gel shoes or hoof boots?

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amy86

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My tbxwb mare will be 3 next month and since february I've struggled to keep her sound. X-rays show she is flat footed with very thin/soft soles and her feet are very inflamed due to bruising. We have tried different shows but the best was the bar shoe, she went sound for 7 weeks but then suddenly came in crippled lame again with bruising. The vet thought the bar shoe has put too much pressure on her heels causing the lameness but the farrier disagrees but both decided heart bars would take the pressure off the heel so to try those. She has had them on 4 1/2 weeks now and although there is a massive improvement she is still slightly lame. I'm now considering either gel inserts in her shoes or a hoof boot and jusy wondered if anyone has any experiences of either good or bad or any other suggestions? Thanks
 
*bangs head against desk repeatedly*. I honestly cannot begin to fathom the way a vet's mind works when they seem to actually believe that shoes will fix a problem like this. I thought vets were supposed to be scientists fgs? Shoes in this context are completely illogical! *baffled face*

Sorry for the rant!

Ok OP, what you need to do is make your horse's hooves stronger. She has thin soles? Then they need to get thicker. Shoes have no relevance to a solution for thin soles whatsoever.

The two biggest influencing factors are:
1) Diet
2) Stimulation

Hooves with thin soles are unhealthy - period. To improve hoof health, you need to address nutrition first of all. What is the horse eating? What is her turnout routine, and on what type of grass?

What you need to do is minimise the horse's intake of sugar and starch, and address any mineral imbalances that are present.

Once you have the diet sorted, then you can think about improving the sole through stimulation. That means shoes off imo.

ETA: I'm sorry that you have received a substandard and poorly educated service from professionals who's job it is to treat these horses :(.
 
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I completely agree with TwoStroke, I can't believe your poor mare is not even 3 and you've already had such terrible luck with her :(

Fingers crossed you can get her sorted - i think hoof boots and shoes off would be the way forward for you. Have a look at Rockley Farms blog I'm sure they've had a few horses with thin soles and they are 1000 times better now they're barefoot!

best of luck xx
 
Thanks, Faracat.

OP, are you feeding hay or haylage whilst in? And anything with the Alfa a oil? Is she a poor doer? Has she been kept on rich pasture in the past, or fed feeds high in starch?

Sorry for the 20 questions, but it helps to build a picture.
 
Not even 3 yet and having remedial shoeing?! Some pictures would be very useful.

IMO, your best off taking the shoes off and following a BF diet and getting some hoof boots.

Diet wise - a base of speedibeet with 2 mugs micronised linseed, salt and pro hoof. If you need more weight you can add oats, copra or ERS pellets safely. Try to reduce grass intake and provide ad lib hay.

Personally, I'd get a barefoot trimmer on board, you'll have much more support and more expertise on keeping a BF working horse. This was key to my TB's transition.

I also use Cavallo simple boots for stony ground but I'd imagine your's would need them on for a while while she grows some healthy hooves. Lots of inhand walking and maximum turnout to stimulate the hooves.

Agree 100000% with everything TwoStroke said, you are not getting anywhere with shoes... what do you have to lose? The horses that need shoes the most are also the most desperate to get out of them. Unfortunately, vets and farriers are behind the time with this. It makes me want to find a wall and bang my head against it repeatedly :confused:

Have a look at my trimmers website thenaturalhoof.co.uk and also her FB 'The Natural Hoof' to look at some case studies. Rockley Farm is also fantastic as mentioned above, I'd ask for a referral if you have enough insurance money left.

I'm sorry your in this position, I wish you the best of luck xx
 
That's exactly what I've been thinking, shoes are just masking the problem not actually fixing her! She on box rest 24/7 at the moment and has been pretty much since feb other than when she went sound for the 7 weeks. She is fed hay and has as much as she likes but nothing is fed with the Alfa A oil and considering she's been on box rest for so long she is still in very good condition (everybody keeps commenting on how well she looks) I try and take her out for in hand grazing daily but all I seem to be doing is mucking out and some days I just don't have the time :( she's quite a good doer has never been on rich pastures and all she has ever been fed anything other than Alfa a and a little bit of sugar beet in the winter. Ask as many questions as you like lol, I'm willing to give anything a try
 
Yes, if you can get her outside and comfortable in hoof boots and pads, it will be so much better for her. Not only will it stimulate her hooves and her soles but her bones, tendons etc... and her mind.

Having a young, growing horse on box rest is something to be avoided if at all possible.

ETA. Some horses can not tolerate Alfalfa. It can manifest as footyness, others have posted on here that it made their horses itchy.
 
I agree with alfalfa not always being tolerated - my TB can't cope with it at all. I would suggest something like fast fibre or unmolassed beet pulp as a base with a good mineral balancer (such as one of the forage plus ones, or Pro Hoof/Pro Balance +).

Are you able to soak the hay? If you can do this for at least 3 hours (but 12 hours is ideal) then you will reduce the sugars in the hay, which may also help.

Thereafter, I would agree with the suggestion of boots and pads, along with a graduated programme of work in hand to stimulate the soles. If you can get a good trimmer on board all the better.
 
amy86 said:
My tbxwb mare will be 3 next month and since february I've struggled to keep her sound. X-rays show she is flat footed with very thin/soft soles and her feet are very inflamed due to bruising. We have tried different shows but the best was the bar shoe, she went sound for 7 weeks but then suddenly came in crippled lame again with bruising.
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What on earth is a 2 year old, never mind a 3 year old doing in shoes at all, let alone bar shoes. Terrible idea, no wonder you've had problems. Her feet haven't finished growing by a long way, encasing them in metal is bound to cause pain and life long foot problems.
 
She had problems long before any shoes were put on and because she was crippled lame with abcess's and had to have some protection. I followed the advice of a very reputable vet and farrier! I suggest if you haven't got anything helpful to say then please don't bother commenting, I've come on here to try and get some advice off people who have had similar problems and know of things that have/havent worked not for it to be suggested that I have caused the problem!
 
Thanks to everyone for all advice, I've already soaked her hay ready for in the morning plus I'm changing her diet and I'm calling the farrier first thing in the morning to get her shoes taken off then I can get her measured up for her boots. Fingers crossed it helps :)
 
amy86 said:
Thanks to everyone for all advice, I've already soaked her hay ready for in the morning plus I'm changing her diet and I'm calling the farrier first thing in the morning to get her shoes taken off then I can get her measured up for her boots. Fingers crossed it helps :)
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My heart goes out to you, what an absolute horrid situation to be in. Hopefully it will be up from here! Don't expect your farrier and vet to be too impressed :rolleyes:
 
I meant also to say that the reason I asked if there were any historical feeding issues (high sugar/starch) was because in my experience its quite uncommon to have such difficulties in such a young horse. They tend to tolerate sugar better than adult horses as they use up so much energy growing & moving around.

I would suspect there may be a significant mineral deficiency in your grass/forage. If possible an analysis done on the forage/grass would be ideal. If it isn't practical, then I would recommend one of the forage plus balancers - ideally the hoof health or performance balancer. These have much higher levels of the key ingredients than any other supplement available. The hoof health balancer is the one I use, and I've been very impressed with it.

I've also found it useful in tricky cases to detox the horse - global herbs restore is good.

Good luck :).
 
Amy86 I'm not pointing blame at you, but I don't think the professionals advising you are looking at the long term health of your horse with the current course of action, they should know better.
 
this, you will get there in the end but unfortunately with feet there are no quick fixes (I should know I spent enough time looking for one)
Brightbay said:
Ah just read the abscess bit! Have a look at Teddy's story - his owner posts on here and may tell you more if you PM , but heres the summary http://forageplus.co.uk/teddy-two-shoes-beats-his-abscesses/ This approach not only helps with the abscesses (has worked amazingly for my horse too) but will also help with the sole thickness issues :)
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