Ex racer crippled with bad feet. Please help!

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usbaldings

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I have had my mare 4 weeks ( although we did breed her hence got her back)
She was a chaser until last dec when she was turned away injured.
They decided they did not want to train her and so I asked for her back. She is crippled! Both fronts infected. Dreadful cracks, dropped heels, very concave soles. My farrier has never seen such bad feet.
Vet out. Pain relief and antibiotics. Once comfortable, put on heart bars.
Last tues after coming off bute and having bars for 3 weeks she suddenly went chronically lame. Vet took off bars and laminae bleeding and enflamed. Vet thinks pedal bone may have sunk😿 gonna get X-rays but what ever the result I feel reluctant to put shoes on her until decent hoof appears( by the way. Toe is also totally seedy and thinking of coming away))
The horn growth since seeing the farrier last is much better already no longer open cracks in coronet.

Going barefoot not an option as her soles are dropped and soft and there are more flints than grass everywhere you go. I feel maybe boots to walk out in, turn out for a couple of hours then take them off in a deep bedded stable and let her feet recover naturally.
I have looked into boots and taken advice and been told the mac bouts I've used before would not suit her as she has such dropped heels. They recommend equine cushion joggers and a gel pad to start.
Love advice please. Thx
 
Who gave you the advice about boots? Fit is vital and there is a lot of choice these days. In early rehab I prefer to use a roomy boot that can be fitted with 4lb pads which provide lots of support and comfort.

Soft soles are usually related to diet, sometimes shoeing and sometimes a 'metabolic' illness. With some intelligent and dedicated thinking the issue can most often be resolved.

Ditto any sinking or 'dropping' perfectly reversible. But the boots and pads provide comfort whilst work is in progress.

Also work very hard on building a super frog. Most UK domestics are too soft and flabby. And I've lost count of the number of peeps that have told me their horse's frogs are fine only then to be presented with quite the reverse. So its not something to take personally, but something to get on top of and realise that its a very very common problem. Just one that is unrecognised - esp by those that should know better. Sadly
 
Think its fairly clear the horse cant cope with shoes atm as the feet are too compromised :(

Lucy has covered everything really - what are you feeding?
 
We recently had to take shoes off our ex racer. His feet have always been terrible but they just packed in at the beginning of summer. We couldnt keep shoes on him if we wanted to.

Shoes off, bute for the short term and rubber matts and very deep shavings bed. He had a week or so in then we got a good barefoot trimmer out, she fitted him some boots and he was then allowed turn out (In boots) . As he became more comfortable we could take boots off in the field.

Now he is barefoot for turn out and ridden in boots. His feet look completely different, he had cracks right to the coronet on both fronts that the farrier claimed would always be there.... they are currently growing out nicely.

Good luck
 
Thx for your replies.

As I said, I have only just got her but she was on D&H race horse mix in training.

Her feet are most likely genetic. Her mothers are the same and the two of her siblings I know also have soft concave spade style feet but not as bad as babies I think.

I am feeding a little happy hoof, a little speedy beet and top spec cool conditioning cubes.

I know that the boots gave to fit exactly, I've used Okd Macs before. I actually put mine on her yesterday and put her in a round ring so she could have a bit of grass. They fit her great with no rubs but I really wanted to know if anyone has tried the equine cushion ones. They look like a good idea and not so clompy!

I have called 3 different barefoot ' specialist'. 1 saying, go cavello. 1 saying don't go near them, go mac. One saying mac are no good for low heels go easy glove.Erk!
Littlemisslauren, that's just what I thought I would do with Baby. What boot did you use?

I think I've been in a panicked flat spin. But feel a lot better for seeing her swinging about in the round pen looking much happier.

X-rays tomorrow and we will see what we are really dealing with...

Thx again
 
My exracer has struggled with soft low soles and tons of abscesses this summer. When shod she has Magic Cushion with pads on but when unable to be shod we used the Magic Cushion with vet wrap. Magic Cushion is great as it is antibacterial as well as pain relieving and giving some protection.
She was on 2 Danilon a day which wasn't helping at all so added Buteless from Equine America and that really seemed to help with the pain. I'm feeding her molasses free hifi and speedibeer
 
Speedibeer!!! That sounds fun. I meant speedibeet. It's taken a few weeks but her feet look alot better now. Good luck.
 
I would wait for xrays before making any decisions. If she is a sinker she may need glue on shoes for support of the pedal bone. Sadly I lost my mare to rotation and sinkage in July.
Good luck OP - fingers crossed for you for tomorrow.
 
As others say wait for xray,

Then you will know what you are dealing with.


Try here this guy is very high up in his field ( he examin.s farriers. He works wonders with feet.

http://www.andrew-poynton.co.uk/
If your prepared to put the money and time and the mare has some hope, then go for it.

Put her on low cal diet deep bed etc till you here from vet

These are recommended as you can buy gel inserts to make the horse more comfortable

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAVALLO-S...Horse_Wear_Equipment&var=&hash=item2c659e310c
 
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usbaldings said:
Her feet are most likely genetic. Her mothers are the same and the two of her siblings I know also have soft concave spade style feet but not as bad as babies I think.
Click to expand...

usbaldings said:
D&H race horse mix in training. I am feeding a little happy hoof, a little speedy beet and top spec cool conditioning cubes.
Click to expand...

I think quote number two answers quote number one :D. Most hoof people run away from the words, 'HappyHoof', 'Top Spec' and 'Conditioning' :eek:

I am watching a 'genetic' horse's hooves go from crippled lame shod to healthy hooved barefoot at the moment. His problems were actually diet and long term shoeing without a break. Perhaps if his owner hadn't been told the unhealthy hooves were 'genetic' and there was nothing she could do about it - the horse may have been saved some pain years ago.....:( I suspect the horse's behavioural problems go hand in hand with pain too :(.

It's amazing how many 'genetic' horses can grow healthy hooves when the diet is tinkered with and the hoof is allowed to grow unhindered by the shoe.

I'm not discounting genetics entirely, but I feel it's a disservice to blame the horse's genetics without even trying to make any changes (for what is often a man made problem) :).

usbaldings said:
I know that the boots gave to fit exactly, I've used Okd Macs before. I actually put mine on her yesterday and put her in a round ring so she could have a bit of grass. They fit her great with no rubs but I really wanted to know if anyone has tried the equine cushion ones. They look like a good idea and not so clompy!
Click to expand...

Do you mean Equine Fusion? They are not well known in this country as they are a bit pricey to take a punt on. Those who have tried them appear to find them favourable.

usbaldings said:
I have called 3 different barefoot ' specialist'. 1 saying, go cavello. 1 saying don't go near them, go mac. One saying mac are no good for low heels go easy glove.Erk!
Click to expand...

Bit difficult for them to make an educated recommendation without seeing the horse in person :)

I will send you a pm with some general pointers, but it would be really helpful to get some pics of the hooves for us to get an idea of what is going on.
 
usbaldings said:
Thx for your replies.

As I said, I have only just got her but she was on D&H race horse mix in training.

Her feet are most likely genetic. Her mothers are the same and the two of her siblings I know also have soft concave spade style feet but not as bad as babies I think.

I am feeding a little happy hoof, a little speedy beet and top spec cool conditioning cubes.

I know that the boots gave to fit exactly, I've used Okd Macs before. I actually put mine on her yesterday and put her in a round ring so she could have a bit of grass. They fit her great with no rubs but I really wanted to know if anyone has tried the equine cushion ones. They look like a good idea and not so clompy!

I have called 3 different barefoot ' specialist'. 1 saying, go cavello. 1 saying don't go near them, go mac. One saying mac are no good for low heels go easy glove.Erk!
Littlemisslauren, that's just what I thought I would do with Baby. What boot did you use?

I think I've been in a panicked flat spin. But feel a lot better for seeing her swinging about in the round pen looking much happier.

X-rays tomorrow and we will see what we are really dealing with...

Thx again
Click to expand...

I have a "genetically soft concave spade style" hooved ex race horse........ or rather I did!
I was told by vet and farrier that my horse would never have good feet as they were what she was born with.

I now know different!.

My thin soled, crap footed TB is the soundest horse on the yard with out shoes, she shows the natives up a treat!!

I adusted the feed, got a set of cavelo boots and went through the trauma. By god it was worth it. The farrier struggled to trim her last week, whereas her hooves used to be like cheese.
 
Angua2 said:
I have a "genetically soft concave spade style" hooved ex race horse........ or rather I did!
I was told by vet and farrier that my horse would never have good feet as they were what she was born with.

I now know different!.

My thin soled, crap footed TB is the soundest horse on the yard with out shoes, she shows the natives up a treat!!

I adusted the feed, got a set of cavelo boots and went through the trauma. By god it was worth it. The farrier struggled to trim her last week, whereas her hooves used to be like cheese.
Click to expand...

2thumbs.gif
 
My TB has been Bf since April and is doing well in old macs with pads for some hacking and is BF on the surface and schooling field .
I have him on Farriers Formula ( about two months ) now and there's a visible difference diet is a mix of chopped straw oats speedibeet Alfafa and micronised linseed and haylage ( does not get a lot of bucket food just 500gs oats and a small amount of speedibeet and 200 gas linseed) .
It takes a while but I got sick of the farrier saying he's a TB that's what there feet are like and removed the shoes it's hard work at times and frustrating when it stops you doing the things you want to do but it's worth it when you see the improvement starting you just what more.
I was anti boots until I sussed how useful they are I would recommend buying some and as I said my TB has done very well in his old macs.
 
Hello All.

Thank you so much for your posts and messages. Sorry to have been a long time coming back to you. I have been chief midwife at the birth of my new nephew. (well I'm sure i was a little helpful) (oh, no help at all apparently)!
Anyway, Baby had her X-rays at last today. her pedal bone has rotated but not dropped.
So we will see how she gets on shoeless and fancy free. with her back to basics grub...
I would love to know where you got your pads from Lucy Priory. I seem only to find the cavello ones.

I have taken on board everything you have all said and will keep you posted.
I am gonna give the fusion boots a try. I have measured Babys feet to the mil and even got my farrier to too and we both agree size 5 old mac boots but they swivel round. Drat!
thanks again x
 
OP, I have got pads from this place before... http://www.equinepodiatrysupplies.co.uk/Pads

you can see they sell the cavallo ones as well as the closed cell foam pads. They are a bit of a faff to cut to size (in the end, I drew a sort of outline, then used a sharp carving knife... very carefully :D).

They look bulky, but they crush down very quickly. They worked superbly for my horse when his shoes came off first, although they appear quite dense and hard, they seem to be exactly the amount of cushioning the foot needs.

ETA - I used (and still do from time to time) the Old Macs - my horse dishes, and the front right boot does twist a bit, but this actually happens much less with the pad in it!
 
Yes, baby dishes too! I think half the trouble is that ther hoof is very shallow from coronet to ground so the top of boot is somewhere around her knee! I will try pads before investing in more boots
Thx
 
Brightbay said:
OP, I have got pads from this place before... http://www.equinepodiatrysupplies.co.uk/Pads

you can see they sell the cavallo ones as well as the closed cell foam pads. They are a bit of a faff to cut to size (in the end, I drew a sort of outline, then used a sharp carving knife... very carefully :D).
Click to expand...

Serrated bread knife does the trick. But do take care. The pads can be 'carved' a bit too if you need to go special needs.

I tend to start with the white 4lb ones for the early rehabs. Then move to the denser type as the horse progresses. Well worth the money.
 
LucyPriory said:
Serrated bread knife does the trick. But do take care. The pads can be 'carved' a bit too if you need to go special needs.

I tend to start with the white 4lb ones for the early rehabs. Then move to the denser type as the horse progresses. Well worth the money.
Click to expand...

Second lot, I had progressed to using a hoof knife. So now I know what hoof knives are for :D
 
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