Heavy horse feet

[Sophstar]

I am facing a dilemma of very conflicting views between my farrier and vet and looking for experiences with other heavy horse owners.

9 year old Clydesdale 17.3hh, diagnosed with sidebone and very thin soles two years ago. Very sore on stony rough tracks and if he stands awkwardly on a stone he acts as though he's been shot. Farrier has worked hard and trims minimal off soles and has used x-rays to balance the sidebone in one foot. Farrier does not want to shoe as believes the additional forces from shoeing would be detrimental to the sidebone and he would rather his foot had the ability to flex. Other than his soles, his feet are rock solid. Vet came out this week as he was lame on other front foot, x-rayed both, actually has sidebone in both feet and arthritis in coffin joints which is now being medicated. Vet is trying to eliminate arthritis Vs general foot pain from thin soles as being source of soreness and wants to see him in shoes and pads to provide extra support. Sole slightly flexes on pincer test. He said he was one of the few heavies he has treated that is barefoot as heavies are notorious for bad feet.

Hoof boots, glue on pads etc are all out as his feet are too big and apparently there's a massive gap in the market for helping heavy horse owners!

Any one dealt with anything similar?

 

[FFAQ]

Yep! Similar problem with my shire. Why not try casting the feet with a pad? The pad and cast with act like a hoof boot and allow your vet to determine how much us footiness and how much is arthritis. It's not a long term solution, but it might be a good compromise for the very short term. If you can get the casts to last a few weeks and do 2 or 3 rounds of casting, I have personally found that it seems to help sole to develop. No published studies (yet) to back it up - just something I have seen in a few cases.

Good luck - there is a massive gap in the hoofboot market for heavies, but sadly not enough demand to fill that gap.

 

[Fransurrey]

I seem to recall Floating Hoof Boots used to make to measure on request. Did I dream that? Or have you looked at the new glue on shoes that were linked to on here, recently?

 

[dorsetladette]

Have you spoken with your farrier since the last vet visit. with the findings of arthritis he might have a different view on the situation. Is it worth your vet and your farrier having a discussion? Mine will happily talk to the vet if it helps him with improving a horses quality of life.

 

[Tiddlypom]

That’s quite a diagnosis for a big horse .

Such a shame that you haven’t got the hoof boot option.

I agree with dorsetladette, can you get your farrier and vet to discuss this. Somehow you need to get the horse comfortable.

 

[Jambarissa]

If he was older I'd say try the shoeing and see if it makes him more comfortable. But he's still young, I find shoeing temporarily masks problems and can make it worse in the long run.

Agree with above, using a cast to attach a hoof pad would help to figure out how much of an issue the thin sole is.

Have you tried improving the sole? Treat for thrush even if there is none (red horse products), use hoof armour, get hay/grass analysis and a bespoke balancer.

Re boots the largest I have found were easiboot epics, I think 210mm both ways. They are larger than the cavallo big foot ones. Pete Ramey has instructions on his site on how to use a heat gun to change the shape - last resort but maybe worth a go.

 

[cauda equina]

I just came here to suggest Hoof Armor but Jambarissa has beaten me to it

 

[Sophstar]

Have you spoken with your farrier since the last vet visit. with the findings of arthritis he might have a different view on the situation. Is it worth your vet and your farrier having a discussion? Mine will happily talk to the vet if it helps him with improving a horses quality of life.

I'm waiting for the hospital to email me through the x rays so my farrier can review and see what he thinks is best. Think I shall definitely just get him to consult with them directly as leaves my head spinning with the two conflicting opinions. Farrier was eager to try the new glue on pads he had recently been introduced to but typically his feet measured a smidge too big for the largest size available and farrier was concerned he'd have to strip even more sole back to apply them!

 

[nutjob]

Hoof boots, glue on pads etc are all out as his feet are too big and apparently there's a massive gap in the market for helping heavy horse owners!

Any one dealt with anything similar?

I do have a similar problem with a wb who is channelling his draught horse ancestors. His feet aren't altogether too large but are very wide compared with the length which makes some of the boots for large feet unsuitable. He has thin soles and struggles like yours on stony ground especially car parks with sharp stones. I've relented and put shoes on the front. When I last looked floating boots claimed to be adjustable by heat fitting yourself but it didn't sound straight forward to do it and I wasn't confident enough to take it on.

I'd like to try again over the winter so I might try hoof amour. Good luck, if you find a good solution, please update!

 

[meleeka]

I used a poultice boot as a temporary hoof boot on a horse with massive feet, with a mouse mat cut to size. The difference was pretty instant.