Opinions on bar shoes

[Kezzabell2]

Bar shoes, what are you thoughts?

My poor horse is lame (AGAIN) - last year he was diagnosed with a bone spur in his coffin joint on his front right (as well as bone spavin in his left hock)

He been going well since coming back into work. for the coffin joint issue he's being having remedial farriery. 5 months of normal shoes with pads and some putty stuff, The vet wants to raise his heels, keep his feet short, to change the angle, so the bone spur doesn't cause any pain. he is being shod every 4-5 weeks

Xrays were taken again 4 months ago, no change, so shoes were changed to heart bars!

Shoes were on a few days and my boy went lame, not massively, but was like his feet were tender to the stoney ground, maybe where pads had been removed, we thought! 3 weeks later he was finally sound! next time he had a larger shoe put on, so they wouldn't pinch (he's sort of between sizes) and hooves not taken as short. 2 shoeings later and no more lameness!

...until last week; he was reshod and 3 days later he was tripping loads as we walked up the lane, went on the grass and got him to trot; defo lame, kept lifting his head, but can't tell which leg, so was like both feet were sore!

Gave bute for 3 days, and was sound in the school. but now its worn off, he is lame again!

Vet and farrier are coming back next week to re-xray and discuss options. But in my heart I'm thinking the bar shoes are not right for him! so I'm wondering if he would be better off with something else!

Its so gutting, he's only 5, he started well last year, ended up having 4 months off, then back into work, until end June this year, had his hocks fused at the beginning of July and riding hasn't gone well since! supposed to bring him back into work now but we aren't getting far!

maybe he just wants to be a pet?

 

[ester]

Is raising the heels to change the angle to take the pressure off the bone spur altering his normal hoof pastern axis? Wedging also usually results in crushing the hoof tubules so they run forwards even more.

It doesn't sound like the current plan is working for him at all atm, whether to follow vets orders that is just trimming to short or other stuff going on- horse seems to be shouting quite loudly that they aren't working anyway. I'd consider taking the shoes off completely but I guess the success of that might depend exactly where and how large the bone spur is.

 

[AmyMay]

Bar shoes (not heartbars) and gel pads really helped my horse. But the pads are not a cure all, and the feet can go soft under them.

I don't know about raising the heals, because it can make the horse worse (my vet and farrier discussed it and ruled it out because of the risk).

Would it be worth discussing removing the shoes all together, (dependent on the xrays) and giving him another period of field rehab until next spring?

 

[Kezzabell2]

Is raising the heels to change the angle to take the pressure off the bone spur altering his normal hoof pastern axis? .

Yes I think that sounds pretty close to what the vet said, way back in October last yr

Defo not working for him. Poor kid

The vet that is coming out next week is unfortunately a different vet as my vet has just become a president of the rcvs, and isnt free for 3 more weeks :/

But I'm hoping a different pair of eyes will help fingers xd

I have considered removing shoes all together but thought that would probably have to opposite effect on the angle of his hoof

Also if I did that I'd want him back home with my other horses so he could go out 24/7 with lots of grass. But then giving up my place at the current yard would mean I'd probably never get it back again. It's very popular

Decisions decisions

 

[ester]

So, it depends a bit what his feet look like now. Hypothetically it shouldn't have the opposite effect in that horses usually develop quite a beefy palmar (back) of hoof with frog/collateral ligaments increasing in size and helping to support, as well as having a reasonable hoof wall height.
To be frank you might not have that many other options open to him given that the current series of treatment doesn't seem to be working

Mine didn't have a bone spur but blocked to the coffin joint and had low heels/longish toes and poor pedal bone angle. In bar shoes heels did start to look much better but he wasn't any sounder and if he was retiring he wasn't having shoes on . Having watched him I do think that you get a different sort of change out of shoes, and that by increasing all of his natural padding/shock absorption tissue the coffin joint has been better supported and that is why he hasn't been lame since.

I won't spell it all out but in a nutshell, diet, movement, patience and boots seem to usually be the key. I started walking mine 5 mins in hand on the road and slowly went from there.

 

[Kezzabell2]

So, it depends a bit what his feet look like now. Hypothetically it shouldn't have the opposite effect in that horses usually develop quite a beefy palmar (back) of hoof with frog/collateral ligaments increasing in size and helping to support, as well as having a reasonable hoof wall height.
To be frank you might not have that many other options open to him given that the current series of treatment doesn't seem to be working

Mine didn't have a bone spur but blocked to the coffin joint and had low heels/longish toes and poor pedal bone angle. In bar shoes heels did start to look much better but he wasn't any sounder and if he was retiring he wasn't having shoes on . Having watched him I do think that you get a different sort of change out of shoes, and that by increasing all of his natural padding/shock absorption tissue the coffin joint has been better supported and that is why he hasn't been lame since.

I won't spell it all out but in a nutshell, diet, movement, patience and boots seem to usually be the key. I started walking mine 5 mins in hand on the road and slowly went from there.

Cool thanks for your advice, I will keep that in mind when I see the vet on Wednesday.

Do you mean the hoof boots that people use to ride in? I think if I did take his shoes off, he would defo need boots as my yard has lots of off road hacking but the lanes leading to the fields are quite stoney, he's also suffered with absecess in the past, so don't want him getting any more!

He's not doing a lot at the moment anyway, as I've been trying to bring him back into work since the hock fusing! he started with walking for 15 mins a day for a couple of weeks, then we started trotting but he started being naughty, so had his saddle adjusted then started back again and thats when he went lame! poor kid!!

 

[Red-1]

If you don't mind time out to adjust I too think the angle of the hoof can be altered with shoes off. I took my horse's shoes off as although they were not bad, I did not think the angle was optimal. It was with the farrier's blessing, and guidance, and the hooves have taken the heel further back, and lower, but overall they are more upright as they are further back, and stronger.

I do think though that the success of taking the shoes off is dependent on the skill of the person tending to the trimming, just as the success of the bar shoes is dependent on the person fitting them. I found with mine though that by walking in hand, starting with 100 yds or so and building up from there, that they pretty much re-shaped themselves.

I would discuss it with your vet, and it seems that there is little to lose if the bar shoes are no longer working.

 

[ester]

Yes boots that people use for riding in, there are lots of options, some not that expensive and some which several people on here have used for turnout or have found easy enough to take on/off at the field for the stoney tracks.
Re. the abscesses I've never had one (well maybe one but he wasn't lame!) but they can tend to occur when the hoof is changing as they can be caused internally (bits of dead tissue) rather than always stuff from the outside.
We are always up for nosing at hoof photos if you want any random thoughts .

It is worth giving it some thought. I did ask my vet what else he would offer medically/shoeing wise (answer was not a lot!) before taking them off.

 

[cundlegreen]

If you don't want to go barefoot, but need heel support and protection from stones, have a look at look at Epona shoes. they might just suit, and IMO, better than heartbar shoes.

 

[JanetGeorge]

I can't advise on bar shoes or not because I have never had a horse for whom they were suggested. I just had to say that he is one lucky horse to have such a dedicated owner who is giving him every chance to come sound at no small expense!! I wish YOU the best of luck in the hope that something works and you are rewarded. Sadly life is very often unfair, especially where horses are concerned but we keep hoping.

 

[Kezzabell2]

I can't advise on bar shoes or not because I have never had a horse for whom they were suggested. I just had to say that he is one lucky horse to have such a dedicated owner who is giving him every chance to come sound at no small expense!! I wish YOU the best of luck in the hope that something works and you are rewarded. Sadly life is very often unfair, especially where horses are concerned but we keep hoping.

Oh bless you, thanks so much for saying that, it's almost made me cry, hehe

He is my forever horse. And he will get what he deserves. Even split up with my bf over it 2 months ago.

But you know it's a risk buying a baby and not knowing if you will like riding them. Well he couldn't have been any more perfect, nice build. Nice personality. And totally looks after me. And defo let's me know when he's in pain. Love him so much x

 

[Kezzabell2]

We are always up for nosing at hoof photos if you want any random thoughts .
.

Finally I managed to get some pics of his feet, forgot my phone yesterday, so took some this morning.

its been 10 days since these were put on. still lame

front view


left shoe


front right


if you flick through the album, there are some pics from each side too

 

[ester]

What did he do to his fly rug!!

From what you can tell from the pics they aren't a bad set of feet tbh, he seems to have a decentish frog under those heartbars. (for good side on/front on pics you really need to get down and dirty so you are level with the floor).

eg (very historical, you can just see the nail holes!)


Is that an example of your tracks to fields? in which case I would suspect he would need some boots in the first place.

 

[Kezzabell2]

ah okay cool! yeh he does have good feet! though when he was last x-rayed, it was clear that the bone inside the hoof isn't quite as straight as his actual hoof, so probably doesn't help! I might ask the vet to email the xrays that they do on Wednesday!

the tracks aren't as bad as the gate way that he is stood on (the farmer recently put stones in all of the gate ways, gerrr) but there are some stoney bits, which is where he kept tripping!

I got him to trot across the field behind me today and it did look like he was raising his head as his right foot came forward, which is the side with the bone spur! so I guess that's one thing! hopefully means there isn't another issue somewhere else

haha his fly rug, I have no idea! it was only the 3/4th time he'd worn it! he was turned out with a 17'2, 4yr WB, who used to bite him a lot, so not sure if he bit the rug and ripped it (I was a JHL rug, was disappointed in the thickness of the material as soon as I opened the bag) either that or he ripped it on the fence!