Sidebone - any advise pls

[Len]

Hi
My farrier came last week - I have had my 14yr old mare for 18mths shes a 14.3 cob x arab not heavy set. When I first got her my farrier said the outside of the front hooves were very straight and he would shoe her to try to encourage then to grow out a bit.
This has worked but he said last week they are still quite upright. He said she seems to throw alot of her weight to the outside of her front hooves though she is wearing her shoes evening on all feet. He said he will continue to do her feet in a way to stop her from favouring the outside of the hoof so much but that possibly in the future she may have a problem with sidebone.
He said this could not be an issue but to bear it in mind. I have looked on the net and alot of comments have been that the horse and their work can be unaffected by it - can anyone give me any pointers on things I should or shouldnt be doing in the meantime - trotting on roads etc? or any way to help her to work more evenly with her weight on her front feet or if this is a conformation problem do I just have to wait and see if a problem arrises?
Many thanks in advance!

 

[Hoppa]

Hi,

I got my lad with sidebones already forming, they caused his hooves to grow upright and boxy. Does your farrier think she may already have them? or that she is more likely to get them due to conformation?

Some horses have them their whole lives and never show any symptoms. And I know some that after the sidebones have fused returned to normal work without any further issues.

Excessive concussion is a major cause of sidebone, so you are correct, no trotting or cantering on hard ground (not just roads my lad feels sore even when the ground is dry in summer), avoid excessive jumping etc. I would get her back checked too, she could be landing on the outside of feet to compensate for tension somewhere else.

Poor/ irregular shoeing is another cause, so make sure you keep up to date with the farrier, if he is remedial shoeing it will be no good if not carried out regularly enough.

If your farrier thinks she might have them already, get an xray to confirm. Because if she does they are easily fractured and need sensible management, e.g. turning out in over reach boots.

You could put her on a joint supplement, but I honestly can't say if this made any difference for me. If your not going to use one which has proven results (and costly) then i wouldn't bother.

You could have a chat with your vet, but my vets main advice was to get a really good farrier and see how it goes.

Don't panic for a lot of horses its no big deal, but prevention is a much better strategy than cure.

PM me if you want to chat. x

 

[beaconhorse]

my lad had them for about 5 years before he retired due to unrelated problems. I avoided trotting, cantering and jumping on hard ground anyway so it didn't make any difference.

he happily did everything else including hunting and it never caused a problem. Correct/regular farriery is all you can do. I never had them xrayed as it was never a problem