Laminities and barefoot help needed

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maddy2011

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Here's hoping all you experienced barefoot people can help please.
Horse came down with lami in may and xrays showed 7% and 3% rotation in both front feet. Blood test revealed he was EMS.
Heartbars were first used but after reading everything I could I decided barefoot was the answer so shoes were removed and hoof boots used with gel pads.
Hay weighed and soaked, pro hoof supplement and turned out into a woodchip paddock so he could walk round at his own pace.
Fast forward to now and horse doing much better. He is sound on soft ground with his boots on in walk and trot but not on a hard surface. My question is should I now be walking him out in hand on a hard surface so he is having some excercise or will that do more damage? I am in no rush and am prepared to wait as long as it takes. I know he needs to excercise to help with the EMS. He is now at a good weight and I will never let him become overweight again. Also he hasn't touched a blade of grass since may. Thanks for taking the time to read.
 
Depends on why he is still lame...
Have you had xrays to check that the rotation has been corrected?

Lots of useful, well researched info on this site
http://www.thelaminitissite.org/irems.html
 
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I don't know why you dispensed with the heart bars, especially if you didn't have x rays to know whether he still needed the support they would give. Mine has just had his reset, they have saved his life (no exaggeration, he was less than 1mm away from foundering). He will have heart bars on until his event line is well down the wall and I am sure his soles and laminae can support his pedal bone - the farrier who did them is a well respected and very knowledgeable farrier who also does barefoot. He says my lad might need front shoes for the rest of his life - I wouldn't argue, keen as I am on him being barefoot I would not argue with that level of experience and expertise. What do your farrier and vet say?
 
My horse was crippled with the heartbars on and neede four bute a day. It was my vet and farrier who also suggested that heartbars dont work for every horse and both were in agreement to remove them and use boots and pads. He isn't on any bute now and the improvments in rotation shows on the xrays. He has now had 3 sets of xrays.
 
Heartbars don't suit every horse, but it may be that shoeing would still be beneficial & worth talking to your vet & farrier about. Good luck with him.
 
If your vet is certain that the rotation is corrected , then you need to find the cause of the lameness...it could be as simple as thrush but you need to know what the cause is before you work your horse.
After all this time I would expect him to be sound by now. Have you or your farrier checked his collateral grooves. It may be that his soles are thin....what did the xrays show in that regard?
Once the lameness has been identified and treated, then yes, work on hard surfaces will help with and without the boots.
 
Bonkers2 said:
Agree you need to determine reason for lameness, I would want to walk in hand for ten minutes twice a day on tarmac asap, as a start.
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That would be cruel if the reason was thin soles or sinking/rotation and risk further damage. Pads would be indicated, Styrofoam or better if the pedal bone still needs support, and you won't know that unless you have up to date x rays. It's always difficult to suggest courses of action unless the facts are all known, full history, any diagnostic test results etc. Have you discussed with the people on The Laminitis Site - they are very pro barefoot, but pads and boots will only work in certain circumstances IME
 
I would not walk him at all u til you know why his lame on the hard surface my guess would be that the laminitis has not completely gone so more X rays are needed to see what's going on, I am not sure I would even be putting him out if his not sound as he could be damaging the laminae further, sorry if it sounds negative but I lost my mare to laminitis in July she was doing great almost sound although still on box rest and it just came back with a vengeance and she was in agony again so I had her pts.
 
Pinkvboots said:
I would not walk him at all u til you know why his lame on the hard surface my guess would be that the laminitis has not completely gone so more X rays are needed to see what's going on, I am not sure I would even be putting him out if his not sound as he could be damaging the laminae further, sorry if it sounds negative but I lost my mare to laminitis in July she was doing great almost sound although still on box rest and it just came back with a vengeance and she was in agony again so I had her pts.
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So very sorry about your mare - sounds very similar to mine. As | matter of interest you hadn't had her on Top Spec Lite had you? Someone knowledgeable mentioned a link to sudden deterioration, and my lad had been on it for a few weeks. He was doing okay, struggling to lose fat pads but managing fine on the surface of my school, for a couple of months when suddenly he was crippled. X rays revealed he almost foundered and the top class farrier who came to the rescue said the other day we almost lost him.
Well on the mend now thank goodness but it was a knife edge thing with no room for error - I remember a very good horse vet saying years ago if he had two calls, one to a colic and the other to laminitis he would go to the laminitis first, it is way more urgent. Don't mess with it.
 
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