Shoeing after stifle surgery

[LouiseG]

My horse had stifle surgery 3 1/2 weeks ago, which all went well, we are almost into week 2 of in hand walking. He's getting front shoes put back on today as he is getting quite sore and pottery (big flat front feet!). I just wondered what thoughts were on getting back shoes back on? Would it be a good idea to keep them off? I'm worried about that it might be too much strain on his recovering stifles to actually go through the shoeing process, but I'm concerned about his foot balance for his recovery?! Any shared experiences would be appreciated! x

 

[Meowy Catkin]

You've got two things going on here, so need to tackle them both.

Number one is the recovery from the surgery. I would shoe the fronts so he can do his in-hand walking and start him on a low sugar/high fibre diet with balanced vits&mins (known as the Barefoot diet, but really it's a sensible diet for all horses). If he's mostly on box rest and you are needing to cut his hard feed anyway, this is a good moment to get him on a good, healthy diet. I would try to keep him bare behind and see how he copes. I don't think the concussion would help him at the moment if he was shod behind.

Your second problem is the big, flat front hooves. The better diet will help him to grow better horn, but you also need to encourage the hooves to improve in shape. Are his hooves flared? Does he have concavity of the sole? Does he have healthy frogs? Does he have under-run heels and long toes?

It really is worth getting his hooves better, you don't want to fix the stifle but have him develop navicular problems on the fronts in the future.

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/ You may be aware of Rockley anyway, but here's the link. It's interesting reading and the progress made by the horses there is very impressive.

Good luck with his stifle rehabilitation.