I am planning on going barefoot after DDFT healing! help!

charleysummer

charleysummer

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My vet has stuck on these horrid looking wedge shoes which i dont like very much but they come off in a few weeks and then i want to go barefoot with her as i have read up alot about horses after ddft injuries and other tendon tears being able to work again after going barefoot- so i want to know about it and how i can go about the 'rehab' to barefoot, and also do i need a specialist barefoot trimmer?
any supplements i need?
i am in the leic/warks area if anyone can reccomend a good barefoot trimmer.
thankyou.
 
charleysummer I would not advise that you go direct from wedges to barefoot without help from a specialist, you are risking a tendon strain higher in the leg if you do, or re-straining the ones in the foot. The horses you have read about have had barefoot as the cure, not been cured and then immediately taken barefoot. This is not something to throw yourself into lightly, please be careful! I hope Mr Darcy's PM means that she can help you.
 
My horse had a tear to her DDFT and had to wear wedges in her shoes.She was graduated down slowly to egg bar shoes which she still has on now 14 months after diagnosis. She has to have one more set on before going to quarter clip shoes in January. The purpose of the wedges was to take the strain off the tendon so it could heal properly. We have followed the vets advice to the letter and my horse is now sound and has been back in work since February this year. Please dont rush things with your horses injury, it takes a long time for tendons to heal - I know this too well. You need to be aware that if you go against your vets advice that your Insurance may not cover your claim (if any) as you will have been seen to go against the professional advice given to you. My mare will never be able to go without shoes, her soles are too thin and she needs them to protect her from stony ground. My Farrier is excellent, I wouldnt use anyone else.
 
I wasnt thinking of just getting them off asap and sticking her barefoot dont worry- but it seemed that shoes make the leg absorb the impact from what i've seen and cant see this helps a ddft very much, her tear is abit confusing really as thickened adhesions suggest it may have occured before- and also it is in an unusual area the vet says- the distal medial margin which i havent found any more info on the internet about.. A specialist in london said he thought she would come sound again but i'm just trying to think of everything for the long run now, that would benefit her and lessen chance of reinjury later in life presuming she is reassessed as sound once it has healed.

thanks for the replies- never experienced an injury like this and i'm stil in a distressed panic a month from coming home from the op :(
 
Izwizz I am glad that your horse is better, but thin soles is no reason not to try a barefoot rehab, quite the reverse. When you have a horse with thin soles and get its diet right and get the right work on the right surfaces the soles thicken remarkably quickly. I have personal experience of a navicular rehab this year whose xrays showed very thin soles and his feet were bendable with my fingers.

And although it has taken more than 14 months so far to heal your horse using a traditional shoeing approach, barefoot rehabs frequently take around three months to come sound. They are never completely rested, just given the level of work that they can cope with at the time. To borrow a phrase from one of the rehab specialists, they rest the injury not the horse, and allowing the horse to build a strong foot that suits its own leg is part of this.

Check out todays entry on the Rockley Farm blog - rockleyfarm.blogspot.com to see the absolutely astounding changes that can happen to horses with injuries like yours in just four weeks with a barefoot rehab.

Charleysummer I'm glad you are looking at barefoot for your girl, it will give him the best possible chance. Read the book Feet First, available on Amazon, if you can, and any time you need advice just post on here, there are half a dozen experienced people who post on here now.
 
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CP thanks for your input. However, I have followed the advice of my vet who incidentally is based at Horsepital and is a top lameness expert. He took a special interest in my horse for various reasons and I completely trust his judegment. Izzy will always have her shoes on, shes going really well now and hacking out for up 2 hrs at a time. Shes very fit and her Physio couldnt believe the transformation in her since March this year. I have taken it very steadily with her and am over the moon that shes appearing to have made a full recovery. Shes very special to me as I lost my previous horse to a broken leg in the field and I would be heartbroken if I ever lost her before her time was up. Thank you.
 
I do fully agree with everything cptrayes is saying.

I have a horse who doesnt have a tear but he does have serious damage to his Impar ligament which has now Adhered it's self to the DDFT. I went down the remedial shoeing route first off but i did make it clear that if for any reason i wasnt happy i would take the horse barefoot. I did a lot of research & there are Pro's & Con's for taking horses with these sorts of injurys barefoot.

However my horse made my mind up for me he went lame 3 weeks in & then deteriated we couldnt keep him sound in the stable on Box rest, which prior to being remedially shod we could.
So we took the shoes off, the differance in him is amazing, we have had no lameness issues in the stable since being barefoot & his big striding walk came back. We have had a set back however as our Farrier did a butchering job when he came to trim. We now have a DAEP & my horse is back to being happy again now recovered from what the farrier did.
We are also taking my TB Barefoot also he's only shod in front but he has horrendous feet thin soles & crap foot confimation.

All i can say is do lot's of research & speak to proffesionals that includes you Vet & the Vet your horse was under at hospital. This is what ive done & when i approached with all my research all of them agreed it was worth trying. It also kept my insurance company happy.

There is always exceptions to the rule my horse has a very long way to go we don't know if he will ever come right.
 
You could do a lot worse than havign a look at the Rockley Farm web site and then talking to Nic Barker if you think there is merit in going down that route.

I've been there, seen it first hand. Often so much less intervention is so much more effective.
 
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