Ideas for lame veteran?

noblesteed

noblesteed

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My friends horse is now 17. He was lame last summer and a bruised sole was blamed, and he came sound with a period of heart bar shoeing. He has quite flat feet and is a 16.2 ISH - a lot of tb. He recently became lame again on same foot, after the cold snap a couple of weeks ago - I think due to the hard ground. No heat, no swellings etc so nothing in leg we have noticed. Farrier came out and said 'it's just his age, he needs heart bars permanently now'. We are waiting to see if he comes sound with these shoes.
Does this sound feasible? Is there anything he can be given or can be done to ease or slow down degeneration? Could it be arthritis/navicular as has been suggested?
He isn't insured any more due to previous injuries/exclusions. We know exactly what the vet will say - bring him in for x-rays, nerve blocks, ultrasound etc... £££££. My friend would rather spend the money on making the horse comfortable than bankrupting herself over a diagnosis. Especially if it is, as is suspected, navicular in which case isn't corrective shoeing the first treatment?
 
We have an older cob with arthritis and she isn't insured. It cost us about £500 for nerve blocks, xrays and steroid injections into the joints. I just wanted to know what was wrong with her so we could treat her appropriately. It is worth spending the money to get a diagnosis and move on from there. She is currently doing ok on one bute a day.
 
It doesn't have to be navicular. My 17yo ISH has ringbone in his left fore and he is exactly the same on hard ground, whether in summer or winter. He just can't cope with the concussion when he's turned out on it. It is manageable. I would suggest getting the vet out to look. Mine is insured thankfully so we went down the x-ray route but I know when his insurance ran out for spavins, if I needed him checked by the vet he didn't charge me a lot for a quick examination, lunge and trot up. Worth getting the vet to at least take a look - it's surprising how cheap examinations and treatment are when your vet knows insurance claims aren't an option...

FWIW, my horse is managed on Danilon (not loads, before anyone jumps on me and gets sanctimonious) perfectly well. I know that when the ground is hard, he needs to come in daily for a rest. When the ground is soft, like now, he stays out for most of the time. He schools, hack and hunts. Just took me a while to work out how best to manage him. I changed farrier this time last year and the new (remedial) farrier shod him initially with Natural Balance shoes and now with just wide webbed, rolled toes. He moves so differently in them, they've been incredibly helpful. Maybe ask her farrier about those?
 
noblesteed said:
My friends horse is now 17. He was lame last summer and a bruised sole was blamed, and he came sound with a period of heart bar shoeing. He has quite flat feet and is a 16.2 ISH - a lot of tb. He recently became lame again on same foot, after the cold snap a couple of weeks ago - I think due to the hard ground. No heat, no swellings etc so nothing in leg we have noticed. Farrier came out and said 'it's just his age, he needs heart bars permanently now'. We are waiting to see if he comes sound with these shoes.
Does this sound feasible? Is there anything he can be given or can be done to ease or slow down degeneration? Could it be arthritis/navicular as has been suggested?
He isn't insured any more due to previous injuries/exclusions. We know exactly what the vet will say - bring him in for x-rays, nerve blocks, ultrasound etc... £££££. My friend would rather spend the money on making the horse comfortable than bankrupting herself over a diagnosis. Especially if it is, as is suspected, navicular in which case isn't corrective shoeing the first treatment?
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Perhaps look into the diet to improve the sole thickness, and take the shoes off?

Corrective shoeing IS the first treatment for navicular - but it's not necessarily the most successful.

A poster on here had their horse diagnosed with navicular. Went BF as the FIRST treatment and horse was declared sound after 13 weeks.....

You'd need specialist advice and help for this option though, if the farrier is so dismissive:(
 
My friend would rather spend the money on making the horse comfortable than bankrupting herself over a diagnosis.
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You don't need to bankrupt yourself for a diagnosis. And a diagnosis is, of course, the first step towards making a horse comfortable.
 
Thanks guys! I expect she will have to take the horse to the vet's if the shoeing doesn't show any success. It's just the early stages of investigation I suppose, I prefer to get a farrier's opinion on foot problems before calling the vet too. You always get the same line from our vet's - they tried it with me last year after I panicked with a lame horse, and it turned out to be just a bruise where he had thrown a shoe!
Interesting that it could be something completely different however. I will go and have a look through my Veterinary notes for horse owners book!
Funnily enough MY farrier always uses natural balance shoeing - which makes sense to me, I like it, my horse has never suffered any tendon problems with it, and he is barefoot behind due to an unusual action after corrective shoeing didn't help. Maybe I should suggest my farrier have a look - although that would open a HUGE can of farrier rivalry worms!
 
well you really have to know why the horse is lame to work out a treatment plan, otherwise you are just stabbing in the dark! 17 is not old nowadays! best do a lameness workout, THEN figure out the best treatment!
 
Just thought I would post an update. Farrier came and put wedge bar shoes on both forefeet and... horse is sound. Good old farrier! I expect my friend will leave it at that, and only get the vet now if the horse goes lame in the shoes.
 
noblesteed said:
Just thought I would post an update. Farrier came and put wedge bar shoes on both forefeet and... horse is sound. Good old farrier! I expect my friend will leave it at that, and only get the vet now if the horse goes lame in the shoes.
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Ah the magic wedges with the magic bar shoes.

Good luck :)
 
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