Sheared heels

[emfen1305]

My new lad came with fairly bad thrush and sheared heels on all 4 feet. He has been in since September and I think he just went from stable to arena and back again so hasn't had much time on varied terrain in his old home. He is shod in front and barefoot behind. The frogs on his hinds were a real mess and it was difficult to clean them so my farrier came and trimmed away some of the flappy bits so I could really flush out all of the nasties. He came back today to re-balance all 4 feet and put some better fitting shoes on as he said the old ones had not been providing any support to his heels - he said toe was a bit long too.

I have soaked them all in Milton and scrubbed them with Apple Cider Vinegar and applied field paste. They look much better now they have been cleaned and dried up a bit so my farrier recommended flushing the cracks with salt walter and a syringe and then packing with something. I have used sudocreme and cotton wool and packed in layers based on what I have read. I have then put field paste over the top of the frogs and down the sides as the grooves(?) are quite deep.

He doesn't seem bothered and not lame but farrier says probably hurting on all 4s thats why we wouldn't notice. Is there anything else I can be doing for him? Should I flush everyday with salt water? How long should I pack with Sudocreme for? I plan on doing plenty of roadwork as have heard that is good for the barefeet - I plan on packing with cotton wool or vaseline before going out to make sure no grit can get up there and rub. When should I start to see an improvement?

Any other advice greatly appreciated He is not fussed about me poking around in there luckily!

 

[spacefaer]

We bought a horse with sheared heels a couple of winters ago -all four feet. He struggled to walk down slopes, he was so uncomfortable.

The farrier put bar shoes on his front feet to make him comfortable - keep the heels from pressing on the road - and he was much sounder with them on. He gradually readjusted his foot balance, so that the pressure on the heels eased, and helping the shear to heal.

I didn't pack with anything, but kept putting Keratex frog cleaner in all the available gaps and cracks.

We got him in Oct/Nov and three of his feet were healing by the spring. He was turned away last summer and came back up in August with perfect, clean, dry, hard heels. He's been fine ever since. Best thing for him was turning him out with no shoes on a large sandy field for the summer.

 

[emfen1305]

Thanks Spacefaer, I think from what I am deducing from my googling and from what you have said is that it won't be a quick fix! My farrier just said I need to keep any grit and sand out of the cracks to make sure it doesn't rub and cause him discomfort and try and keep them as dry as possible which is a bit easier this time of year!

 

[lusese]

The Jagdterriers are supposedly great little hunters, but they can be pretty 'hard' and very prey driven. The few people I know with any experience here say they do not make as good pets as a good JRT but are also not quite so much like a little 'bee in a jar' either. I have heard but cannot confirm that they usually don't 'do' small children well either.

While having owned several pretty hard-azzed JRTs and worked many Police Service Dogs in man work, I frankly think there are better dogs than any terriers for the sort of thing you seem to want, but if a terrier was my choice, I would look very hard at those JRT pups Gavin Lipjies has for sale on the board here. I do not know the man, but given that he uses his Jacks to follow up wounded leopard, the odds of getting a dog with hunting ability would seem very high there to me.