Do i bite the bullet and go bare foot again?!

[scewal]

My 5 year old had front shoes put on last year as she became lame. Farrier couldn't find anything wrong except for a few stones in the white line. Been thinking of trying her barefoot again but worry she may become lame again without shoes.
Not sure what to do?!
I live on the edge of the moor so have plenty of off road riding but also have quite a few stoney tracks to negotiate too.

 

[dianchi]

Whats her diet?

 

[scewal]

I treat her as a laminitc, sparse paddock, fast fibre with magnesium, brewers yeast and linseed. Topped up with hay which has been analysed on the low spectrum of sugars.
She has never had laminitis but as she is a very good doer i see no harm in treting her so.

 

[LucyPriory]

Farrier couldn't find anything wrong except for a few stones in the white line.

Did your farrier advise you that if stones are getting into the white line it is because it has become stretched? You should easily be able to cover the white line with the edge of a credit card - a really good one is so tight as to be a mere thread.

Did the farrier advise you on how to stop the white line from becoming stretched?

Your diet seems reasonable but maybe short of good quality protein. Did you have a full hay analysis done or just NSC?

Photos of pony and close up of hooves would be great.

 

[scewal]

My farrier at the time didn't mention anything about the wte line. Nore did he think that the stones he dug out would of made her lame. He asked me at i wanted to do so suggested shoes.
Her hay sample came back as 5%

Ths is her 4 months before the inital lameness. I had just taken her on and was put on a radical diet.She had been out of work with her previous owner who had 'sat' on her and then turned her away.

Pics now. She has been in light work since this horrible wet weather. Her ribs are very easily felt but she still has quite a belly on her. Photo doesn't help as she was standing up hill.

Pictures of shod feet, please excuse the effol.

She has been on a very wet muddy paddock until recently but has has some hardcore to stand on.
Hinds.

Next picture - she had an abscess in her heel bulb and the pultice had just come off in this picture.

 

[scewal]

Meant to add she is 16.2hh cob x tb.

Back in the summer when she was in regular work.

 

[TwoStroke]

She looks loads better in that last pic.

Is it possible to soak her hay? I'd be tempted to test for IR/ppid, personally, just to be on the safe side.

Hoof pics are best taken at ground level directly side on. It's hard to tell from those pics, but her front feet look quite long. Her hinds are both inflamed around the coronary band. In the abscessing hoof very much so, but also a little on the other.

The hairline on the second front pic is also wonky, indicating possible medio lateral balance issues, I think.

 

[scewal]

Soaking her hay is quite difficult. Will get her tested for IR. Yes her feet were done 7 weeks ago waiting for the farrier to get in touch, had to cancel last appointment and chasing him to book me in again.
Would the recent wet weather be the cause for the inflamation to the cornary band?

 

[cptrayes]

I don't know about whether you will have more success barefoot if you try again, but those shoes look desperately tight to me. It may be just the photo, but if it's true to life I'd be wanting bigger shoes on her.

 

[Moggy89]

Seeing as the shoes have been on for 7 weeks, you cant really judge how tight they are as there has been 7 weeks growth and we don't know how much hoof she grows! The same goes for why they are looking long.

Also she has been clipped so looking at the hair line is not necessarily accurate as all depends on if the clipping is level.

The periople around the cornary band will be larger due to the bad weather and having cob in her will also made it naturally bigger.

You will only find out if she goes well barefoot by trying. But I personely don't think you should do it because you want it to be 'more natural' or to save money, only if it is right for the horse, if she can cope with it and does not get footy or totally wear them out.

 

[LucyPriory]

OP - at 5% your hay is low sugar, the bucket feed mentions the usual 'barefoot friendly' items. But there appear to still be regular event lines in the hoof walls. Any ideas on what might be causing those?

 

[scewal]

I think the event lines corospond with moving pasture in Sept to the winter grazing then she moved into another different field in Nov, both fields had been grazed by another horse before and therefore didn't contain much grass. 3 weeks ago I moved them to their current starvation paddock which had been rested since sept but the grass grows very little in the 6 months it has been rested. Feed wise nothing has changed at all.

 

[lazybee]

My 5 year old had front shoes put on last year as she became lame. Farrier couldn't find anything wrong except for a few stones in the white line. Been thinking of trying her barefoot again but worry she may become lame again without shoes.
Not sure what to do?!
I live on the edge of the moor so have plenty of off road riding but also have quite a few stoney tracks to negotiate too.

What are her soles like? Have you or did the farrier check for sensitivity with hoof testers?

 

[cptrayes]

Seeing as the shoes have been on for 7 weeks, you cant really judge how tight they are as there has been 7 weeks growth and we don't know how much hoof she grows! The same goes for why they are looking long.

I'll explain my reasoning. I am judging from the lack of flare, the straightness of the side walls and how the back half of the foot appears to be significantly wider than the shoe. I would have expected a shoe fitted on a nice solid foot like that to have been fitted wide enough at the heel to allow for heel expansion over time. My betting is that if we saw sole shots of those front feet, that the heels of the shoe are far too close to the frog, unless they have also been kept short to avoid a pulled shoe. Though as I said, photos can be deceptive.