Lots of hoof issues at the moment?

kaiserchief

kaiserchief

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 February 2012
Messages
587
Location
In a land between two rivers
Visit site
Maybe I'm imagining things, or maybe just trying to make myself feel better by acknowledging that I'm not the only one in this situation, but there seem to be a lot of posts on here at the moment about footsore or lame horses.

My pony is currently on box rest with laminitis. I lost my old mare to laminitis so have been absolutely vigilant with my boy but clearly not vigilant enough. On the 7th January I decided to have him shod - there was nothing wrong, he was going nicely in his hoof boots and we were having fun and starting to plan fun rides but I'd pulled his shoes for winter and in my mind, the time was right to put them back on and crack on. He came in lame from the field on the 8th Jan. Thought it was his right shoulder as I'd had reports of him being a hooligan in the field so rested him over the weekend. Still not right by Monday so had the physio on the 12th Jan. She thought it was his feet so we had the farrier on the 13th Jan. Farrier hoof tested and could find nothing wrong so I had the vet on the 19th (following advice to rest him over the weekend). Vet did a full lameness workup and couldn't find anything wrong so advised turnout and a return to work.

I couldn't ride the following week due to work and personal commitments so rode a few times during the first two weeks of February but felt he was still a bit stuffy/careful so didn't do much. Decided to have the shoes pulled at the next appointment as he'd been fine until they'd gone on, so off they came on the 18th Feb. On the same day I discovered he had (mild) mud fever so wondered whether maybe that had been causing the stuffiness - popped him back on box rest to let that heal. On the 20th Feb he clearly had laminitis - heat and pulses in both front feet, solid crest, shifting weight, the works.

Got bute the same day and he's having x-rays tomorrow. Everything crossed for him.

Don't really know why I've posted this, other than to say trust your instincts and if there's the slightest possibility of laminitis, treat as though it is until it's confirmed that it isn't. I wish I had! I wish I'd kept him in on soaked hay sooner, considered laminitis sooner, not had him shod...so many things! Hindsight is a marvellous thing. If he makes it through, he certainly won't be being shod again!
 
3 of mine went sore late December. 1 confirmed mild chronic lami due to cushings. 1 who had lami first time last yr went footy had raised pulse so box rested her a week. Since then no pulses, vet checked twice says its not lami just footy. 1 went footy first time ever, over stones. Box rested her as could feel pulses (normal for her,v fine legs) She was fine since.
All unshod. I'm putting shoes on the 2 laminitics in front this week as there's no active laminitis now, they just cannot comfortably go from stable to field as its stoney. They are on barefoot diet
 
No he hasn't been ACTH tested, but I will ask the vet about it today when she's out to do the x-rays. He's only 8 and has never shown any signs before.

Having given it some thought overnight, I'm wondering whether it could be something to do with the hay. Last summer was very wet and the yard hay was made in 3 days between storms - could there be a higher sugar or nitrogen content in the hay because of this? It seems weird that so many horses are having footy episodes despite being on restricted turn out.
 
Don't despair...once you find the cause of the Laminitis then thats half the battle.
The cause is almost always EMS (Equine metabolic syndrome) not helped by the fact we've barely had a winter and the grass has continued to grow.
If your horse is cresty, then that indicates EMS which should be solved by weight loss and exercise (once sound). It's worth having your horse tested for EMS and Cushing's but Cushongs should be diagnosed using the test alongside clinical signs as the test produces alot of false negatives especially in the early stages.... So a negative result doesn't necessarily mean no Cushing's .
The EMS test will show you how sensitive to sugars your horse is and how struck you need to be....like a gauge.

http://www.thelaminitissite.org/ppid.html

Putting shoes on will just mask low grade Laminitis and stop you from being able to catch it early.
Also, shoes load the hoof wall....the horse needs to be able to support its weight using the whole hoof including the frog anf d sole....the shoe fits only onto the wall, which with Laminitis, is already compromised. Think of your fingernail coming away from the skin its attached to.
 
Good news today from the x-rays - no sinking and very marginal (barely noticeable) rotation. The biggest issue looks to be thin soles so advice on supplements to help improve sole quality will be gratefully received. The vet has also taken blood to test ACTH levels. Obviously he's staying on box rest quite a while longer but I'll be ordering up another set of hoof boots for when he's allowed to start exercising. I'm going to be utterly stringent and he won't be going back out until he's back in full work and even then, it will be a gradual re-introduction to grazing, after exercise and muzzled. Soaked hay will be the name of the game from here on out.
 
_HP_ said:
Don't despair...once you find the cause of the Laminitis then thats half the battle.
The cause is almost always EMS (Equine metabolic syndrome) not helped by the fact we've barely had a winter and the grass has continued to grow.
If your horse is cresty, then that indicates EMS which should be solved by weight loss and exercise (once sound). It's worth having your horse tested for EMS and Cushing's but Cushongs should be diagnosed using the test alongside clinical signs as the test produces alot of false negatives especially in the early stages.... So a negative result doesn't necessarily mean no Cushing's .
The EMS test will show you how sensitive to sugars your horse is and how struck you need to be....like a gauge.

http://www.thelaminitissite.org/ppid.html

Putting shoes on will just mask low grade Laminitis and stop you from being able to catch it early.
Also, shoes load the hoof wall....the horse needs to be able to support its weight using the whole hoof including the frog anf d sole....the shoe fits only onto the wall, which with Laminitis, is already compromised. Think of your fingernail coming away from the skin its attached to.
Click to expand...

agree with this get a ems test done as well my horse tested positive for both and I lost her to laminitis last year:(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top