Sore Feet - Desperate anyone got any ideas??

RyanJoker

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Hi All

Just wondered if anyone had any ideas what I can do for my poor boy - typical TB very very thin soles & low heels so always getting a brusied something or losing shoes!
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My farrier has been fab - his feet are actually better now than they have ever been but he has not be fully sound for months - Touchwood his fronts not too bad now (Bar the crack from top to bottom - which has taken 2 years to heal but nearly there
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) and having gel pads in the fronts he has a foot that resembles a proper frog and sole!! Now the problem is with the backs - Can;t keep egg bars on to get gel pads in to try and give protection as they keep twisting after about 3 weeks - and I'm constantly having to pad one foot with gamgee and bandages and lots of gaffer tape to try and give him some protection but can;t do that forever.

So I was just wondering if anyone had any magical solutions - he has formula4feet supplement and I try and put corncrescine (sorry about the spelling!) at least 3 - 4 times a week - but this has only been for the last 2 months which was a friends idea.

Aplogies for such a long rambling note but couldn't think how to shorten it - Sorry and thanks if you managed to get to the end without getting bored
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What about imprint shoes?? I've just lost my mare with laminitis but these shoes helped enormously. They are plastic heartbar shoes but they glue on so no nails. My girl had thin soles and these gave her fantastic frog support. They arn't cheap but definately worth it in my opinion.

If you google imprint shoes you'll find website and they've just brought out imprint sport shoes which you can ride etc in xxxx
 
Don't bother with egg bars - in theory, they are a great idea, but I've never known a horse keep them on for long enough for them to make a big difference. It's more important that they stay shod than the type of shoe they have on in my experiece. I have a TB with not great feet and we tried egg bars (always turn out with over reach boots on) but in the end what really helped were wide web shoes with a rolled toe. He kept them on and his feet are much better now.
 
I have read about imprint shoes and did wonder! Can my normal farrier fit them or do I need to get a specialist?? Cost not a problem (but don;t tell my OH!
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Really sorry to hear about your mare, its never easy owing a horse
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Thanks for the idea I'll look into it
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Can you not put the pads in without egg bar shoes? My boy has natural balance on his front feet and has silicone pads with these shoes? I'm stuck for ideas otherwise. Sorry
 
Thats what my farrier said about eggbars (for the backs anyway) but it was the vets suggestion so we tried!!

He lives in Overreach boots even with normal shoes
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I'll see what the farrier says about your suggestion if I can;t get him to do the inprints - I'll try anything and everything, he's more or less retired but want him to be as comfy as poss!
 
I just thought they had to have a bar shoe on - just something in my head the farrier never said so didn;t even think to ask
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.. . Will defo be on the phone to him to ask

Cheers
x
 
i had heartbars and gel pads and they were great, much better then the eggbars i'd tried years ago- so much more support for them t.b. feet! how about using keratex hoof hardner for the soles?
 
I heard about the guy i got to do mine through a friend but i'm sure if you contacted imprint they would know someone in your area. They do have to be trained up to do them. Mine were £200 for a pair every four weeks so not cheap xx
 
my friends horse was recently going through a spate of pulling of hind shoes. She has been putting rubber overreach boots on his hinds for turnout. It looks silly, but so far, it's working!!
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I heard about the guy i got to do mine through a friend but i'm sure if you contacted imprint they would know someone in your area. They do have to be trained up to do them. Mine were £200 for a pair every four weeks so not cheap xx

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O.M.G. theres no way i could afford that
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I would be talking to a good equine podiatrist about taking the rear shoes off, using hoof boots for support. Worth a chat anyway, it doesnt work for everyone but the shoes clearly arent either!

Also if hes a good doer I found Dengie HealthyHooves complete feed to be just as effective as Farriers formula additive and about a tenth of the cost!
 
Hi

My boy has exactly the same problem, but on the front. He wouldn't keep shoes on for more than two weeks and each time would take chunks of hoof with it so the farrier had a job to nail anything too! He would also be lame each time he lost his shoes.

He has had xrays and its shown Pedal osteitis and poor horn quality. he also suffered with abcesses every few weeks (which luckily have ceased since being on the supplement)

I have put him on newmarket hoof supplement and equilibra balancer. We have also just had Imprint sport shoes fitted. They were £150 so no, they arn't cheap. He is also on box rest for four weeks. I did walk him out today and he seemed quite sound. I am not sure how long the imprint shoes would stay on with 24/7 turnout though.

My insurance is luckily paying for all of this including the supplement, shoes and any vet work.

This all happened when I turned him out 24/7 so i think we will be on limited turnout until the hoof is strong enough to cope with steel shoes.
 
Hydrotherapy can help to take the soreness out of the feet. Also one of the side effects of using the hydrotherapy spa is increased hoof growth and a better quality hoof.

My horse was rather footsore after having his shoes removed and it certainly brought him right.
 
I think nearly all the tb owners have despaired over their horses feet at some stage.I have had two lots of natural balance shoes fitted for my tb .He had bruised soles and frogs and long toes with a poor collapsed heel.After two shoeings he has gone back to the original shoes and his feet look pretty good.My farrier doesnt like to keep nb shoes on too long because they can wear the heel but they definitely help with bringing the toe back and getting the heels off the ground.They are only a few pounds more .
I feed my horse top spec comprehensive balancer as it has a good hoof supplement but I have heard good reports of your choosen supplement . I have just found a new product to help as water repellant alot of horses feet have disintergrated with wet weather.Keratex do a gel wth water barrier that lasts 7 days If hoof quality is weak because they are damp this could help.Cornacresine round the coronet is definitely the best thing for him.It will take 9 months for complete hoof to grow back so keep with it and good luck.
 
Keratex also do a hoof hardener and my previous YO swore it was brilliant but only if you followed the instructions to the letter. You have to scrub your neds hooves clean until they are totally without a speck of dirt. Then they need to dry for an hour with the horse NOT standing on any surface (eg shavings) where bits could get onto his feet. Then you paint on the Keratex, avoiding certain parts of the hoof, and again have to let it dry away from mud, shavings etc. If you do this, apparently the horn is now rock hard and can have nails in it as if it were natural horn. Ask your farrier about it or maybe someone on the Forum knows about it???
 
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I would be talking to a good equine podiatrist about taking the rear shoes off, using hoof boots for support. Worth a chat anyway, it doesnt work for everyone but the shoes clearly arent either!

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Echo that. Since he's can't keep shoes on you've got nothing to loose! He's lame already and therefore not working so you'e not loosing riding time. It's WAY cheaper than horrible expensive specailist shoes and fixes the problem in the long run, rather than masking it.

Once his feet are sorted (contolled any wall infection, decontracted the heels, thickned the sole and walls, brought the heels back so the feet aren't flat (all shod TB problems)) you can have the shoes back on if required. Hopefully they're then stay on!

It take time and commitment and usually a change on management (many TB have some form of LGL due to their feeding) but it'll give you something to do whilst he's out of work
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Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply - can;t tell how chuffed I am with all the ideas I can try!!!
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Just to say he now has a crippling abcess on his front one now - got to the yard friday night and thought he's broken his leg he was that sore - Had vet that night who took shoe off and then check up again today and he seems a lot better. So now he's on box rest till he can walk properly so I has lots of time to try one of the above on clean dry feet!!

Thanks Again
xx
 
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