Sorry for long thread, but have any of you experienced this?

Kellys Heroes

Kellys Heroes

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Hi all,
I am slightly nervous about posting this and the replies I'll get, I think I might be playing the part of overworried 2nd mum???

Bit of background....
My p/l mare is 14.2hh and (a very young!) 16 y/o. However probably about 14 weeks ago we put her on box rest as she was lame and we couldn't put our finger on what it was...to cut a long story short, the vets blamed it on arthritis and told us to limit what we did with her (gentle hacking until she got rid of the lameness) and see how she went. She was on bute for 2 weeks and still lame through that.
She then suffered two seizures in a fortnight (touch wood, she has never had one since) and the vets had no idea what caused them only that as she recovered herself quite quickly they didn't want to take it any further.
She was very quiet, docile and miserable which wasn't like her at all. She then started with lami - we think brought on by the stress of the seizures - and we quickly treated this as appropriate, and after a few more weeks of box rest (nightmare!!), the vet said she was clear and to have heart bars fitted and turn her out, begin to hack her again. (Just to add, we had a feeling it wasn't just lami that was causing a problem :rolleyes: )
So, we proceeded to follow this advice, and for one week she was fantastic, sound, happy, alert etc and then after a week (I hasten to add, we hacked out and ONLY walked) she went lame again (her character didn't change this time).
The vet came down again yesterday and said there is mild rotation in one front leg, but he's not overly worried (she dragged him in every stable on the way down our yard and a few choice words were used and as soon as the farrier has come down, trimmed her feet right back and given her more support, the lameness should go and we can start to reintroduce work again. We got the farrier out straight away and he said she has the best heart bars he could give her and asked for x-rays (being done next week) so he has more idea what he can do for her - however the vet said the heart bars were ****! They only cover half the frog; is this correct or should they cover the full frog?? (He is a very old fashioned vet, my friend thinks this is why he wants the full ones on??) :confused:
I am just wondering what "the prognosis" (without that sounding so pessimistic :eek: ) is and if anyone has or has had a horse with very mild rotation? She is still very happy and vocal, she loves going out to play in the field (with her muzzle on ), she still thinks about her belly constantly (she has one handful of Happy Hoof, 1 scoop of Lamintech and 2 soaked hay nets a day), she loves her baths, fusses and days out to shows and the beach etc and is, in general, a very contented (and spoilt) horse.

Wine and choccies for whoever made it through!!

btw, I love her to pieces and if it means we can only lightly hack her and no more schooling or jumping, so be it! :)
 
I do feel for you, you are caught in the middle of varying professional opinions.
Personally if she were mine I would wait for the xrays to be taken then discuss with both vet and farrier present. If their opinions on shoeing and treatment still differ then perhaps get some independant advise from the Laminitus Trust, treatment of lammi is ever evolving and it is these guys that are really up to date.

I do wonder if she has had a couple of things going on simultaneously? Perhaps something viral triggered the siezures and onset lammi and you have arthritic changes also going on?
 
To ihatework;
Yeah we did wonder that, but somehow we just had a feeling that something wasn't right and yes, we believe lami was the problem at some point, but not before that we just somehow knew that it wasn't the initial problem. That's a fab idea, I'm going to ring the Lami Trust and just ask for their opinion on it if the vet and farrier can't agree...just wonder how to say to the vet that the farrier said there's nothing more that can be done and how to say to the farrier that the vet said his shoes were rubbish!?! We are booking x-rays for next week and I will try and see if we can get vet and farrier down at the same time...people on the yard (she's one of those horses everyone knows lol not always for good reason!) are being very positive about it and like I said if we have to limit what we do with her, so be it :) thanks!

to miss_buffay;
they look like the second pair, but the part supporting the frog doesn't cover all the frog its more like this
http://www.meadows-edge.com/images/Shoes/HeartBar-333.jpg
We're just not sure who is right - we know 8 years ago when she had her first heart bars on, they DID cover all the frog....wondering if our vet is just old fashioned in the way he practises???
 
If I were you, I'd have a consult with both the vet and the farrier there. Then they can decide between them. And... TBH... If I had to ''choose''... all I will say is that vets spend 5 yrs oearning the whole body. Farriers spend 5 yrs learning the foot. (appologies to all other vets out there - but I dont think that there is enough communication between the professions)
 
studentvet said:
If I were you, I'd have a consult with both the vet and the farrier there. Then they can decide between them. And... TBH... If I had to ''choose''... all I will say is that vets spend 5 yrs oearning the whole body. Farriers spend 5 yrs learning the foot. (appologies to all other vets out there - but I dont think that there is enough communication between the professions)
Click to expand...

That's what we said - our farrier has done extra course upon extra course, every time I see him he's telling me about a new training course he's on to learn about this or that (he pays to do all this extra).
I am not in any way, shape or form saying our vet doesn't know what he's on about 'cause he is a fantastic vet and has looked after us and our horses for years and years now (I also did WE with him and found him to be very thorough with every animal he sees and the rest of his team are the same). But I definitely think that our vet needs to do these x rays and meet with our farrier to discuss them, there must be a way of giving her more support.
 
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