Help! Footsore? Lami? Pedal bone fracture?

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special_k

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I have an ex racer who has spent a lot of time on box rest due to various surgery/injuries. He has been barefoot since October following surgery. He started coming back into work (still barefoot) about a month ago as well as being turned out in the day. Prior to all this he was shod in front. Last Monday he came in very lame in front, the vet attended and suspected abscess, so I poulticed and a week later nothing had come out. Vet returned and said as there was heat in both hooves and strong digital pulse it could be either he's terribly footsore, low grade lami or pedal bone fracture. He was nerve blocked and it's definitely in his hoof. So he was suggested box rest (!) and bute, if no improvement by Wednesday she is suggesting xrays. So for those still with me, who would suggest having shoes put on? I am not opposed to shoeing as he was previously shod but I dont want to make anything worse or risk having to have them come off in a weeks time for xrays! Oh dear, biscuits on offer for any advice
 
I wouldn't do anything until you have xrayed. If he is that sore he definitely doesn't need shoes banging on. Is he sore both fronts? ie when nerve blocked on lame one was he sound on the other? Has an abscess totally been ruled out given that I think they can take longer to come out in some barefoot horses (and tend to come out coronet band due to thicker sole) given that you would usually try and avoid giving bute if it were an abscess.
 
No shoes if he is that sore, also if they xray they may take the shoe off anyway. Poor horse does not want banging on his feet while they are this sore.

Treat him as a lami case, soak his hay 24 hrs and rinse through - then take all hard feed out including oils etc, no treats. Also make his bed ice and thick, somethings here to read http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/l.html

Then when vet comes back to review you can go from threre.
 
I wouldn't be putting shoes on at this stage, if he is on box rest give him a really deep supportive shavings bed and leave him as he is, if he was mine I would probably get the farrier to check for an abscess as they are usually more efficient at finding them just in case that is all it is and continue to treat in the meantime as if it were laminitis, if no improvement the sooner xrays are done the sooner you rule out a fracture or not and know what you are dealing with.
 
Thanks for all the replies, I agree I was leaning towards not shoeing as I would prefer him to be xrayed just in case.

He is on haylage at the moment - is this likely to be very detrimental if it is lami? He is also on a straw bed.....
 
Hay is the better of the two, soaked as said previously, lowest sugar chop ( like hi fi molasses free) and a balancer if you feel he needs one ( spillers lite), as long as he doesnt guzzle his straw bed, he should be fine, make it nice and deep for his feet...hopefully the x rays will come back normal for you and it is low grade laminitis, you can manage it and will be able to manage for the future. The Laminitis Site is very useful for info re managing laminitics if it turns out to be that...Good luck ( and as for the shoe thing, do what is right for the horse, whether it be shod or barefoot )
 
Just been in a v similar situation. My TBs shoes came off at the end of summer and I had the vet out last week for vaccinations and check up. When trotted up vet thought he was footy and suspected lami .. Cue a weeks box rest and they came out yesterday - no sign of pulses or hot feet and he's had shoes put back on now. They think it may be bruising or early lami, blood tests will be back later this week for cushings & EMS.

I still plan to give him a shoe break every year as I think this is beneficial but I'll never be able to get him 100% Bf as I don't have access to the optimum conditions to rehab him fully (all ground on my yard is stony).
 
I had something similar although my horse is shod. Had x rays and they showed nothing. Before that
my vet suspected abscesses or fractured pedal bone. So next step was an MRI. Whilst waiting for this he came sound in walk. So had 3 more weeks box rest by which time he was sound in trot. However when he was shod the next 3 times there was evidence of severe bruising in the affected front foot. I've since had his feet re x rayed, just for my peace of mind and again all fine. This was 8 months ago and he has been sound since then.
 
If you even suspect he might have a pedal fracture, don't shoe! OUCH! If he does have one and they want to go with shoeing for support (wouldn't be my choice but every situation is different) then they can give him proper pain relief and do it knowing what they goal is.

I had one with a pedal fracture that wasn't even that lame, and not consistently so. When they looked at the x-rays it was a surprise to all and took 10 weeks in the box to heal. The same horse had some bruising at another juncture and was almost hopping lame, a few days of rest and bute sorted it completely. Pain is not necessarily an accurate indictor of the severity of a problem.

Good luck.
 
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