horse diagnosed with PSD - Hidden foot balance - advice?

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jenz87

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So my cob has been diagnosed with PSD yesterday (see previous posts). until then he has had full feathers (traditional cob) so lower leg conformation always thought to be quite good.
However hair clipped off for scans and omg.... he has chicken legs!! Thin legs with the most massive cob feet! Theyre hideous! No wonder he has PSD with spindly legs and fat feet!

Now, he is fully shod (vet wants to go to heartbar shoes after surgery)...Is there anything i can get my farrier to do about these giant feet??
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Thanks!
 
Firstly I'd consider the remedial shoes and if they're necessary.

I'd also look into the foot balance, and your horses action before making any other decisions. Does your horse have any sacro iliac issues too as they often go hand in hand. Can you video from behind in slow motion so you can see if the horse if moving straight. Mine had psd, 2 years later I took his shoes off and he developed a flare on the inside of one hoof. I was ok with it until I had ongoing issues. A slow motion vid showed a skewed action behind encouraging the flare, and showing weakness/pain in his SI. This horse had been seen by numerous vets and different bodyworkers, had scintigraphy scans, ultrasound etc and it was only a slow motion vid that showed up the issue.

And please don't let your farrier make his hooves smaller, I really can't think that that's a good idea.
 
I dont think he does have spindly legs does he?! Are you sure its not just seeing them properly for the first time?

FWIW and its hard to tell from those photos, but he appears to have very long feet with not particularly good foot balance, so maybe a second opinion from a remedial farrier wouldnt go amiss. In your shoes I'd have the shoes off and do a barefoot rehab, but I know thats not for everyone :)
 
i replied on your other thread too as ive had one with the same set of issues. feet look quite similar to what we had, long toe and possibly underun heal but hard to see from your photos. my vets suggested some form of heel support but due to the multiple issues i wasnt convinced so i took the himd shoes off and let them sort themselves out with good regular balancing trims from the farrier. once sound the changes in the feet were amazing, toes came back, heels beefed up and they looked like hooves rather than flippers again !! i think its a case of seeing what works for you, no harm in trying remedial shoeing but if that doesnt help might be worth taking them off and seeing if he can improve his own feet once hes fixed
 
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