it was the same. She has a scoop of grass and half a scoop of speedibeet plus linseed and adlib hay. Her feet are fabulous but there is improvement to be had in the soles yet.

I will cut the readigrass out.
 
No soya in readigrass, just grass and nothing else. I feed it to my fatties, but they only get enough to stop them hoovering their tiny teas down in one.

I have fed larger quantities in the past with no ill effects, but as with all things, it depends on the individual.
 
ah thanks beausmate, I couldn't remember. I know a while ago I went through the various options available locally and settled on the just grass and was just put off the readigrass because of the recent ryegrass info that has been about. I also decided that by weight I was actually feeding very little.
 
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