Had results of my horse's hoof x-rays and need some positive advice/thoughts please.

Nickles1973

Nickles1973

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My horse came in from the field lame back in January. Vet was called and suspected abcess so removed shoe and I poulticed. No abcess showed and farrier seemed to think it was more likely a corn/bruise so we replaced the shoe which he adjusted to take pressure off the sore area and he was sounder after a few days. He was kept inside for all this time with just short walks around the school to stretch his legs untill he became difficult to handle and on advice of vet and farrier he was doped and turned out.
After 3 1/2 weeks farrier came and put new set of shoes on and he trotted up sound. So I began riding him at walk on short hacks to bring bring him back into work slowly. Then the bad weather stopped play for a bit.
Once our school thawed I decided to give him a quick lunge and low and behold he was very slightly lame again so vet came out again. He did full lameness exam, blocked his foot and took xrays.
Xrays show hoof inbalance with the pedal bone lower on the inside. He said that there was signs of bruising and mentioned the collateral ligament. (though I didn't fully take in what he could see of the collateral ligament going to call him on Monday for more info)
He is sending the xrays to my farrier and between them they will come up with a plan to address the inbalance and for my part I have been told I must keep him on 1 bute a day for a while and keep him in low amount of work to encourage hoof growth and therefore healing.
Does anyone have experience of anything similar which has had a positive outcome? I am a terrible worrier and tbh after reading a few threads on here I'm not feeling very hopeful for him. Especially since my YO told me this morning that if he doesn't come right there is no point in keeping him (wtf???? vet didn't give me any reason to think he was a right off yet)
 
Hi, can completely understand what you're feeling as I'm there too, except my news is far worse than a hoof imbalance. I can't imagine that the collateral ligaments could have been seen on the x ray so it maybe that this is something the vet suspects from the nerve blocks. Treatment for damaged collateral ligaments seems to be complete rest for some time so I wouldn't think this was what they expected as they've told you to exercise or turnout. Unfortunately nobody can stop you worrying but I'd try not to panic just yet. Even with the worst prognosis, as my horse has there are other options than to just accept the opinion given to you.

Sorry I couldn't be more help but I hope things go well for you and your horse. Xx
 
Not very supportive YO they should be encouraging and helping with your stress not adding to it, correct farrier care should be able to help, pedal bones can recover from fairly severe rotation, as in laminitas, so there is every chance that this can be corrected.
My only concern would be whether this has been caused by incorrect shoeing in the first place so I would want to make sure the vet is happy with continuing to use the same farrier to do the correction.
 
be positive said:
My only concern would be whether this has been caused by incorrect shoeing in the first place so I would want to make sure the vet is happy with continuing to use the same farrier to do the correction.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Is your vet happy with the farrier you use to do the remedial job required? It might well be that they are but it is worth putting it out there if you're calling them anyway.

Don't despair. It sounds like there is a lot which can be done before any tough decisions are required and fingers crossed you won't even have to make any as he'll come right :)
 
Thanks for replies. I have quite a few questions for my vet tomorrow. Mainly exactly what he felt the issue was with the collateral ligament as I fear this the most :-( Plus as you mentioned Jesstickle whether I am right to continue with the same farrier for his remedial shoeing? Although since he shoes for the vet in question I'm not expecting to change.

I am looking at changing his diet to encourage hoof growth as I understand that this will be important to give the farrier some foot to work with. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated. He currently gets Alpha a oil, Top spec comp balancer. Top spec cool conditioning cubes. A little speedy beet, Magnesium and Maxaflex. I had thought of changing the Top spec balancer for Formula for Feet?
 
You need to talk this out with your vet but remember if the foot is imbalanced the farrier is the problem I always worry about asking the person who was probably instrumental in causing the issue to cure it.
Of course I don't know the full story of your horses problem but a frank confidential discussion with your vet is a good idea.
I have learnt the hard way over the years not to trust farriers not even those with ggod reputations you need to study learn and question , my vet was excellent at getting me started thinking about all this in a much more proactive way.
At one point I went as far calling out the vet after the horse was shod saying what do think of these then calling the farrier to take them off and put them back on again.
I hope this can be quickly and easily resolved good luck with it all
 
YouR horse has a minor foot imbalance problem which can clearly be seen on an xray and has been caught early. There's no reason to suppose that he will not be absolutely fine if you either remove his shoes or have shoes put on that balance his pedal bone correctly. I can't see that you have anything to worry about. Check out rockleyfarm.blogspot.com for information about horses with far, far worse problems than yours which are back in full work.
 
Thank you everyone for you replies. Hopefully you are all right and I have little to worry about. I have today been finding out as much as I can from the internet about hoof balance and conditions involving hoof balance. (Knowledge being power) I am cross with myself for blindly accepting that my farrier knows best for the last 2 1/2 years. With the extra knowledge I have armed myself with I have written a list of questions for my vet. Some of what I have found out points to the fact that this may have been coming for a while and maybe should have been adressed by my farrier before.
Cptrayes, I am not against the idea of taking his shoes off in the future> In fact it is something I have given a fair bit of thought to. From what I have read the first positive thing I can do is give him the best diet possible to build healthy strong hooves. Once the inbalance has been addressed by shoeing I will consider our next move. I posted earler details of his current feed and would be interested in peoples suggestions for improvement.
 
Check out the Rockley farm blog and you'll find lots of information on these. I'm a bit of a novice hoof person but as far as I understand it you need very little sugar and starch and lots of fibre combined with the correct minerals, which can't necessarily be decided unless you've had analysis done on your current feed and pasture land. Personally I would cut out anything with lots of sugar and feed ad lib hay or haylage as well as the magnesium and possibly things like linseed and brewers yeast, but like I say I'm a novice so I'd seriously suggest looking up a post about barefoot diets, there's lots of threads on here already. Good luck.
 
If you do a search on here for barefoot and diet, you'll find lots of advice. I know your horse has shoes on - but it's still the same thing. Barefooters have been rather obsessed with diet for a long time - so you may pick up some ideas?

IMO anything with 'conditioning' in the title for any horse other than racehorses is just asking for poor laminae attachment and ulcers.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=492317&highlight=barefoot+diet

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2012/01/hoof-imbalance-how-it-affects-parts-you.html

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2012/01/hoof-balance-essentials.html
http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/09/bailey-w-2-month-progress-report.html
http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/11/bailey-w-on-beach.html
http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2011/07/ive-got-barefoot-angel.html
 
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