Heel Pain......

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scotsmare

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We've had an ongoing lameness issue with my mare for last few weeks, we initially thought it was a recurrance of a suspensory ligament problem. However, had horsey back to vet yesterday and was diagnosed with bilateral heel pain with a bit of soft tissue swelling in the feet to boot. X rays were quite amazing. Horsey is going for surgical shoeing next week.

However, horsey has cr**py flat feet and I now need to turn her out for a couple of hours each day till I can get her shod. Farrier has suggested taping nappys to her feet to give her a bit of protection. Any ideas on how long they would last? She has to be turned out in a wee paddock to stop her running around. We don't have equi boots and saddlery doesn't have any in her size, so no point in ordering them online as her shoes will likely be going on just as they arrive!

Also, has anyone else had this with their horse? How long did it take to recover? How long did you need it to be surgically shod for? Also all suggestions as to how to improve her feet gratefully received!

Wine and chocolates for getting this far!!
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I haven't had anything like this before but was thinking if you use vet wrap or similar then gaffa tape to secure the nappy on her foot and bring it right round to the top of her hoof it should last at least 12 hours. This is what i do if i have to poltuce an abcess so that the horse can still be turned out. As long as the shoe is off and you don't use the tape sparingly i'd imagine it'd pretty much last 24 hours.
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Agree with nadinek82 - I have 2 flat footed TB's and when one pulled a shoe off last Tuesday, with the farrier not able to come until Friday, I put a nappy on it, vet wrap and then the heavy duty silver tape.

Horse is turned out 7am until 9pm and it lasted for 2 days before I had to replace it. Saves a pile of grief with a very footsore horse otherwise!

No advice on the heel pain, but in general I have found pads under the shoes to be very useful from time to time. I also use Keratex on mine which the farrier says makes a huge difference to help keep the nails in.

Good luck - I hope the surgical shoeing does the trick!
 
thanks, we've got a fairly extensive list of things to give her, the problem is not that she throws shoes, she keeps them on fine. it's more the quality of the horn, the lack of growth and dodgy foot conformation that's causing the problems...... So vet prescribed formula 4 feet and to massage cornucresine in daily. Will have to wait and see what we end up with shoe wise but heart bar shoes are the most likely outcome.
 
I had a bespoke supplement made up by an equine nutritionalist for my horse (called tenderfoot 80) when he had poor quality horn. I was told it would have an effect within a month. I was very sceptical at but it worked. Within 2 weeks of starting the supplement his feet were growing like weeds and he had 2 be trimmed the following week where it was evident the quality of horn had greatly improved. I have heard formula for feet is good so hopefully you will get results sooner than you think
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My mare has this. She's had heartbars on all winter but her feet are still really deteriorating anyway and she's gone down to the Animal Health Trust for full investigations today. My last horse had it and it turned out he had underlying problems so I'm paranoid. I'll know in a few days if and how they can fix her. If the heartbars work you should see an improvement within two or three shoeings. Have you got your horse on Farriers Formula or an equivalent suppliment? This should help in the long term. When my horse has briefly found herself without shoes she has to stay in her stable with gamgee, vet wrap and two layers of duct(sp?) tape on her feet to prevent them from breaking up, or the farrier's got nothing left to nail on to. I wouldn't turn out at all if I were you until its got shoes on.
 
I have had my horse on supplements for 2 years and although the quality of hoof has really improved and he can keep shoes on his front feet are very collapsed at the heel.The last couple of months I have had to do a lot of hacking as he is recovering from surgery which bruised the heels even more and he became very tender.I had natural balnce shoes fitted last time and there has been a huge improvement.I have also switched to top spec balancer as this has a hoof supplement inc.The farrier commented on the growth improvement and the quality of his hoof normally he hates shoeing my horse because of the ongoing problems but hes really pleased with improvement.The shoes had only been on 3 weeks but I noticed the difference even how he walks in hand over the stones .We had a major setback 2 weeks ago he stood on a 4 inch nail and when the vet came out he said if his sole hadnt been so much better the nail would have gone in further.There are no guarantees but top spec seems to have worked for us I also use cornucresine hoof ointment.
 
mine had thid too. had cr***py foot conformation although horn quality was gd. she had NB (natural balance) shoes on with gel pad stuff which was a nightmare to keep onin winter as they would get soggy and fall of so was changed into solid NB pads which were a pain to keep on (as stuck out at the bk a bit) she stayed in pads for about 6 months and has now been out of them for a year now whenthe ground goes hard she does have some bute as she goes slighty intermittantly lame. I do use keretex hoof gel and hardener as her feet do crumble in the summer
 
My flat footed thin soled collapsed heeled TB gelding has similar problems!!! he went in for a work up 3 weeks ago & was confirmed bi laterally lame in both fronts. near fore worse. X rays were clean, at this stage diagnosis is imbalances in feet & tissue damage. He was shod the next day in natural balance type shoes with equipak gel. He went in on tues for a reassessment & is drastically improved. He is now only 1/2 to 1/10th lame on near fore on intermittant strides & has been brought back into light work on a low dose of bute to start with. I am hoping we are on the road to recovery.
Having had a similar problem with him 3 years ago where he was shod in roll toe shoes for a few months then went back to normal shoes I have changed vets. This time he will be shod in these shoes for life! He will always be shod by a remedial farrier who is trained to look after feet which need that extra care to keep the horse sound. My fingers are crossed.

Good luck with getting your horsey sound
 
That's given me a bit of hope!! Will have to wait and see what farrier does on weds then! Only problem is that my own farrier isn't remedially trained
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(have now discovered) and can't shoe for insurance cases which is a bit of a pain but having to trek 100 mile round trip to get her shod isn't the end of the world (might have to put on my best fluttery eyelashes and try to persuade the remedial farrier to come to me.....)
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