To shoe or not to shoe post laminitis

[dizz4]

My daughters pony had laminitis last year with 10 degree rotation in both front feet, she has since made a good recovery although we are nervous of a re-occurance.... My problem is that she is always tender on hard or lumpy ground (this seemed to happen before laminitis as well). I asked my farrier if she should be shod and he seemed to think this would be a waste of time as she did very little road work.

We are hoping to compete in shows and dressage and pony club this year maybe a little jumping but always careful not to do this on very hard ground and was just wondering if shoeing is the answer or perhaps boots....

I would appreciate other peoples experiences...

Izzy

 

[touchstone]

I kept mine without shoes after laminitis; personally I feel it is much easier to spot any warning signs (slightly footy, increased digital pulse) when they aren't shod and can hopefully catch any laminitis early on.
If your pony is uncomfortable then using boots might well be a good compromise, you can get pads for them for even more protection.
I do loads of roadwork with mine.

 

[dizz4]

I kept mine without shoes after laminitis; personally I feel it is much easier to spot any warning signs (slightly footy, increased digital pulse) when they aren't shod and can hopefully catch any laminitis early on.
If your pony is uncomfortable then using boots might well be a good compromise, you can get pads for them for even more protection.
I do loads of roadwork with mine.

thank you touchstone.... Yes the pony does have boots and maybe I should persevere with them, they Easy Boots and they seem ok but sometimes you are just unsure and other peoples experiences help you put things into place...

thanks....

 

[Ladylina83]

Not to shoe - being footy on hard ground is your horse natural reaction especially if there is to much sugar in the diet from grass or otherwise ( my mare is a lot less footy in the winter on stoney ground even though her feet are soft )
If she is coming in from the field footy then you need to keep her in or put her in a grazing muzzle - this is a great early warning sign of an attack of lami that you will not get if you put shoes on her !

Some horses need shoes to do their job - but in your case this might just mask any problems

.. however you won't be able to show in boots - I can't see it being a problem for pony club or dressage though ? ? but I might be wrong