Low soles/sensitive sole solutions?

J

Jazz2984

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My horse has low sensitive soles, hes really feeling it on this hard ground. He had heart bars last summer and recently tried equipak which lasted about 10 days before it came off and cost a LOT! What other options do I have?
 
I second hoof boots, if it's for riding. I did know someone use them in the field 24/7 too, but she had to put a dry piece of animalintex poultice in each one daily to stop the horse getting thrush, because hoof boots aren't really meant to be worn 24/7.
 
I went to a conference last year at which the BEF team farrier gave a great presentation - he showed us all sorts of different pads and gel materials that are placed under a pad and then set to give more cushioning. Definitely worth talking to your farrier about different options!
 
im just going through this with one of mine....
shes on restricted grass, fed a low sugar diet (fast fibre to carry pro balance) and she still has sensitive soles.
im debating trying forage plus to see if this helps, or shoe.
shes had hoof boots on the last 10 days but even with the gaiters on shes getting sore on her skin so ive taken them off.....
 
Sensitive soles are generally down to being thin soles and this can be due to a couple of reasons but generally they are diet and lack of stimulation in a shod horse. My horse has had his shoes removed for a few months over the summer to give him a shoeing break and he's absolutely fine on concrete/field/tarmac but is sore on gravel and stones. He has thin soles which I can totally attribute to both diet and lack of stimulation. Unfortunately for me, he suffers from a suspected muscle myopathy which flares up if he has a hoof supplement so he can't have a specially formulated balancer for hooves which is a pain in the bum. He can however get his feet working on the ground whilst he is out in the field walking about. I try to give my horses a few months off each year to give his feet a break from shoes and to use his feet as nature intended!!

I found when mine had his shoes off last year and had a mild bout of laminitis as I wasn't as aware of the spring grass as I should have been that his soles became more sensitive. Just because as horse has shoes on and you are less aware of the effect that the grass has on the feet, it is always sensible to keep an eye on their digital pulses/heat in feet etc because that could also be a contributing factor to why he is so sensitive.
 
When a horse is shod, its frog and sole are lifted off the ground which means they are not used as much as a horse with no shoes whose foot has constant stimulation from the ground. Every step a barefoot horse takes is stimulating the hoof. A shod horse doesn't tend to require as much "care" (diet, appropriate work, awareness of grass sensitivity etc) as such as the bottom of its hoof isn't in such direct contact with the floor, stones, uneven ground as a horse with no shoes on. As a result though, the soles are not being stimulated as much and therefore don't respond with as much growth/thickness. Hence why generally if a shod horse loses a shoe, it is pretty lame. The foot is not prepared to suddenly be without the safety blanket of a shoe and the sole is thin and weak and horse is sore.

With the correct diet and hoof stimulation, soles thicken and protect.

I am not preaching that barefoot is the only way because it is far from ideal for a lot of people. I do believe though that every shod horse should have a holiday from shoes for a couple of months a year to give the foot a chance to relax, grow and do what it needs to do.
 
Funnily enough just had this problem with unshod horse becoming very footsore on hard ground and stoney surface, as no give at all in ground. Have had fronts put back on today to see if that helps. She had a red patch on her sole and farrier said sole was soft. No laminitis or abcess. Hoping its just a bruise.
 
I shod my horse.
shes fed a as low sugar as I can give, worked daily.....not comfy without shoes, shes is 100% in them atm and I will keep her in them until November when they have a shoe break for 2-3 months.
 
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