Hardening sole - horse has been given 50-50 chance of survival!

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keeperscottage

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Our beloved 22 year old TB ex-pointer has Cushings (now on Prascend) and spent seven months on box rest following severe laminitis Christmas 2012. She became sound but then had a tendon injury so sadly more box rest. When she developed laminitis Christmas 2012, we used a remedial farrier who took so much off her soles that soft tissue was exposed in three feet. Vet was furious! We've since reverted to our usual farrier. We thought she was ready to start being turned out following minor tendon injury but usual farrier was concerned about her feet yesterday and, cutting a long story short, we ended up at vet hospital yesterday afternoon having her feet xrayed and prognosis was very, very poor. Daughter (who took her to vet hospital with boyfriend towing trailer) on the phone to me absolutely hysterical. Basically, her soles are soft and thin due to remedial farrier, and usual farrier has left her toes too long causing her pedal bones to rotate. She was kept at hospital overnight so their farrier could deal with her today. He said her fronts were worse than the X-rays showed and her hind X-rays were "terrifying". So basically, remedial farrier and usual farrier have left our horse's future in the balance. Heartbroken - she looks so amazingly well and is just stunning. Virtually sound, too, which amazed everyone! Vet hospital farrier said correcting the rotation isn't a problem, but the thin, soft soles are.....told us to apply sugar and iodine, which we will do religiously. Vet hospital farrier told OH she was a really lovely horse, which she is, but that's not going to help us now! OH has since said that we should also use surgical spirit (he's medically trained but not veterinary trained). Sooooo.......do we add surgical spirit to the sugar and iodine or do we, say, use the sugar and iodine poultice one day and paint surgical spirit on the next day? Has anyone used a similar mixture? We will move heaven and earth to get our mare on the right track!
 
keeperscottage said:
Our beloved 22 year old TB ex-pointer has Cushings (now on Prascend) and spent seven months on box rest following severe laminitis Christmas 2012. She became sound but then had a tendon injury so sadly more box rest. When she developed laminitis Christmas 2012, we used a remedial farrier who took so much off her soles that soft tissue was exposed in three feet. Vet was furious! We've since reverted to our usual farrier. We thought she was ready to start being turned out following minor tendon injury but usual farrier was concerned about her feet yesterday and, cutting a long story short, we ended up at vet hospital yesterday afternoon having her feet xrayed and prognosis was very, very poor. Daughter (who took her to vet hospital with boyfriend towing trailer) on the phone to me absolutely hysterical. Basically, her soles are soft and thin due to remedial farrier, and usual farrier has left her toes too long causing her pedal bones to rotate. She was kept at hospital overnight so their farrier could deal with her today. He said her fronts were worse than the X-rays showed and her hind X-rays were "terrifying". So basically, remedial farrier and usual farrier have left our horse's future in the balance. Heartbroken - she looks so amazingly well and is just stunning. Virtually sound, too, which amazed everyone! Vet hospital farrier said correcting the rotation isn't a problem, but the thin, soft soles are.....told us to apply sugar and iodine, which we will do religiously. Vet hospital farrier told OH she was a really lovely horse, which she is, but that's not going to help us now! OH has since said that we should also use surgical spirit (he's medically trained but not veterinary trained). Sooooo.......do we add surgical spirit to the sugar and iodine or do we, say, use the sugar and iodine poultice one day and paint surgical spirit on the next day? Has anyone used a similar mixture? We will move heaven and earth to get our mare on the right track!
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I would be getting in touch with Rockley Farm for advice and be considering a barefoot rehab.
 
ImmyS - there is no way she an go barefoot. She can't cope without shoes and is so flat footed that the farrier's main concern is getting light aluminium shoes on her so her soles aren't in contact with the ground.
 
What's her diet, management, turnout, grazing like? Putting chemical products on her hooves won't help.
 
And even so I would still contact rockley farm and have a look at their blog - incredibly valuable information on there.
 
ImmyS - I've just looked at their site. Each case is individual and I know our mare cannot cope without shoes. She has silly TB flat feet which have been further ruined by two farriers. I need to try and get our lovely horse's soles hardened as soon as possible. Can't bear to lose her. If she was ill, suffering, it would be easier, but she is so full of life, looks amazing. We are not giving up on her and are determined to see her through this, but barefoot is not the route in this case. Sorry.
 
I'm considering boots just to get her from the stable to the arena (where vet/farrier have okayed turnout) so she doesn't have to walk through mud/over stones. The whole scenario is a nightmare! Life would be easier without mud! X
 
I would follow the hospital farriers advice and do exactly as the vet says.

After so long on box rest and a poor prognosis i wouldnt carry this on much longer.

If there isnt a goog improvemnt quite quickly id be thinking enough is enough.
 
Keepers Cottage please do email Nic at Rockley, you don't have to take her barefoot but Nic might have some ideas to help you thicken her soles up :)
 
I would have thought that the large amount of box rest would have caused the sole issue. Laminitis would be partially to blame responsible for the rotation.

If it was my horse I leave her Bf and stick her in a paddock where she can get excerise, I would also sort out diet to promte good hoof growth. I would boot as necessary.
 
I am sorry for you as this is what happened to my 22yr old TB, prognosis was also poor and he was getting distressed in his box and the vet said he would have to be taken into hospital, which I knew he would not handle well at his age!
I thought about the quality of life he would have, even if he did recover and I decided it would have been selfish of me to subject him to it and I made the heartbreaking decision to pts!
This was four years ago now and I miss him every day and still question what I did, even though my vet said I did the right thing by him, he was such a full of life horse and it would have been cruel to let him become otherwise!
If I had been into barefoot back then as I am now and had the support of a trimmer maybe things would have been different or maybe not! Its so hard to know sometimes which is the best way to go and I am sorry you are in this situation with your horse! I wish you all the best x
 
I would go with the Iodine; I put this on one of mine with thin soles (remarkably not one of the TBs) and his soles have noticeably hardened up in the three weeks I have been doing it. He also was on box rest for a while and was at risk of laminitis.

I just make sure the hoof is clean (brush off anything) then spray it on. Have been doing this once or twice a day and started noticing a difference after 2 weeks. He was kept in during that time (on very thick shavings bed - you do not want them standing on a wet bed because this will soften the soles/cause thrush. It really depends on your turnout - our fields are just mud baths at the moment, so mine is better in on dry bedding than out. After 3 weeks his soles look good and so he is being turned out (and being sprayed with iodine once a day). Farrier coming in 2 weeks so we shall see.
 
keeperscottage said:
rotation isn't a problem, but the thin, soft soles are.....told us to apply sugar and iodine, which we will do religiously. QUOTE]

Sugar and iodine was what i used the last twice my horse got a bruised sole. You need to mix it into a porridge consistency (you need half a mug of sugar and very little iodine as it goes a long way) and spread onto cotton pleat type cotton (it that makes sense) and then put some onto the foot. You have to be careful not to pack it too much so the sole is convex as I did this and my horse was crippled (as all the wadding was pushing into his bruised sole and hurting him) so make sure it is concave or if the horses feet are very flat try to keep the material to a bare minimum to prevent wadding. Then wrap in vetwrap and cover with thick gaffer tape (make a grid with strips of gaffer tape and stick to the bottom of the footIt is very good for hardening and within ten days my boy was turned out with his shoe back on. Obviously his problem was nothing compared to yours but just though I would tell you about the mixture.
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keeperscottage said:
ImmyS - I've just looked at their site. Each case is individual and I know our mare cannot cope without shoes. She has silly TB flat feet which have been further ruined by two farriers. I need to try and get our lovely horse's soles hardened as soon as possible. Can't bear to lose her. If she was ill, suffering, it would be easier, but she is so full of life, looks amazing. We are not giving up on her and are determined to see her through this, but barefoot is not the route in this case. Sorry.
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You can either fit boots with pads, or lightweight shoes, has anyone mention glue on shoes?
Re barefoot, Rockley Farm generally only accept certain horses and with veterinary advice, but they emphasis that diet and management / exercise [their horses range over prepared surfaces], is more critical.
Diet will help the hoof growth, it is simple......... balanced minerals and hi fibre no cereal type diet.
It does not matter whether the horse is shod or not, hoof growth is required.
 
Broke_But_Happy said:
Keepers Cottage please do email Nic at Rockley, you don't have to take her barefoot but Nic might have some ideas to help you thicken her soles up :)
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^this

I may be wrong, I am not expert in these matters, but I would worry that your vets see that you are desperately unhappy, and have tried to give you a "prescription". OK, it may help the symptoms, but you need a cure. This is only my opinion, and you don't need to pay any attention to it.
 
CBAnglo said:
I would go with the Iodine; I put this on one of mine with thin soles (remarkably not one of the TBs) and his soles have noticeably hardened up in the three weeks I have been doing it. He also was on box rest for a while and was at risk of laminitis.

I just make sure the hoof is clean (brush off anything) then spray it on. Have been doing this once or twice a day and started noticing a difference after 2 weeks. He was kept in during that time (on very thick shavings bed - you do not want them standing on a wet bed because this will soften the soles/cause thrush. It really depends on your turnout - our fields are just mud baths at the moment, so mine is better in on dry bedding than out. After 3 weeks his soles look good and so he is being turned out (and being sprayed with iodine once a day). Farrier coming in 2 weeks so we shall see.
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Sugar will harden the feet. Iodine will provide antibacterial cover. Its the sugar and iodine that does the tric, iodine is not enough.
 
I would be getting imprint (plastic glue on shoes) fitted. No way would I be nailing shoes onto those feet. If you can get the imprints, I think she will have a very good chance.
 
Wagtail said:
I would be getting imprint (plastic glue on shoes) fitted. No way would I be nailing shoes onto those feet. If you can get the imprints, I think she will have a very good chance.
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This ^^^^

Imprint shoes (well shoe my old mare only had issues in one foot) saved my old mares life, she had laminitis in one foot, and was crippled had to put a pad down on the floor just to stand her on between shoeings, but with imprint shoes she was so much more comfortable, the relief was immediately apparent. She had them on for about 3-4 shoeings, not cheap, but saved her life!
 
I'd certainly be questioning the farriers reasoning for wanting to use alu plates instead of something like imprints. Given that the previous farrier thinned the sole late 2012/early 2013 and that it keeps growing I can't fathom how that has been given as contributary to the current problem.
 
Hydrogen peroxide not surgical spirit, it is what our vets use on the racehorses soles after abscess, i would put boots in her, transition boots, not too expensive but would support the sole. She also needs a goof foot suppl with lots of biotin, etc
 
Sugar and iodine mixture will dry out the feet. Do the vets think the wet weather has softened the feet? Or wet bedding if the horse has been in? Basically, water will be drawn out of the tissue by osmosis into the concentrated sugar mixture. Iodine is just an antiseptic.

Surgical spirit can be applied to soft tissue to harden it. Hence why people use it for girth galls.

The only thing that will thicken the soles is stimulation. So any sort of shoe will not help. I'd say the best solution is well fitted boots with therapeutic pads.

Still no mention of her diet.
 
keeperscottage said:
ImmyS - there is no way she an go barefoot. She can't cope without shoes and is so flat footed that the farrier's main concern is getting light aluminium shoes on her so her soles aren't in contact with the ground.
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Depends on the hoof walls, he should know if he can get light shoes & use small nails to tack shoes on, but how is that going to assist the soles to thicken, it would take pressure off the soles. There must be another way to help her out for 2-3 weeks.
At some stage she needs to be walking out in hand on a firm surface.
If, for example, she was walking on a soft arena surface, would shoes make any difference? I don't see that it would. But it would help her circulation. I am not suggesting this is how to proceed, just suggesting you can ask these questions.
When I was in racing one of our best little mares had a carpet to walk on to get her to her paddock, she was shod in aluminium plates, and she still struggled.
PS forget the surgical spirit.
 
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I would go for imprints too .
Or boots with thick pads .
It sounds like a nightmare .
Was the vet not supervising the remedial farrier ?
 
keeperscottage said:
Our beloved 22 year old TB ex-pointer has Cushings (now on Prascend) and spent seven months on box rest following severe laminitis Christmas 2012. She became sound but then had a tendon injury so sadly more box rest. When she developed laminitis Christmas 2012, we used a remedial farrier who took so much off her soles that soft tissue was exposed in three feet. Vet was furious! We've since reverted to our usual farrier. We thought she was ready to start being turned out following minor tendon injury but usual farrier was concerned about her feet yesterday and, cutting a long story short, we ended up at vet hospital yesterday afternoon having her feet xrayed and prognosis was very, very poor. Daughter (who took her to vet hospital with boyfriend towing trailer) on the phone to me absolutely hysterical. Basically, her soles are soft and thin due to remedial farrier, and usual farrier has left her toes too long causing her pedal bones to rotate. She was kept at hospital overnight so their farrier could deal with her today. He said her fronts were worse than the X-rays showed and her hind X-rays were "terrifying". So basically, remedial farrier and usual farrier have left our horse's future in the balance. Heartbroken - she looks so amazingly well and is just stunning. Virtually sound, too, which amazed everyone! Vet hospital farrier said correcting the rotation isn't a problem, but the thin, soft soles are.....told us to apply sugar and iodine, which we will do religiously. Vet hospital farrier told OH she was a really lovely horse, which she is, but that's not going to help us now! OH has since said that we should also use surgical spirit (he's medically trained but not veterinary trained). Sooooo.......do we add surgical spirit to the sugar and iodine or do we, say, use the sugar and iodine poultice one day and paint surgical spirit on the next day? Has anyone used a similar mixture? We will move heaven and earth to get our mare on the right track!
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Vet recommended me to use sole paint did the trick or keratex but the sole paint has quicker results
 
Wagtail, she had Imprint shoes fitted when she had laminitis over a year ago - she really struggled in them and slipped with every step! The shoes fitted now are lightweight, just a few nails plus glue. She's currently sound, by the way.
 
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