Best way to "fix" sore feet quickly?

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UKa

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Further to another thread on my horse suddenly being very "footy" I wonder what to do about it. She is definitely better on soft ground but very uncomfortable on stoney hard surfaces; I have the feeling she is also slightly compromising this with being a little tense throughout. She is shod in front but barefoot back - we have done a lot more hacking over the last 3 weeks than normal as we moved to yard with no arena, but regardless of this, I heard her trodding on something on Sunday and then she was uncomfortable behind. She is also prone to muscle problems - tying up type - so want to avoid her being uncomfortable throughout by tensing up to compensate. So, short of calling the vet, are there any quick remedies out there I could try? I feel like I would like to give her some bute but haven't got any handy. Someone mentioned arnica? What about the buteless products, are they fast acting?
 
Theres no real 'quick fix' if you suspect brusing it may be worth giving her some arnica and poulticing the affected hoof but I would be tempted to really ease off on your hacking for now and keep a check on how much grass she is getting. Footiness usually goes hand in hand with too much grass (particularly at this time of year) and too much exercise on hard / stony surfaces too quickly. so perhaps wrth fencing off a bit of bare field for her and supplementing her with hay if possible...
 
Hm yes, easing off on hacking means no riding at the moment but it seems to not help her to carry on going out...

Boots are some idea... she hates having stuff on her legs though so not sure how she would take to them. As this happened in the past I am seriously debating now to just get her shod all round next time farrier comes. She has very flat feet so "attracts" problems...

Ah, horses...
 
One of mine came in from the paddocks limping exactly as I think I would if I'd trod on a sharp stone. Intermittent lameness followed, with vet and farrier visiting; I was watching closely for an abscess but vet and farrier took on a wait and see approach. On the next visit by the farrier the bruising had become visible. He recommended a spray to toughen the sole and thus far it's working well. Horse is front-shod only. I think the spray contains formaldehyde?
 
She is sore because she has flat feet and she has flat feet because her diet is incorrect for her metabolic problems. What is she fed? How much grass does she get?

Common sense dictates that you must back off the work, boot or shoe.
 
Hi,cp - she is fed Alfa a oil,Baileys outshine and Baileys lo cal balancer with ad lib hay.currently out in grass around 8 hrs a day.she is a poor doer and ties up so was recommended these products.flat feet I thought were conformational not food related? She is a fine,thin TB...thanks.
 
UKa said:
Hi,cp - she is fed Alfa a oil,Baileys outshine and Baileys lo cal balancer with ad lib hay.currently out in grass around 8 hrs a day.she is a poor doer and ties up so was recommended these products.flat feet I thought were conformational not food related? She is a fine,thin TB...thanks.
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Flat feet are definitely not a conformational issue,. I have seen several 'flat footed' TB's grow perfectly normal feet once their diet is adressed (and 9 times out of 10, had their shoes removed!!)

I would look closely at the sugar and starch content of your feeds. Some horses are really intollerant to Alfa-a so it may be worth cutting this out and feeding either speedi-beet or fast fibre instead. I'm not sure if the outshine has mollasses in it or not, it looks not to from the blurb on the website but would be worth you checking out the white label on the bag. D&H ERS pellets are a hoof friendly alternative if they do. and Baileys lo-cal is mollassed so I would be tempted to cut this out and feed something like pro-hoof or bro balance from progressive earth on ebay or forage plus hoof balancer instead which are better formulated for healthy hoof growth. I would also add micronised linseed which will help both her feet and her weight. Only a mug a day will be sufficient (particularly with the outshine too).

Be careful with the grass at this time of year as the sugar content is enough to send most horses a bit footsore.
 
UKa said:
Hi,cp - she is fed Alfa a oil,Baileys outshine and Baileys lo cal balancer with ad lib hay.currently out in grass around 8 hrs a day.she is a poor doer and ties up so was recommended these products.flat feet I thought were conformational not food related? She is a fine,thin TB...thanks.
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My TB gets flat feet in the spring (grass related) and fantastic concavity in the winter - it is entirely diet related not conformation.
 
Oh, gosh, lots to think about. I changed her feeds only last summer as she was not keeping her weight and this diet has really improved her condition :-( She used to be on Alfa A Oil with Spillers hi fi cubes and a multi spec vit supplement. So absolutely NO molasses... but not enough protein. I thought that by using recommended amounts of feeds from the nutritionist (albeit biased to their own products) I would be doing the right thing...grrrrr

Ah, but also, I did notice her treading on a stone at the end of a ride on Sunday so the soreness definitely goes back to this incident, is not a general condition...
 
Have you had her tested for equine cushings? Has the 'tying up' been confirmed as such by a vet?

A gelding at our yard had all the symptoms of tying up. Turned out he had acute laminitis, and was worse in his hind feet. If your horse is finding it hard to keep weight on, is sore footed, and appears to be tying up, then I would strongly suspect equine cushings and laminitis.

Agree with the others. You should not be riding her at the moment, at least not until she has been sound for a week.
 
UKa said:
I have decided to give my farrier a call. He knows all about feet hopefully he can help :-) x
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If I were you I would spend some time and do some of your own research on hooves as well as asking your farrier. Diet has a huge influence on hooves and some farriers (mine included) know very little about diet and may not be able to give you al the answers you need.
 
UKa said:
Oh, gosh, lots to think about. I changed her feeds only last summer as she was not keeping her weight and this diet has really improved her condition :-( She used to be on Alfa A Oil with Spillers hi fi cubes and a multi spec vit supplement. So absolutely NO molasses... but not enough protein. I thought that by using recommended amounts of feeds from the nutritionist (albeit biased to their own products) I would be doing the right thing...grrrrr

.
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Yes there is a lot to think about...

I'm sorry, but you are mistaken if you think this diet contains no mollasses. High Fibre cubes are bound together with mollasses. Alfa-a oil is relatively low in sugar - it doesn't appear to have any added to it but as already said, some horses are sensitive to the alfa-a itself.

Many people are realising that feedline nutritionists actually know very little about the content of their products and the effect they have on the horse, they are also realising that farriers don't ALWAYS know best and that some vets are outdated in their thinking. There are select few people who are very passionate about this cause and have done a LOT if independent research into equine nutrition.It is worth you browsing some of the barefoot threads on here and perhaps taking a look at Forage plus's website in order to widen your knowledge on the subject and enable you to make an informed decision.

Ok, your horse trod on a stone but if her feet were healthy this really shouldn't have had any effect on them at all. Many barefoot horses walk over stones all day long with no ill effect.
 
CBFan said:
Ok, your horse trod on a stone but if her feet were healthy this really shouldn't have had any effect on them at all. Many barefoot horses walk over stones all day long with no ill effect.
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Hi, well, further to my post, just thinking that yes, many horses walk on stones but each horse is still individual and, like us humans, conditioned quite differently. If any horse trods on a stone in an unfortunate way they will still get hurt! (I used to have all my horses unshod before I had this one, so I am not just guessing here)

Today she was already a lot more comfortable on her feet in fact I didn't notice any abnormality at all if it hadn't been for the past couple of days I would not have thought anything was wrong with her. GLAD ABOUT THAT, though.

As to the suggestions to look for cushings - yes, tying up was diagnosed properly by a vet about 8 years ago when she had a very severe episode (the first one with me) - after this I tried to adjust feed and management and only got 3 milder episodes and she has been clear for the last 5 years or more as I have been VERY carefully managing her.

With regards to her diet, she has not looked as good as after this winter in terms of weight and coat shine so the stuff must be doing something right :)

Not sure, I was probably a bit panicky about her feet - hopefully this won't happen so soon again, but as we will be doing a lot more hacking now I am considering getting back shoes put on just to be safe.

Also, at no point was there any suspicious heat in her feet or a suspicious pulse like in laminitis...

Thanks for all your thoughts, some interesting ideas for longer term consideration :-)
 
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