No foot, no horse...

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Dovorian

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In brief,big, heavy horse has very poor growth on one fore following injury from twisted shoe. Months of abcesses, semi sound/very lame for weeks. Unhappy horse, often not moving and not eating. seemingly impossible to resolved via farriery and nutrition.

Would you PTS?
 
I spent months and months with my boy trying to rectify his tripping. he had reverse rotation of pedal bones in all four feet, vets reccomended wedges and shortened toes, this resulted in a very unhappy 4 year old that wouldnt come out of his stable, wouldnt graze if you put him in a field, just stood by the gate waiting to come back in and wouldnt maintain condition. I pulled his shoes off and turned him out and thankfully that day he looked completely relieved and actually walked off in to his field to graze, had this not worked i was considering PTS, i think there are far worse things that can happen to a horse than being PTS at home where he is loved and happy.
 
heatk07, thank you, exactly my sentiments. He is loved and we know him well. Not a horse to 'turn away' or to box rest, Poor chap is not happy in his 20 x10 outside paddock, droppings prove that he barely moves, even if we leave yummy treats 10 ft away. Vets not really much use as they just do not want to commit, farriers, hmm..... have a feeling there is a responsibility/guilt element, hence blame the vet! We simply care about the old boy, he's not happy and until we can make a horse weightless, no real solution!
 
Seems like he is making the decision for you, i think it is easy to think about how we feel about loosing them and not to put their needs first. If you have done everything in your power to make him comfortable and he still isnt happy then pts is the sensible option.I had my mare pts when she had colic as i didnt feel it was fair to put her through the surgery and recovery period. If we could explain to them that it will get better given time it would make things easier, but unfortunatley they live for the here and now... Its never an easy decision but sometimes we have to be hard for them.
 
I had a horse who had repeated abscesses - we were famous for them at the yard as the poor horse always seemed to have her hoof in a tub. I went through lots of socks, duct tape and poulitices. I spent £100 on cavallo boots and put her on formula for feet (£80 per sack)

This horse had fallen through a stone dyke wall and I dont know if the abscesses were the result of stones landing on her hooves but the hoof wall/white line were also deteriorating as she was elderly and this allowed dirt in.

Eventually the abscesses stopped (after about 2 years of intermittent bouts) - I think the formula for feet helped.

However she was never miserable - she was retired anyway and after a day of 2 of the abscess being dug out she was happy.

Follow your instinct - if the horse is miserable and in pain it could colic etc. How old is the horse? Winter is approaching - talk to the vet and maybe set a review date.

Difficult decision but it shows you care.
 
Dovorian said:
In brief,big, heavy horse has very poor growth on one fore following injury from twisted shoe. Months of abcesses, semi sound/very lame for weeks. Unhappy horse, often not moving and not eating. seemingly impossible to resolved via farriery and nutrition.

Would you PTS?
Click to expand...

Is he shod? I would not put him down until I had tried him without shoes. If possible I would give him enough painkillers to allow him to move, because movement is required to stimulate hoof growth.

Can you explain why the farrier was responsible for the twisted shoe, it sounds odd that the farrier would be at fault when most twisted shoes are caused by the horse treading on his own shoe?
 
The farrier at the time was adamant that the horse would not tolerate having shoes nailed 'high'. Consequently we often lost shoes and a lot of hoof breakage - the vet pointed out the 'cautious' nailing, I rather agreed as so many other things fit. Previous loaner tried barefoot and the poor chap was only rideable on the Pasada surface! We had him hunting and fit and happy until an enforced change of farrier. Vet does not support barefoot either. We feel in between 2 professionals but at the end of the day the poor boy is unhappy and not wanting to move.
Add to this, we live in a flinty area which is a bit of a problem!
 
You can get some sort of wraps/bandages to protect unshod feet, but which allow the foot to work and develop. Some of the successful barefoot stories are heart-rending, with horses snatched from the brink of death. Have you seen the Rockley Farm website? Maybe contact Nick who has lots of experience of lame horses and what conditions can improve.

However, if he is in constant pain and very miserable maybe there are other things going on and PTS is the only kind thing to do and not put him through any more.
 
Probably yes if the horse stops eating.
The long term prognosis however might suggest not.
I would remove the shoes and turn out for at least a month probably more to see if there was any improvement, wouldn't trim much at all but just wait for the horse to wear his feet naturally.
I think you have to look at his quality of life, if it improves then persevere, if not euthanasia is best. I'm assuming all hoof supplements equine spa therapy etc have been tried?
 
I am afraid I disagree re your "not a horse to turn away" you would be surprised how many previously stressed horses turn away here and become completely different horses. Turning away in a grubby paddock with no grass is very different to turning away on 100 acres of varied pasture with a gang of mates!
I think solitary living in a 20 x 10 paddock would depress me too quite honestly..
 
Don't despair, lets see some photos.

Having recently turned a corner with our 11.2 mare, who was nearly PTS in April. She has had metabolic and feet issues for a good number of years (long story). The vet put her issue under a certain category and then handed care to the farrier; together we managed the situation, but it was only when I spent many evenings researching on the internet that I found a solution to try and it worked. What I am trying to say is you may not have tried everything. Let's see if we can help you to help your horse.

Talking from experience, horses in pain will still eat if they are with other horses and can move around and manage themselves.

Hooves, like nails in humans, reflect the general state of health.

So post some photos and lets get going ................
 
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