Box rest so horse can be shod??

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BigYellowHorse

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I recently let my friend have my TB on loan almost 2 weeks ago. He has been barefoot since beginning of september but has had regular trims and I've looked after his feet as best as possible with him living out.

His feet are a little soft - all this wet weather hasn't helped and they are the 'traditional' TB feet.

A few days into the loan he got a foot abscess, though was shallow and is sound and bandage free again. Since having the foot abscess a couple of farriers have seen his feet and one has recommended 6 weeks box rest before he can put shoes on and that a lot of work will be needed to get shoes on him.

I've only been told what I've written above and its all very vague, but putting a horse on 6 weeks box rest before shoes can even be considered seems hugely extreme! I've owned this horse for 3 years and never had a problem with shoes.

Has anyone else ever had to go to this extreme to get a horse shod? I'm going to try and get in contact with the farrier who recommended the box rest see whether he can actually qualify such an action and also my farrier I've had for over a decade. All that I keep thinking is that box rest will reduce circulation to the feet meaning they wont grow as healthily as they could and also my guy doesn't overly like box rest and even having a few days in with a foot abscess didn't really do his sanity much good!
 
I am sure you will get more informed answers but mine is WHY would they want to do that, if he is sound, other than the abcsess:confused::confused::confused:

I have a barefoot horse on box rest at the moment, his feet have hardly grown, they are softer than they have ever been and I cannot wait until he can get back out and his feet can go back to how they were.

I would be worried that the farrier has taken too much off and is now trying to rectify his mistake.
 
BigYellowHorse said:
I recently let my friend have my TB on loan almost 2 weeks ago. He has been barefoot since beginning of september but has had regular trims and I've looked after his feet as best as possible with him living out.

His feet are a little soft - all this wet weather hasn't helped and they are the 'traditional' TB feet.

A few days into the loan he got a foot abscess, though was shallow and is sound and bandage free again. Since having the foot abscess a couple of farriers have seen his feet and one has recommended 6 weeks box rest before he can put shoes on and that a lot of work will be needed to get shoes on him.

I've only been told what I've written above and its all very vague, but putting a horse on 6 weeks box rest before shoes can even be considered seems hugely extreme! I've owned this horse for 3 years and never had a problem with shoes.

Has anyone else ever had to go to this extreme to get a horse shod? I'm going to try and get in contact with the farrier who recommended the box rest see whether he can actually qualify such an action and also my farrier I've had for over a decade. All that I keep thinking is that box rest will reduce circulation to the feet meaning they wont grow as healthily as they could and also my guy doesn't overly like box rest and even having a few days in with a foot abscess didn't really do his sanity much good!
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I would get a second opinion - if the only tool you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail :rolleyes:.

In terms of 'traditional TB feet', a hoof is either healthy or unhealthy. Some horses don't have great raw materials to work with - but a healthy diet and the right care can do wonders with even the most difficult cases.
If the hooves are still unhealthy after 5 months, I suspect there is something not 100% with his management. Not a criticism, but some horses need us to think outside the box - they like to keep us guessing sometimes :o

If shoes are the right option for the horse - fine. BUT are you shoeing just to patch an unhealthy hoof together? Is it the best option - or the only option presented by the attending professional?
 
If shoeing is the best option for the horse - then brill.

But to keep a horse on 6 week's bed rest in order to put the shoes on sounds like there is either more going on or the farrier's knowledge is outdated.

The more progressive of vets are turning their backs on box rest (except in cases of acute tendon/ligament or fractures). I certainly wouldn't entertain a farrier or trimmer suggesting it as an answer to a hoof problem. I would expect the farrier to refer the owner to a vet for a proper examination in such a case.
 
Hey thanks for the replys... in my opinion they are healthy hooves, of what I know of hooves - they aren't cracking, splitting or chipping, the lady did say she thought they were a bit thrushy but when I went to have a look on sunday I couldn't see any signs of thrush and they smelt fine (I think she was probably just smelling that 'old' mud smell) He's on a good diet, I concentrate on a high fibre diet supplemented with oil and some hard feed. If I do think they might be losing condition I will add some biotin in and I'll also pop some Kevin Bacon on but generally I only need to do that in summer and its not really a known occurrence.

Re having shoes, he is very footsore over stones and hard ground so does really need shoes, I do try and keep as many of my horses barefoot as possible but he is coming back into work so needs to have them on as he is relatively flat footed TB - which is the only reason I can think why shoeing might cause a problem, but they haven't changed over the 3 years so I can't see why.

She did say when I texted her earlier to get the farrier's name and number that she had spoken to 2 farriers who both said he would need a lot of work to get shoes on... so either there is something completely obvious I have missed in total naivety (although my farrier surely would have said as he came the day before I dropped him off to his new home), she's completely got her wires crossed - she is a highly strung type... or both these farriers live on a completely different planet.

Anyway for now I've rung my farrier and left a message to see if he might shed some light and will wait and see what this other guy has to say for himself... I will keep you updated.
 
I spoke to the lady this evening so managed to get a little more info, but it seems as though he has some bruising to his front feet, which I can understand, as he's been recouping in the field unshod, I guess he could have possibly done during the cold weather walking on the poached frozen mud but also on the first day of him being in with the abscess at his new home he bolted through the stable door that had been left open and shot of down a hardcore drive - which I think is more likely why they are bruised.

The farrier had also said that there wasn't enough hoof wall to be putting nails, he's just had the trimmed so I dont know if they were taken back a little too much so shoes cant be put on or whether you just need a bit more hoof growth to be getting shoes on. But I dont think the bruising will subside till the shoes are on and he's not walking so flat footed. The vet also recommended a couple of weeks box rest to let them recover.

So I can understand why they want him on box rest, the 6 weeks seems very OTT. I still personally would prefer him out whilst the hooves grow, even if it means they are still a little bruised.. and I don't see why you can't shoe a slightly bruised hoof as the nails wont be going anywhere near the bruising..


Anyway it seems a little clearer, I actually feel bad even though I don't think I've done anything too wrong, he's been recouping in a field, not in ridden work so I didn't feel it necessary to shoe, but have always kept on top of keeping them trimmed and checking for thrush etc I was actually proud that when he left as he was in great overall condition (ok possibly didnt balance the diet quite well enough - I was concentrating on making sure he had lots of fibre in the form of lots of chaff, some sugar beet, just grass and about 1/2 a scoop of conditioning nuts) after such lousy winter months. I think people think he was neglected because he was left out 24/7, really he just prefers to be out and did far better condition and mentally living out than he has done the winters Ive stabled him!
 
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Bruising and lack of good quality tissue = sounds like a dietary/metabolism related issue to me.

Not to say that his diet in inappropriate, but it may not be suited to his individual needs.

After 5 months barefoot and even with mud and little work, I would still expect a horse to have enough sole to avoid bruising in the field . I can't imagine how a horse can have too little wall yet still need a trim :confused:.

Something isn't right there.

My horses live in a bog 362 days a year.

My elderly one has rampant Cushings and so is metabolically challenged. But he can still do this without bruising.....

obibrickcrunchingsmaller.jpg


There's no magic in it.
I have had to work hard to tinker his diet to his own needs (after making pretty much every mistake there was to make along the way :o).
 
Once upon a time cavalry horses were kept in tie stalls. They were tied up in three sided stalls for all the time they were in there.

If a horse was sick or injured it was prescribed "box rest".

This meant it was put in a loose box, where it wasn't tied up, and could move and lie down at its leisure.

That meant MORE MOVEMENT - NOT LESS.

Rant over.
 
Hmm back to looking at his diet again - just got it right to keep the weight on! :rolleyes:

Im guessing there might just be too much sugary content from the molassed sugarbeet and conditioning cubes. Though since moving he's gone onto unmollassed SB and now he's in I got the lady to cut right back on hard feed as during turnout on the yard he was going absolutely nutters in his little box as the pretty much the whole yard walks past his stable on their way to the field.

Think she's been advised to get cornicresine by the vet (she said it had 'sin' in it!) though I've heard far better reviews on Farriers Formula, but I'm not sure my opinion will be valued now :/

I did also send him with some Kevin Bacon don't know if she's been using it or not.

Thing I dont understand is I know farriers can put the nails up slightly higher with thin walls - it would mean checking that the nails didnt catch, so spending some time getting them bedded in on the day and also coming back to check, but least that way it would mean the soles were being prevented from bruising, he'd be able to be turned out sooner (I understand having a couple weeks box rest just to get the current bruising reduced) and the diet could be adjusted accordingly.

Anyway - if she is happy to keep him in on box rest and he's not climbing the walls too much, then I guess I'll just go with the flow and see how it pans out (obs keeping a very close eye on things..)

Pfft to this winter!! I seem to be spending half my time sticking horses or things they have destroyed back together and of course then there's the mud!
 
can only say what your horse eats now it will be standing on in nine month s time I had a horse from racing feet so bad it was hard to keep shoes on if you use a good vitamin mineral supplement or look at a feed balancer you will be doing this horse a lot of good you will be sure he is getting what he needs they do need to have biotin and methione for good feet My farrier was amazed by her fab feet and it was only a small thing to change that made a massive difference she spent rest of her life with me and had a two day lameness as she was kicked in field never because of feet I hope your horse gets better soon its horrible when they have to be on box rest
 
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