Amy_86
New User
I will try and make this as short as possible but to understand the issues I am having with my mare I need to start from the beginning.
I had my tb x wb mare when she was 10 months old (just turned 4 now), she was hardly handled and had never seen a farrier but surprisingly her feet looked in ok condition. It took me a couple of months to get her used to the farrier but it wasn't long before she was having regular trims every 8 weeks with no problems.
After a few months I noticed she wasn't sound in the field and was slightly lame so I called the vet. The vet came out, suspected an abscess did all the usual- hoof tests and had a dig around but she she was not sensitive to any of this and there was nothing obvious so we thought maybe she had pulled something and she was prescribed bute. Three days later she was crippled lame, the vet came back out and this time she was sensitive to the hoof tests. The vet had a dig around and she had multiple abscesses in 3 of her hooves although 3 days before she was not even slightly sensitive. Anyway we did the usual, wet poultice then dry poultice and box rest. The vet suggested from front shoes for some extra protection as she had extremely soft feet.
The shoes went on and she was sound for about 8 months until she came in slightly lame and was refusing to walk through mud or on any gravel. I had the vet out and lameness was diagnosed in 3 out of 4 feet. We discovered that she had OCD lesions in her hind hocks and she had the operation to remove these which was a success. At this point the vet was still struggling to find the issue with her front feet.
We knew the lameness was in her feet because when her feet were nerved blocked she went sound. The lameness kept shifting from one foot to the other, sometimes on a daily basis. She had several x-rays to try and determine the problem but the only thing they could come up with was that she had typical tb's feet and because she is very flat footed they thought this was the issue and suggested remedial shoeing. We tried going barefoot as well as hoof boots and several kinds of shoes- egg bar, heart bar, extra light titanium along with a couple of different farriers. She went almost sound every time and then after a few weeks she would come in crippled again, vet would come back say it was bruising or a corn, take the shoe off and try another one.
Basically this went on for about 6 months and she was going crazy being on box rest so I decided to turn her out. After a couple of weeks she twisted a shoe in the mud so i had to take it off myself. I kept turning her out and less than a week she was crippled again. The vet came out and this time managed to find a really big deep abscess and dug it out. I believe she had this abscess all along and it was only because her shoe was off that it finally burst.
The vet suggested that as a precaution I started using their farrier and to try a different kind of remedial shoeing yet again which i was very dubious about but basically they were right. I take her to their farrier every 6-8 weeks and he is doing an amazing job- they look like a different set of feet! She now has special extra wide feet on all four feet and has them cut back short and this has been working great for over a year until about a month ago.
I waited to have her broken in until she had done a year 100% sound and I sent her to be professionally broken in April. She was going great but the last couple of days she she threw one shoe and twisted another so she came back to me with only backs on and this was the last week in May. I turned her out with her boots on for 3 days until she had her shoes back on but her feet were still getting very muddy in the boots and if I am honest I have been expecting an abscess ever since.
She went lame the beginning of July, called the vet but it was like the very first time- not sensitive to hoof test but there was a slight pulse in her foot. We took the shoe off, had a dig around and the only thing we could find was a tiny bit of a nail broken off inside the hoof wall and thought it could be this. We poulticed the hoof for a week just to be on the safe side but the vet came back and the lameness had shifted from the left to the right foot. The right foot had cracked with all the dry weather but again she was not sensitive to hoof tests.
Shoes went back on and she went sound again. I gave her 2 off to make sure she was sound and now were back to square one again. She is only slightly lame again particularly on the right rein and she is getting foot sore again on gravel and I really don't know what to do!
My instinct is telling me it could be another abscess and that I should take the shoes off and let it work its way out but then if its not taking her shoes off will just cause more discomfort to her and because of her poor conformation I am worried she will not have the support and she will get severe bruising again even with hoof boots.
I dont want to keep calling the vet because she is now void on her feet so the insurance won't pay and I wouldn't mind paying it myself if they can diagnose her but i just feel its like throwing money down the drain and last time this happened my bill was £1000's.
I spend £100's on her feet monthly between her shoes, foot supplements, hoof hardener, hoof moist, water protection etc. Her weight is great, she isn't currently on a hard feed but she is I put her pretty much on a lamentics diet- very high in fibre as well as soaking her hay, I dont know what else I can do!
Has anybody got any suggestions other than turning her away for a few months to see if it rectifies itself?
I had my tb x wb mare when she was 10 months old (just turned 4 now), she was hardly handled and had never seen a farrier but surprisingly her feet looked in ok condition. It took me a couple of months to get her used to the farrier but it wasn't long before she was having regular trims every 8 weeks with no problems.
After a few months I noticed she wasn't sound in the field and was slightly lame so I called the vet. The vet came out, suspected an abscess did all the usual- hoof tests and had a dig around but she she was not sensitive to any of this and there was nothing obvious so we thought maybe she had pulled something and she was prescribed bute. Three days later she was crippled lame, the vet came back out and this time she was sensitive to the hoof tests. The vet had a dig around and she had multiple abscesses in 3 of her hooves although 3 days before she was not even slightly sensitive. Anyway we did the usual, wet poultice then dry poultice and box rest. The vet suggested from front shoes for some extra protection as she had extremely soft feet.
The shoes went on and she was sound for about 8 months until she came in slightly lame and was refusing to walk through mud or on any gravel. I had the vet out and lameness was diagnosed in 3 out of 4 feet. We discovered that she had OCD lesions in her hind hocks and she had the operation to remove these which was a success. At this point the vet was still struggling to find the issue with her front feet.
We knew the lameness was in her feet because when her feet were nerved blocked she went sound. The lameness kept shifting from one foot to the other, sometimes on a daily basis. She had several x-rays to try and determine the problem but the only thing they could come up with was that she had typical tb's feet and because she is very flat footed they thought this was the issue and suggested remedial shoeing. We tried going barefoot as well as hoof boots and several kinds of shoes- egg bar, heart bar, extra light titanium along with a couple of different farriers. She went almost sound every time and then after a few weeks she would come in crippled again, vet would come back say it was bruising or a corn, take the shoe off and try another one.
Basically this went on for about 6 months and she was going crazy being on box rest so I decided to turn her out. After a couple of weeks she twisted a shoe in the mud so i had to take it off myself. I kept turning her out and less than a week she was crippled again. The vet came out and this time managed to find a really big deep abscess and dug it out. I believe she had this abscess all along and it was only because her shoe was off that it finally burst.
The vet suggested that as a precaution I started using their farrier and to try a different kind of remedial shoeing yet again which i was very dubious about but basically they were right. I take her to their farrier every 6-8 weeks and he is doing an amazing job- they look like a different set of feet! She now has special extra wide feet on all four feet and has them cut back short and this has been working great for over a year until about a month ago.
I waited to have her broken in until she had done a year 100% sound and I sent her to be professionally broken in April. She was going great but the last couple of days she she threw one shoe and twisted another so she came back to me with only backs on and this was the last week in May. I turned her out with her boots on for 3 days until she had her shoes back on but her feet were still getting very muddy in the boots and if I am honest I have been expecting an abscess ever since.
She went lame the beginning of July, called the vet but it was like the very first time- not sensitive to hoof test but there was a slight pulse in her foot. We took the shoe off, had a dig around and the only thing we could find was a tiny bit of a nail broken off inside the hoof wall and thought it could be this. We poulticed the hoof for a week just to be on the safe side but the vet came back and the lameness had shifted from the left to the right foot. The right foot had cracked with all the dry weather but again she was not sensitive to hoof tests.
Shoes went back on and she went sound again. I gave her 2 off to make sure she was sound and now were back to square one again. She is only slightly lame again particularly on the right rein and she is getting foot sore again on gravel and I really don't know what to do!
My instinct is telling me it could be another abscess and that I should take the shoes off and let it work its way out but then if its not taking her shoes off will just cause more discomfort to her and because of her poor conformation I am worried she will not have the support and she will get severe bruising again even with hoof boots.
I dont want to keep calling the vet because she is now void on her feet so the insurance won't pay and I wouldn't mind paying it myself if they can diagnose her but i just feel its like throwing money down the drain and last time this happened my bill was £1000's.
I spend £100's on her feet monthly between her shoes, foot supplements, hoof hardener, hoof moist, water protection etc. Her weight is great, she isn't currently on a hard feed but she is I put her pretty much on a lamentics diet- very high in fibre as well as soaking her hay, I dont know what else I can do!
Has anybody got any suggestions other than turning her away for a few months to see if it rectifies itself?
