Shoes are going back on Torres :(

I think they look very interesting .
I would love to hear how you get on with them .
He has ,for his mind and body, to be got more comfortable .
They seem like a great compromise .
Good luck
 
Lovely looking shoes. A few years ago OH had some similar ones to the nail on versions, they were in green and yellow Gel. The horse was so much better in them, and even competed up to BE100, which until we did people said we could not...

I know yours are not for competing, but I thought you would like to know that the horse got so well that he only had them for 6 months and went back to normal metal shoes as the plastic ones with the flex had improved his feet so much.

Also, in Jay's barefoot journey we have come up with a FAB Barefoot hoof ointment. The saddler where I buy my stuff recommended it, as she had a horse change its feet completely (a shod horse), and become healthy when they had struggled for years.

I bought some and had to ask for a French Translator to help decipher why on earth I should not use daily year round, and I have found out by experience, it makes the hoof grow even quicker than Cornucrescine, without making it soft. I could not keep up rasping!

If you Google ungulanaturalis you will find the product, which is available in the UK, but if you would like it, can't find it, and want my local supplier then PM me. They have stuff for making the hoof grow, and also something for soles. I thought I was being silly for wonder hoof ointment, but it has been FAB. It wards off thrush without Stockholm Tar.
 
Fun Times said:
If ever i get unwell and need looking after, bagsy Michen be my nurse! Your level of care, consideration and overall desire to fix this horse is second to none!
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My mother would disagree. I am the absolute worst with people and sickness, she says she dreads the day where I may have to look after her in her old age! But I'll sit with Torres' head in my lap and stroke his feet until they get better if it helps....hehe

Edited to say..but thank you :) xx
 
ycbm said:
I think you should test him for cushings. The thinness of his soles and the level of his discomfort after the amount of time he has been without shoes is extreme, even for a tb recently out of racing. The only one I've had like that was a fat horse with ems, easily resolved with weight reduction. Since Torres is not fat, that can't be the answer, and I would be looking for another metabolic issue. You might also try an epsm high oil high vitamin e diet and look at the epsm genetic test available for fifty pounds, done on hair roots.
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I thought he was a TB in which case it would surely be straight to a muscle biopsy test per the decision tree which is a much more invasive test than a hair root test.
Just as a matter of interest why do you think he may have EPSM? just curious.
 
paddy555 said:
I thought he was a TB in which case it would surely be straight to a muscle biopsy test per the decision tree which is a much more invasive test than a hair root test.
Just as a matter of interest why do you think he may have EPSM? just curious.
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Because he is really struggling with thin soles and the two go hand in hand and he has already tested negative for cushings. Something to do with the failure to manage carbs properly, I think. I've had two with sensitive soles that improved on an epsm diet. No idea if they had epsm, but the diet seemed to help anyway.

Of course the biopsy would be best, but it's expensive and Michen has already spent a fortune on this horse. I just thought 50 for the hair test might be worth it, but maybe in a pure tb it's not.
 
ycbm said:
Because he is really struggling with thin soles and the two go hand in hand and he has already tested negative for cushings. Something to do with the failure to manage carbs properly, I think. I've had two with sensitive soles that improved on an epsm diet. No idea if they had epsm, but the diet seemed to help anyway.

Of course the biopsy would be best, but it's expensive and Michen has already spent a fortune on this horse. I just thought 50 for the hair test might be worth it, but maybe in a pure tb it's not.
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I had read somewhere about oil not being great for the gut and possibly not great for barefoot.... argh! Something about it being inflammatory which contradicts everything I thought about oil!
 
I think, but I could be wrong, the type of oil matters. I vaguely recall soya oil being less preferable to linseed. Also, don't feel bad about the shoes. I've just reshod one of my girls, who has utterly shocking soles that will not grow (6 years of trying every barefoot trick in the book) because her boots started to create issues of their own. Bottom line is that he has to be comfy & not doing himself further harm -- & that you don't go crazy with the stress!
 
Michen said:
He was tested in February- negative. Had it done as I was suspicious. To be fair, his soles were so, so thin that perhaps I was expecting too much for them to have really thickened in 8 weeks? I don't know....
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Was that the ACTH test? After my definite Cushings candidate pony came back borderline, I found out it is renown for giving false negatives. I had the TRH one done and she came back with high readings - is now on Prascend.

If you had the ACTH test and think he may have Cushings, it might be worth going for the more accurate test?
 
Definately a good call. I sadly lost my 16.3hh mare a few years ago to stress/concussive laminitis after trying to go barefoot and I took her shoes off in the Feb/March. I lost her in the June after a 3 month fight to save her. I have no doubt there may have been other factors going on, however she was always on the correct diet and even on a track system and I used boots to hack out. She was tested negative for cushings. For some horses the stress is too much.
I have 5 horses and 4 are happily bf, the 5th cannot go bf. I do give her a couple of months breaks from shoes when I can over winter, but that's her limit.
 
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Michen said:
I had read somewhere about oil not being great for the gut and possibly not great for barefoot.... argh! Something about it being inflammatory which contradicts everything I thought about oil!
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not sure where that came from when I think for barefoot it is the opposite. Mine are on copra, linseed and alfalfa. It is brilliant for their guts and they go over anything barefoot. Many barefoot horses are doing well on copra and linseed.

The ACTH test does produce false negatives however I think you always have to consider the ACTH results in conjunction with the actual symptoms. Mine was negative but was displaying every cushings symptom. If you have a negative test plus no symptoms then it would not top of my list.

I can see the point in shoeing for comfort and the problems of hard ground in summer however there is also a positive to not shoeing. This is the time of the year when you have maximum growth. That means you have the chance to correct the foot as the new growth is coming down and you can speed up the growth by good supplementation and lots of exercise (even booted) For me that would be a factor to consider if the horse was going to remain barefoot.
 
I think there is something on the Turmeric Users Group on Facebook about different oils. I am going to try the Turmeric and you have to mix it into a paste. The type of oil is important and I think that linseed, coconut and olive oil were ok but others were not as they were inflammatory? All a bit new to me but if you are using linseed maybe it is ok?

I just want to say hats off to you for your amazing dedication to this horse. He is a lucky lucky boy :)
 
i have pony that used to go footy after the blacksmith and eating grass, I now trim her myself and occassionaly let a trimmer take off a little more, she has very good hard feet now and thick soles, and sounds like she has shoes on almost when on the road, I no longer let her graze, only what she gets of her own paddock, and feed her 4 times a day, I also feed alfalfa, she is super fit and jumps 3 ft, she is only 13 hands and she is 18 years old,she looks like a racehorse and is full of energy.

years ago I used seaweed powder on a 3year old whose feet I didn't consider good enough, after eight weeks of feeding this I can honestly say I could see the new hoof growing down from the coronet, I am aware it is a glandular.

I also use olive oil as a hoof moisturizer, these are my experiences and I hope something might help, there`s few things worse than a hobbly pony to cause worry! hope you get some improvement soon.
 
just read the bit about oils, I used to cook linseed for donkeys years, and it has been used for centuries to feed horses, perhaps its hydrogenated cooked oils, which is used in some feeds that is`nt good because of chemical alteration during the processing renders the oil into a structure not compatible with horse and human digestive systems producing free radicals, whereas linseed is reputed to be a good aid to digestion, but I would like know of other oils that can be fed to horses.?
 
Hey guys just to update those of you interest in these shoes. He was shod in them a week ago now. He was bordlerline between two sizes and we bought the smaller ones which meant they were a bit of a nightmare to fit. Anyway got them on. T was lame anyway and walked off a little worse though not unexpected as he had his feet trimmed albiet lightly and this sets him off. We then had the weirdest 3 days... he went from fine to quite sore at which point I gave him danilon and he then went incredibly sore.... possibly the worst he's every been. I thought perhaps the sole pressure and was almost at the point of having them pulled when I had a major drama in the morning and couldn't get up to give him breakfast so he missed a sachet. 24 hours later with the danilon well out of his system he was fine! By no means sound but certainly not obviously sore.

I have a theory that perhaps when he's on the danilon he ******* around in the field and over does it so for now... no more.

As longer as he stays like this I will likely have him re shod in them in a month but it will depend on what his feet look like out of them. If those heels arent continuing to improve and that new angle of growth has stopped they will not go back on. I'm likely going to have x rays done at this point as well to see how things are going.

We shall see... I'm not optimistic and if the shoes hinder his feet improving I will have to pray for a wet summer :S
 
Hi just to add another couple of ideas if you need them in the future. My horse had to go barefoot as his feet were badly messed up by a farrier. We found foam pads which were cut and angled to the correct depth to fit and then wrapped on. When you wet the wraps they become like a plaster cast but still allow the hoof to flex and the foot to function as barefoot. Although you are meant only to leave them on for a few days to stimulate foot growth we did 2 lots and replaced 4 weekly and the change in the quality of the foot was remarkable and also meant there was no footiness. They can be used to ride in the school but are slippery on tarmac so you can buy rubber gripes to go with them (sourced from the states) to make them road worthy and they were a life saver. Have a look on this website - www.equinepodiatrysupplies.co.uk and look under hoof wraps (Hoofcast) and Pads. My horse was turned out as normal and ridden carefully in them and he was very comfortable, just be careful re thrush by spraying some red horse sole cleanse in to them along the edges of the frog that you can get too. The other thing I investigated was this farrier who has invented some great plastic shoes and having good success plastichorseshoes.co.uk also known as Equi-Eaze Horseshoes Ltd. Might be worth a look if your horse starts to struggle and you want some other ideas. Good luck, I so hope you get this horse right!
 
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They aren't really shoes they are just short boots ;). I think this looks an ideal solution for him in the (hopefully) short term. I hope they stay on well.

Would the glue on gloves be a consideration. They would appear to have more surface area to stick to.
 
I don't think they are recommended for long periods though? As it becomes a bit of a thrush fest? They only seem to be used for endurance rides.
 
ester said:
I don't think they are recommended for long periods though? As it becomes a bit of a thrush fest? They only seem to be used for endurance rides.
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I don't know. I know someone who uses them and they are definitely on for more than just a ride. I wondered about thrush etc.
 
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