Corns low heels dilemma

[Trules]

Hi there, I am after some advice on what to do next.
i have a 6year old TB mare, typical tb feet, who was diagnosed with a forelimb suspensory last summer, she has just finished her road work rehab, doing all the walk work barefoot from October and started trot work in Dec . In Jan, I had shoes put back on as I was doing more and she was feeling footy. so she has done plenty trot walk, all good, sound on the road to this point. she was shod for the second time last weds. and due for her vet visit to hopefully get signed off from the original injury on this Monday just gone.
I was mortified to find that she was 3/10 lame on the near fore on the hard, and vet diagnosed corns. she responded to hoof testers on both front feet and there was a slight pulse. vet recommended action is to get a remedial farrier in to put heart bars on. but nothing can be done until she has grown a bit of foot as there is too little to play with. he also x rayed and said she has very low heels.
I am so tempted just to get the shoes whipped off this Friday when there is a farrier on site, and go back to barefoot, all be it I would have to invest in boots this time to protect her feet.
what would you kind folks suggest, I go remedial route or have another crack at barefoot?

thankyou in anticipation.

 

[be positive]

I would be gutted if my farrier had shod a horse without picking up on the corns, probably shoeing too short which caused or at least contributed to them, tb's do not have to have "typical tb feet" they can have good strong feet, in shoes or bare, I would take them off, heart bars will only give an instant improvement but do nothing to help long term, corns usually recover very quickly once the pressure that causes them is removed, ie the shoes coming off.

With care there should be no reason yours cannot go barefoot, the ex racehorse in my yard did all his post tendon injury rehab barefoot, he was shod just before he went back into training, had 6 months of being shod while he raced then once finished they came back off, he is now doing really well being retrained as an all rounder, his feet, which were dreadful when he arrived here, are now strong, he has good depth of heel, never takes a lame step and my farrier has described his feet as "perfect", I think that may be an exaggeration but they are certainly 100% better than I ever expected, he is pretty much self trimming just needing the odd tidy up.

 

[Trules]

many thanks be positive, I would much prefer to be barefoot and self trimming.
I am assuming it is the shoeing last weds that has caused the corns, it is only since she has had these shoes on that she has gone lame. I think she will be much more comfy without them. i'm going to go for it and get them removed. thanks for the vote!

 

[be positive]

many thanks be positive, I would much prefer to be barefoot and self trimming.
I am assuming it is the shoeing last weds that has caused the corns, it is only since she has had these shoes on that she has gone lame. I think she will be much more comfy without them. i'm going to go for it and get them removed. thanks for the vote!

I don't think 5 days in those shoes would be long enough for the corns to develop from nowhere the signs of the pressure on the seat of corn should have been fairly obvious and been seen when the old ones came off, I may be being unfair on your farrier but mine has picked up the odd one when a horse has come in with very short shoes on that have started to cause issues, in over 20 years of him shoeing for me I have only seen about 2 corns and both were in horses that he had not previously shod.

Pleased you are going to try going bare, it will be so good for the suspensory as well as her feet, best of luck.

 

[Trules]

interesting be positive. i do struggle with farriers as a 1 horse owner it is difficult to get comittment from them.it would be lovely to be free of needing them.
my fear is that i dont know a barefoot trimmer either. how vital is it that a good trimmer aids the transition process? another point to mention is that this mare's feet dont seem to grow much at all. i have ordered some farriers formula for her. other than that she has hay, hi fi lite and salt. the suspensories scanned healed, so now it is the feet to sort. thankyou for your help.much appreciated

 

[Holly Hocks]

I would also go barefoot. I have a TB mare who had numerous lameness problems and going barefoot has been great for her. The chiropractor came to see her at weekend and hadn't seen her for a couple of years and couldn't believe how much improvement she had made. You can always get some hoof boots if necessary.

 

[Regandal]

I would try Pro Hoof instead of farriers formula. I have never seen anything stimulate hoof growth like it!

 

[Trules]

i've not heard of pro hoof. will google it thanks.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would ditch the hi-fi lite. Alfalfa doesn't do a lot for horses' feet and molasses is definitely contra indicated.
Then I would find a really good farrier to look after this horse's feet, without shoes. Did the vet remove the shoes,? If not, how did he diagnose the corns?

 

[Trules]

hi. pearlsasinger. no vet didnt remove shoes. with hindsight i wish i had asked him to. she was just sore in heel area with hoof testers and nerve blocked to feet. a friend of mine knows a good remedial farrier but not sure if he is good barefoot.

 

[Trules]

''I would ditch the hi-fi lite. Alfalfa doesn't do a lot for horses' feet and molasses is definitely contra indicated''

Pearlsasinger, what bulk would you suggest instead? she doesn't need feeding for energy, just a carrier for the salt and hoof supplement.

thanks

 

[ycbm]

I would ditch the hi-fi lite. Alfalfa doesn't do a lot for horses' feet

I've not heard that before. Mine are on a chop containing alfalfa and Rockleyfarm feed alfalfa pellets.

 

[ycbm]

Follow up, I've just scoured Google and I can find research in favour of feeding alfalfa for feet, but none against it. I would be really interested to know where the idea that alfalfa is bad for feet has come from in case I'm missing something.

 

[_HP_]

I have read that some horses are sensitive to alfalfa, in relation to laminitis ....ie can cause footiness in some horses...something about high calcium effecting magnesium uptake?

 

[ycbm]

I have read that some horses are sensitive to alfalfa, in relation to laminitis ....ie can cause footiness in some horses...something about high calcium effecting magnesium uptake?

Ah, thank you. That could make sense. Maybe not a problem of you feed whacks of magnesium like a lot of barefoot peeps do, then.

 

[Casey76]

I'm still at a loss as to how corns can be diagnosed without taking the shoe off? Pain in the heel area that resolved with nerve blocking the foot could be any number of things.

If it was me, I would take shoes off, take a couple of steps backward with regards to workload, remove alfalfa from the diet (switch to unmollassed chaff/chop), swap the farriers formula to a "high octane" supplement like pro-hoof (others are available ) and find a farrier who doesn't think "oh it has TB feet"

While horn strength and conformation hasn't been a particular concern in TB breeding, it doesn't mean than they automatically have naff feet; low heels, long toes, paper thin horn and soles are often an artifact of being shod from a very early age (if raced), or of lacksidasical farriers who think "oh it's just TB feet" and don't even try to correct any faults.

 

[Trules]

thanks for the advise Casey76, I am having her shoes taken off tomorrow. and have some pro hoof on order.
her feet are just a bit flat and will grow outwards rather than down given a chance. the vet took x rays and said her heels look worse in the x rays than they do in the flesh. Vet could feel a pulse hence him thinking it was bruising/inflammation to the heel area.
I am hoping it won't take long for her to be sound on a soft surface and I can do a bit of ridden work. the road work will have to be minimal until she has toughened up a bit.
on the feeding front, I thought hi-fi lite was low molasses? what is it 'lite' in if not sugar? I am new to this barefoot feeding regime.
thanks