Thin soles and wet weather

spotty_pony2

spotty_pony2

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 August 2015
Messages
1,727
Visit site
I’ve posted about this before I’ve discovered but it was nearly three years ago. Fast forward to now and same horse (now 27) seems to be having the same issue. He has pads in his shoes in front and has been having them for at least the past two years and they have helped massively but from what I can gather they are a temporary fix. He’s go exactly the same symptoms although it could also possibly be an abscess but I’d expect him to get more lame in the next 24/48 hours if so and there is no heat at all but there is perhaps an area of the sole that is slightly sensitive when I apply pressure. I really don’t think it’s laminitis but again I’m monitoring him, he is perfect weight and I’m managing food intake. I will of course be talking to my farrier and getting him to look. But he is fine on the soft ground and in the field, fine walking in a straight line on the road, a little off on a turn but not drastically, but slightly lame in trot and tentative over stones. I’m wondering about having shoes off at this point and using hoof boots instead but realistically I cant see his soles hardening up until th ground dries up. I’ve fenced off the worst of the wet area in his field today but staying in isn’t an option either as he is arthritic and gets stiff. He is fine in himself except for this. He is my pride and joy and everything he needs he gets so please be kind.

I’m just wondering if any others are having solo issues with the ground as it is. Although of course it’s been perfectly conditions for an abscess being mild and wet but *touch wood* he’s never had one in his life ever!
 
Hoof Armor is fanstastic stuff for this - I apply a thin coat every couple of weeks in the winter.

Mark Johnson did sugest that a thin layer of superglue would work to protect from the constant wet, and is much cheaper, but I've not tried it. It wouldn't be as abrasion resistant, IMO.
 
Yes. My 23 year old has had a strange pulse in one front leg all week. Farrier hoof tested around pedal bone and no reaction but did say there was a bit of heat. He started slightly pointing it last night but still could weight bare albeit had it more further forward than the other hoof. I poulticed him last night and he was like a new horse this morning. Poultice stinks and has a slight wet grey bit but other than that nothing obvious. He's standing square, pawing with said hoof and walking out. He's never had hoof abscesses in his life except when he had laminitis 8 years ago. He was negative for Cushings last year but will be tested again in April. Either that it's been because the fields are so wet and muddy at the moment.
 
paddy555 said:
tested for PPID and negative on both a test and on clinical symptoms?
Click to expand...

Yes he is actually well below the range and that was at the time of year when the range is usually quite high too! He’s always had slight issues but he lives out more in the winter than he used to now he is older as he’s happier out because of his arthritis so I wonder if it may have been an more of an issue when he was younger but because he was stabled a lot in the winter it never became as obvious as it is now. He’s absolutely fine in the field he just doesn’t like the stones on the track to the yard. He's not in a lot of work now anyway but likes his little hacks out so I just want to do what I can.

Problem is I can’t apply anything to the underneath of the hooves at the moment because of the pads. We did try applying products before we went to the pads - Farrier recommended a very good iodine based product from Italy that I had to pay import taxes on! I know they have helped previously - he has the plastic ones but he did do a while have the leather ones which tbh I think would be more breathable anyway the plastic. 🤔 But at this point I’m wondering if he’s better without any so I can try and treat the hoof again. My Farrier is very pro barefoot so I know if he thinks he can manage without he’d agree with me.
 
holeymoley said:
Yes. My 23 year old has had a strange pulse in one front leg all week. Farrier hoof tested around pedal bone and no reaction but did say there was a bit of heat. He started slightly pointing it last night but still could weight bare albeit had it more further forward than the other hoof. I poulticed him last night and he was like a new horse this morning. Poultice stinks and has a slight wet grey bit but other than that nothing obvious. He's standing square, pawing with said hoof and walking out. He's never had hoof abscesses in his life except when he had laminitis 8 years ago. He was negative for Cushings last year but will be tested again in April. Either that it's been because the fields are so wet and muddy at the moment.
Click to expand...

Interesting! So did it not actually burst? Was he also tentative on the soft ground as well as the hard?
 
Another vote for Keratex hoof hardener. Recomended to me by my vet for my thin soled now 25yo PPID mare. All 4 feet had just been x rayed to rule other nasties out give me peace of mind, she just has thin soles.

The Keratex has made a huge difference. Apply every day for a week to dry feet then twice a week thereafter.
 
spotty_pony2 said:
Interesting! So did it not actually burst? Was he also tentative on the soft ground as well as the hard?
Click to expand...
It's tricky as he has stifle arthritis so he can be quite stiff some mornings if he's been stood for a while. Again when bringing in if he's just stood waiting he can be stiff coming out so it's tricky to differentiate at times. In hindsight he was probably more slower than usual but then my thoughts were that his arthritis had been particularly bad. It wasn't until I felt the pulse in one leg that I thought there was maybe something else going on. I'm not sure if it burst or not, in 20 years I have only had to poultice hooves minimal times so I'm not sure really what I should expect to come out. It definitely did have a bad smell and there looked to be a 'wet' area on the poultice and the hoof just at the heel. He is always much better on soft ground than hard, I think that's just him. I'll maybe trot him in the arena tonight just to make sure.
 
holeymoley said:
It's tricky as he has stifle arthritis so he can be quite stiff some mornings if he's been stood for a while. Again when bringing in if he's just stood waiting he can be stiff coming out so it's tricky to differentiate at times. In hindsight he was probably more slower than usual but then my thoughts were that his arthritis had been particularly bad. It wasn't until I felt the pulse in one leg that I thought there was maybe something else going on. I'm not sure if it burst or not, in 20 years I have only had to poultice hooves minimal times so I'm not sure really what I should expect to come out. It definitely did have a bad smell and there looked to be a 'wet' area on the poultice and the hoof just at the heel. He is always much better on soft ground than hard, I think that's just him. I'll maybe trot him in the arena tonight just to make sure.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I might trot mine in the arena for a comparison too. Other horse (Friesian) has a stifle issue so if I could pick your brains with that one too - do you find the mud exacerbates tbe condition with it pulling on the joints? Ours went short recently, he isn’t in work currently but I’m doing groundwork and polework to try and keep the muscle around the stifles. Physio helps him too, what made you investigate and find the arthritis if you don’t mind me asking?
 
spotty_pony2 said:
Thank you, I might trot mine in the arena for a comparison too. Other horse (Friesian) has a stifle issue so if I could pick your brains with that one too - do you find the mud exacerbates tbe condition with it pulling on the joints? Ours went short recently, he isn’t in work currently but I’m doing groundwork and polework to try and keep the muscle around the stifles. Physio helps him too, what made you investigate and find the arthritis if you don’t mind me asking?
Click to expand...
Yes I think it definitely does. I had a lameness work up done on him last year and both vets thought it was hocks. I didn’t agree and thought it was higher up but went with their expertise and treated his hocks with arthramid. Didn’t really see much difference. At the same time I noticed when picking out hind hooves he would keep one held up even when I was finished with it. Fast forward to now, on bad days when picking out hind hooves he can ‘hop’ if he doesn’t feel like he can hold them up. If you get him in the right position he can lift and flex his hocks very well but it’s almost as if the stifle is very slow to respond to him trying to put it back down. Sounds crazy but that’s my experience. He’s on danilon at the moment but I would consider doing one last shot and medicating the stifle with arthramid if it was possible. I think we medicated the wrong joint last year.

Also back to being slightly not right in front tonight so another poultice on!
 
holeymoley said:
Yes I think it definitely does. I had a lameness work up done on him last year and both vets thought it was hocks. I didn’t agree and thought it was higher up but went with their expertise and treated his hocks with arthramid. Didn’t really see much difference. At the same time I noticed when picking out hind hooves he would keep one held up even when I was finished with it. Fast forward to now, on bad days when picking out hind hooves he can ‘hop’ if he doesn’t feel like he can hold them up. If you get him in the right position he can lift and flex his hocks very well but it’s almost as if the stifle is very slow to respond to him trying to put it back down. Sounds crazy but that’s my experience. He’s on danilon at the moment but I would consider doing one last shot and medicating the stifle with arthramid if it was possible. I think we medicated the wrong joint last year.

Also back to being slightly not right in front tonight so another poultice on!
Click to expand...

Oh no! 😟 My boy has been galloping around the field this evening 🫣 he didn’t seem to be having too much trouble and was walking fine so it’s definitely not an issue on softer ground. I haven’t brought him in and seen him walk on stones for a couple of days but yesterday there was a little bit of heat in the hoof and today there isn’t any so I’m hopeful it may have been a bruise forming so I’ve held off panicking and doing anything else yet.

Interesting about the stifle - some days it is as if ours is weak behind and struggles to balance on three legs when picking out feet - you can pick up a foot and his back legs will sort of give way. When he is stiff this also happens when he turns his head or goes to turn in a tight circle - the leg sort of drops from the hip. No Vet has ever come to the conclusion of what this is.
 
Update - so today I went out and he was a lot worse. Pottery in front and reluctant to walk other than slowly and struggling to turn. I got th Vet out immediately - signs were obvious this morning and she confirmed he has Laminitis … in all four feet! 😢 I’m devastated but she thinks we have caught it early. He’s in on a deep bed, and with soaked hay. She’s retested for Cushings and also took bloods to check his insulin levels. He’s had a strong pain injection and seems more comfortable already. She said with him being already on Danilon, having pads in his shoes and having just had an Osteopen injection it was masking it which is why symptoms have come on slowly. I can’t help but think this has been a problem all along now. It would explain why sometimes he has stool with his back legs underneath him… originally I thought it was to take the weight off his hocks but I’ve found out this can be a classic laminitic stance in hind feet! He’s going to have to be really strictly managed from now on. This morning I thought it might be game over, I was in absolute pieces ringing the Vet. He is my absolute world and I’ll always do right by him but she said as long as we can get him through this he should be ok. He’s not happy as he’s got to be in in his own but he’s coping remarkably well so far.
 
spotty_pony2 said:
Update - so today I went out and he was a lot worse. Pottery in front and reluctant to walk other than slowly and struggling to turn. I got th Vet out immediately - signs were obvious this morning and she confirmed he has Laminitis … in all four feet! 😢 I’m devastated but she thinks we have caught it early. He’s in on a deep bed, and with soaked hay. She’s retested for Cushings and also took bloods to check his insulin levels. He’s had a strong pain injection and seems more comfortable already. She said with him being already on Danilon, having pads in his shoes and having just had an Osteopen injection it was masking it which is why symptoms have come on slowly. I can’t help but think this has been a problem all along now. It would explain why sometimes he has stool with his back legs underneath him… originally I thought it was to take the weight off his hocks but I’ve found out this can be a classic laminitic stance in hind feet! He’s going to have to be really strictly managed from now on. This morning I thought it might be game over, I was in absolute pieces ringing the Vet. He is my absolute world and I’ll always do right by him but she said as long as we can get him through this he should be ok. He’s not happy as he’s got to be in in his own but he’s coping remarkably well so far.
Click to expand...
At least you have caught it now...It's mad how than go from galloping arounf to crippled in 24hours :( Hopefully a bt of box rest and strict diet will sort him out.
 
Cragrat said:
At least you have caught it now...It's mad how than go from galloping arounf to crippled in 24hours :( Hopefully a bt of box rest and strict diet will sort him out.
Click to expand...

I’m hoping so, he looks worse again this morning again because the pain killer injection the vet had given him worn off. He’s had two satchets if Danilon this morning as per vets instructions so hopefully he will feel better more comfortable soon. I’ve got to go to work today but don’t know how I will concentrate. Someone is at home to keep an eye on him, my stable camera is currently not working (typical when I need it most!) and he’s got to be in on his own so I feel guilty. Hes not too bothered he calls occasionally and walks around the stable a bit but doesn’t seem to be as bad as I thought. He’s probably better when I’m not there as I guess he will feel my anxiety. I have got sedalin to give him if necessary but don’t really want to sedate him all the time unless I have to.
 
I'm another who swears by hoof armour. I've used it on mine for a few years. He is barefoot but it really helps his feet to resist wear on our abrasive roads and keeps the white lines gravel free which previously was a problem in wet weather.
 
Gloi said:
I'm another who swears by hoof armour. I've used it on mine for a few years. He is barefoot but it really helps his feet to resist wear on our abrasive roads and keeps the white lines gravel free which previously was a problem in wet weather.
Click to expand...

I wish it was wet weather I really do!
 
Update: Vet phoned me this evening and his insulin levels were 13 and they are meant to be under 20 and considering he had been out on the grass within two hours of the test and had had his usual morning feed she said that was a very good and safe result, his Cushings test has also come back negative too. So she doesn’t think it is diet related - he has just been very unlucky and has been caught out with the spring grass so she said he won’t need as much strict management in the future as an insulin resistant/cushings horse but I’ll just need to be careful about his grass intake at certain times of the year. I’d say he is top end of what he is meant to weigh but nothing drastic but I’m using this time to hopefully get him to drop a few kgs whilst he is on a strict diet and then he will be on restricted grazing once his feet settle down and he can go back out. He was his usual cheeky self this evening and was getting quite frustrated that I had no treats for him!! 🫣 So although he is still quite sore at the moment it is early days and I’m feeling hopeful. I feel much better that I had the bloods all done as it’s a relief to just know those results.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top