Horse lame after eggbar shoeing

Michen

Michen

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Hi all,

After some advice. I have taken a horse on loan. He injured a tendon in august, but has been back in work gradually for a few months and vet has said its healed perfectly and to crack on with work. He suggested eggbar shoeing to give a little extra support whilst he’s doing more work to begin with (please no comments on this decision, it was between his owner and the vet). Anyway, he was shod, having not had shoes on for a few months and promptly went very lame and sore in both feet. Much better the next day but still sore. Vet prescribed bute and said he was foot sore and adjusting to the way the shoes make him bear his weight. Bute ended Monday and he’s been a little worse yesterday and quite a bit worse today (however he’s just been turned out as was going crazy in stable and had therefore been galloping around much of the day I expect as with new horses also!). Anyway its now a week later and he’s still not sound, he’s lame on both legs but seems to be alternating the lameness.

What do you think next port of call is? Both owner and I think vet and farrier at same time if possible, perhaps shoes pulled and re shod? Or re shod in normal shoes? Anyone had similar problems?

Thanks so much for any advice
 
Egg bars give no support to the pedal bone, and the area is very vulnerable especially if his soles are thin or weak without xrays to know what is going on inside the foot I would be extremely worried that the pedal bone may start to rotate, a friends horse lost her horse from exactly that, the pedal bone rotated and was beyond help by the time it was obvious what was going on, all was under vets advice not the owners fault but very traumatic for all involved.
It is not your horse so to some extent out of your control but the horse I rehabbed with a tendon injury did all his walking and trot work without shoes, he supported himself naturally, his feet became "perfect" according to the farrier and is now fit and ready to race in the next few weeks.
 
Take the shoes off. No horse should walk away from shoeing worse than it was before.

Was he working soundly over all surfaces before he was shod?
 
He was walk trot canter sound in the school, and I walked him down the road and over gravel for about 10 mins (barefoot) and he was sound but he's definitely not done much hacking so needs building up slowly. I think shoes should be pulled also.
 
be positive said:
Egg bars give no support to the pedal bone, and the area is very vulnerable especially if his soles are thin or weak without xrays to know what is going on inside the foot I would be extremely worried that the pedal bone may start to rotate, a friends horse lost her horse from exactly that, the pedal bone rotated and was beyond help by the time it was obvious what was going on, all was under vets advice not the owners fault but very traumatic for all involved.
It is not your horse so to some extent out of your control but the horse I rehabbed with a tendon injury did all his walking and trot work without shoes, he supported himself naturally, his feet became "perfect" according to the farrier and is now fit and ready to race in the next few weeks.
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sorry replied as above about the soundness, still figuring out this forum thing!
 
I had a horse a few years ago with ddft injury everyone agreed that egg bars were best for him however it appears no-one told the horse...he was definitely more lame with them and was shod by farrier for olympic team...I got vet and farrier back out and he went back to normal shoeing and was much better. I guess they are all different and sometimes its a bit trial and error. ..but I think I would probably try to get them out together to check things out...good luck x
 
wjgtaffy said:
I had a horse a few years ago with ddft injury everyone agreed that egg bars were best for him however it appears no-one told the horse...he was definitely more lame with them and was shod by farrier for olympic team...I got vet and farrier back out and he went back to normal shoeing and was much better. I guess they are all different and sometimes its a bit trial and error. ..but I think I would probably try to get them out together to check things out...good luck x
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Thank you that's really encouraging :)
 
I had my boy shod with eggbars last year after advice from the vet for underrun heels and bruising. He was lame as a dog as soon as they went on. 2 weeks of box rest and bute, his normal natural balance shoes back on after speaking to both vet and farrier, sound as a pound. As wjgtaffy says it's trial and error, but they didn't work out for my boy :-/
 
I have concerns about the knowledge of hooves from the presenting vet :(

The efficacy of egg bars/bar shoes has been largely debunked since 1994 :o

Unfortunately some professionals don't seem to have caught on :(

The bar of the shoe does not provide support - it merely crushes and atrophies the tissue beneath it.

remedialbars_zpsc29c72e9.jpg


A strip of metal can never 'support' the back of the hoof better than the ground can?!

dedf6424-31a3-41d9-980b-3a783ec3fcd2_zpsc9c0dbd1.jpg

caudalshotground.jpg


I think the vet should start listening to the horse rather than making excuses up. It's bizarre to me to prescribe remedial shoes to a sound horse and thus lame it. You are right to be confused!
 
Heartbars crippled mine, I was a whisker away from ringing the kennels to shoot the horse when the vet admitted some horses can't handle bar shoes so I told him to take them off. Improvement was immediate.
 
It comes across time and time again that many Vets are very out of date with their hoof knowledge. It seems the OP's loan horse agrees that bar shoes should be put in the scrap metal bin (or turned into a wine rack ;)).

It's hard when the horse you have is a loan horse, but the bar shoes have lamed the horse, so hopefully the owner will agree that they have to come off. If his hooves haven't been cut too short or frogs/soles cut or pared too much, he hopefully will be able to continue happily shoe free as he was before.
 
I think all horses are different as I know many competition horses where bar shoes work for them and one dressage horse where nothing else works...my horse couldnt tolerate them or bare foot..He just needs normal shoes which are well balanced and to be shod every four weeks.
 
Thanks everyone. The farrier is coming out tonight to pull the shoes. We are then going to give him a few weeks for his feet to settle and then re shoe in normal shoes. Thanks for your help everyone!
 
Michen said:
He was walk trot canter sound in the school, and I walked him down the road and over gravel for about 10 mins (barefoot) and he was sound but he's definitely not done much hacking so needs building up slowly. I think shoes should be pulled also.
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If he is sound without any shoe's on, I would take them off and leave them off altogether.
 
My horse was very lame after being shod with eggbars, he was on two bute a day and still struggling. I ended up having them taken off and the lameness went!
 
I had a horse that foundered badly after an accident they put heart bars on her .
They xrayed her and removed the shoes and replaced three times before they had them where they wanted them .
She went from not walking to sound in walk .
I hate remedial shoeing with a passion but have to admit in that case it worked a treat she fully recovered and lived and worked another decade .
 
UPDATE

Farrier pulled shoe and found a few "black spots"he said could be bruising or nail prick or start of absess and to poultice for a few days
 
wjgtaffy said:
Thats good news on the update then....as it doesnt sound like anything drastic.
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Not too bad, but as he went lame straight after shoeing I can't help but assume nail bind/prick from farrier and thus abscess from it! Happy to know the cause though :)
 
I struggled with egg bar shoes on my navicular horse. Excellent farrier (Development Squad) but I feel they don't allow enough foot flexion, plus they are ******* for being pulled off, and snow packing in them. Got on much better with natural balance shoes which are very similar to a normal hunter shoe, but of course shod with more heel support. They allow for much better breakover when moving. Wished I had known about them a long time ago!
 
I thought we had all agreed ( Farriers & Vets) that Egg bars were not beneficial in any way.
Not only do they peripherally load but they also encourage a prolapse of the sole.
For tendon problems it is very important to let the healing be a process that does not involve change at the end of treatment session, i.e. you do not want to put anything on that will cause a change when it is removed.
The horse has an amazing ability to self heal when all the correct processes are put in place.
When ever I am referred a tendon problem I have 2 criteria. 1) what is the state of the caudal 1/3 on the effected leg’s foot (length and strength) 2) what is the condition of the non effected foot and can it support the extra weight.
 
I've asked this several time previously, and never received a response from someone who knows more about the science than I do.

I have a 16year old advanced dressage horse with spavins and PSD. He was always unshod behind, carefully trimmed, and fed a barefoot friendly diet - but he was consistently 3/10 lame behind. I had hind sports bars put on him last year, and after a bit of a shuffle round, he trotted up 2/10 lame the first time, 1/10 lame the second, and sound the third time. He remained sound the whole time the sports bars were on, and through two cycles of normal hind shoes. I had his shoes taken off in november, and he is still, touch wood, functionally sound, but less sound than he was in shoes (not footy- hocks appear to hurt more). The thing I don't get is how, if bar shoes are so awful, why my horse came sound in them, and has remained sound since, after being significantly lame for some years.

I'd love to have him unshod, as it has to be better for his spavins than wearing shoes, but he's had many years of low grade pain before I got him, and part of me feels its a bit unfair to put him through more discomfort, just for the sake of getting the shoes off permanently.
 
Auslander said:
I The thing I don't get is how, if bar shoes are so awful, why my horse came sound in them, and has remained sound since, after being significantly lame for some years.
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Because there are exceptions to every rule :D

It would be impossible to answer reliably without seeing the horse in the flesh - but if your horse is happier in the bar shoes then they must be the best thing for him :)
 
Oberon said:
Because there are exceptions to every rule :D

It would be impossible to answer reliably without seeing the horse in the flesh - but if your horse is happier in the bar shoes then they must be the best thing for him :)
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He is a bit special! I would prefer to have him unshod, but he's an older horse, who is a complete star - and i want him to enjoy his twilight years comfortably, after a fair few years being uncomfortable and putting up with it. If that means shoes, then so be it.
 
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