Contracted Heels - Vetting

[Smile_and_Wave]

Would a vet fail a horse on contracted heels if the horse is otherwise sound in all other ways? or is it more dependat on the vet and what they consider a big problem or not,

Horse has clean x-rays from two years ago also (I know a lot can change in two years)

I would say the horse has mild contracted heels, i had a horse who had much worse and more closed heels that passed a vet, maybe i answered my own question

 

[Andalucian]

I'm sure the vet would pass it if it were sound, but I wouldn't buy it unless it was pretty cheap as it will need rehabilititation IMO.

 

[Hollycatt]

Depends on vet. I expect they would pass it but note it on documents - so that could affect your insurance and give you an exclusion for lameness. I had a fly bite listed as a possible sarcoid on one vetting - when I phoned the vet he said he was 99% sure it was a fly bite (which it was) but liability the way it is today..........

 

[intouch]

Can't imagine many vets would NOTICE contracted heels........... (ducks...)

 

[Barehooves]

Can't imagine many vets would NOTICE contracted heels........... (ducks...)

I agree... (also ducks!)

 

[brucea]

Contracted heels can be fixed. But not with shoes.

 

[Andalucian]

Can't imagine many vets would NOTICE contracted heels........... (ducks...)

Tee hee

 

[MattFranks]

Contracted heels can be fixed. But not with shoes.

Wrong

 

[amandap]

Wrong

Uh oh! Here we go again! Anyone any good pics?

 

[Clava]

Wrong

Why?

 

[amandap]

http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/contracted-heels.html
Here's some of LucyPriory's pics.

 

[MattFranks]

Why?

They can be fixed with shoes, or without, so long as the frog is loaded. I've done it countless times both ways.

 

[Smile_and_Wave]

They can be fixed with shoes, or without, so long as the frog is loaded. I've done it countless times both ways.

The owner is going to have her farrier look at him and then im having mine look at him if she isnt happy with the work he is doing, would you generally use heart bars on the horse and do you mean support for the frog when you say 'loaded'? ive read up on it a bit and you can correct it with or without shoes so we are waiting to see what the farriers say about it

 

[brucea]

Actually Matt is right and I am wrong to be "black and white" like that - apologies.

I've seen the farrier set the shoes wide at the heels to try to bring about decontraction - but I have seen it fail because horses both stand on the wider shoe and it gets pulled off in the mud and the owners in both cases gave up on it. So it is a partial solution, but not a reliable one.

Bringing the frog into ground contact will allow it to flex and begin decontracting.

 

[cptrayes]

They can be fixed with shoes, or without, so long as the frog is loaded. I've done it countless times both ways.

Matt I have never owned a horse whose frog was weight-bearing on hard flat ground with a shoe on (I've had about 40 and I could have got at least a steel rule under every one). Is there something special that you do with the shoe to get the frog loaded, or do you advise the owner to do something different with work and turnout? I'm genuinely interested and not here to pick a fight. I had a discussion with three farriers who belong to UKNHCP who insisted they could get the frog in contact with the ground with normal shoes on but I couldn't see how and they didn't explain, just insisted. I once heard that the cure for contracted heels was to turn the horse into deep mud (basically, a swamp) or the litter left by a winter of indoor cows for several months. Seems a bit drastic !

 

[MattFranks]

There are several options available. Heartbars work well, as does using impression material, or a silicone based product. The most effective though is the use of a new pad that has been developed specifically for this problem. I can't go into it on here as there is a patent pending( not my product by the way!) There are lots of methods, your farrier can discuss the most appropriate one for your horse.

 

[cptrayes]

I'm a barefooter Matt so it's never been an issue for me, they have widened with removal of the shoes (got one in progress right now in fact) but I have a friend whose horse has been contracted and sheared for the 13 years she's owned him who is desperate for a solution. Her farrier has never suggested heart bars and used silicone only to try to prevent stones going into the central sulcus. It sounds like he's missing a trick or two.

 

[Smile_and_Wave]

the horse i used to own with contracted heels my farrier used normal hunter type shoes but with side clips not toe clips and put them on with a little of the shoe out behind and to the side to try open his feet up, he lived in his overreach boots so he never pulled his shoes off but i could see it happening quite easily, and this worked very well

i was quite confused by the horse wearning heat bars as generally how i have seen them delbt with is by either taking shoes off or shoeing as my farrier did with my horse, never had a horse with heart bars but isnt the little like frog support part meant to make contact with the frog? on this horse it doesnt so im fiding crap gets stuck between the frog and shoe and makes him footy at times until i pick his feet out throughly also not on straight, farrier has made a god awful job in my opinion