Egg bar shoes advice/experience/comments please

[mightymammoth]

Hi,

My horse's previous owner let his feet get into a bit of a mess (shod twice in 6 months) and he was just in a field for 6 months.

He's had 3 or 4 bouts of crippling lameness in the 6 months I've had him. After £700 of vets input we've established he has very thin soles and under run/unsupported heels.

Vet suggested egg bar shoes on the fronts which he's had on for 4 weeks so far and he's been sound. Unfortunately today he has lost a front shoe having previously lost one just 10 days after he'd been shod. He's not even had them for a month yet and has already lost both the fronts (on separate occasions).

I was wondering if other people had used egg bar shoes and how they found them? are there any other alternatives? Will I be able to go back to normal shoes once his feet are improved? Did you find they came off easily? I use over reach boots but they don't seem to work.

Thank you

 

[wellsat]

Personally I'd look into trying barefoot for your horse.

G had always had shoes on and I'm a very conventional owner. I compete, I use bits and treed saddles etc. Unfortunately putting bar shoes on his feet made his heels collapse even more and he went from being a bit niggly to full on lame.

Taking his shoes off has been the best thing I could have ever done for him. He's sound, he's happy and his feet are a better shape than they've ever been.

If its a route you're interested in exploring the forum below has lots of people who can talk you through what it would involve, its not as simple as just taking the shoes off but could well help you out.
http://phoenixhorse.myfastforum.org/index.php

 

[be positive]

Eggbars will need to be done more often than normal shoes to give the support they are designed for, they do not offer pedal bone support and if left on too long this can contribute to rotation.
Over reach boots should be used to help prevent them being pulled off, it may be you need to try a different type of boot. You could ask the farrier if he can change the hinds to help prevent him pulling them off.
As far as I can remember the last time I had a horse in that had eggbars it was shod every 4-5 weeks and expected to go back to normal shoes once the balance was corrected.

 

[mightymammoth]

Hi thanks for the replies

Wellsat why did your horse need egg bars on? similar issues to me? I will try barefoot in the future once his feet are in better shape (they still need to be more "underneath him" if that makes sense)

Be positive I'm glad your horse was able to return to normal shoes. I couldn't be doing with this forever as each time he rips a shoe off its taking small chunks of hoof with it which worries me.

 

[ester]

Mine has just come out of bar shoes, which were made by the farrier so not egg bars per se. (diagnosis of flat pedal bones, underun heels and more recently DJD of coffin joint). While diagnosis was just the first two plan was to bar shoe for a bit, improve feet, return to normal shoes.

does yours have the fully round bar shoes on? Ours looked like this

but if we were to buy them we were going to use these

, I think 3beasties boy on here had these sort but graduated too and he hadn't lost them either.

as less likely to pull them off, pony also had large O/R boots on when turned out and ridden and didn't loose them over 3 sets of 6 week shoeings.

His foot balance/heels look a lot better (I can let you have a link to more pics if you would like) than when we started with them but we didn't see the same improvement in his soundness so they have now come off. I am however happier trying to take him barefoot with his feet how they look now than they did then (among a few other reasons for delaying!) even though the improvement may have been quicker out of shoes.

 

[Yertis]

Compromise between shod and barefoot? You may also like to look at the Epona shoe which can be glued, glued and nailed with just 4 nails for full work, this allows for more frequent farrier care in correcting the problem as doesn't fill the hoof full of nail holes. Can also be glued and cast if walls are poor.
http://hoof-help.co.uk/epona-shoe-overview.html

 

[amandap]

I don't know anything about types of shoes or shoeing but I just wanted to make a comment to moorman and hope you don't mind op. I wish you the best for your horse.

Moorman, I've just read your lameness page on pain. Thanks very much for opening my eyes to that interesting and obvious thinking. http://www.rockfoot.com/lameness.html

 

[mightymammoth]

Hi yes I'm going to ask about changing the egg bar shoes off, I'm concerned that each time he is ripping the shoe off chunks of hoof are coming with it which isn't good. As he's only keeping them on for a couple of times a week and then were waiting days for the farrier to come and refit them he's not getting the support he needs anyway.

I just dont know what to do for the best! I may look at taking his back shoes off to see how he copes.

Moorman I so wish you could be my farrier

 

[mightymammoth]

Mine has just come out of bar shoes, which were made by the farrier so not egg bars per se. (diagnosis of flat pedal bones, underun heels and more recently DJD of coffin joint). While diagnosis was just the first two plan was to bar shoe for a bit, improve feet, return to normal shoes.

does yours have the fully round bar shoes on? Ours looked like this

but if we were to buy them we were going to use these

, I think 3beasties boy on here had these sort but graduated too and he hadn't lost them either.

as less likely to pull them off, pony also had large O/R boots on when turned out and ridden and didn't loose them over 3 sets of 6 week shoeings.

His foot balance/heels look a lot better (I can let you have a link to more pics if you would like) than when we started with them but we didn't see the same improvement in his soundness so they have now come off. I am however happier trying to take him barefoot with his feet how they look now than they did then (among a few other reasons for delaying!) even though the improvement may have been quicker out of shoes.

Hi, we've got the oval ones

 

[mightymammoth]

Mine has just come out of bar shoes, which were made by the farrier so not egg bars per se. (diagnosis of flat pedal bones, underun heels and more recently DJD of coffin joint). While diagnosis was just the first two plan was to bar shoe for a bit, improve feet, return to normal shoes.

does yours have the fully round bar shoes on? Ours looked like this

but if we were to buy them we were going to use these

, I think 3beasties boy on here had these sort but graduated too and he hadn't lost them either.

as less likely to pull them off, pony also had large O/R boots on when turned out and ridden and didn't loose them over 3 sets of 6 week shoeings.

His foot balance/heels look a lot better (I can let you have a link to more pics if you would like) than when we started with them but we didn't see the same improvement in his soundness so they have now come off. I am however happier trying to take him barefoot with his feet how they look now than they did then (among a few other reasons for delaying!) even though the improvement may have been quicker out of shoes.

yes can I have your link please and is your horse now in normal shoes or unshod?

 

[GreedyGuts]

I'm with Moorman on this; egg bar shoes are old school and don't take into account the functional anatomy of the foot. I'd speak to your vet/ farrier about using a heart bar/ central support shoe. This will improve the function of the hoof more effectively than an egg bar, which unloads the most important weight bearing surface of the hoof.

 

[mightymammoth]

I'm with Moorman on this; egg bar shoes are old school and don't take into account the functional anatomy of the foot. I'd speak to your vet/ farrier about using a heart bar/ central support shoe. This will improve the function of the hoof more effectively than an egg bar, which unloads the most important weight bearing surface of the hoof.

thanks for this I hadn't realised, I thought egg bar were a new thing. Will definitely do some more research because as well as what you've just mentioned they are just not practical when they are ripping pieces of hi poor hoof off everytime he loses one.