Too uncomfortable to be shod

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popsicle

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I have a 18yr old Irish draught cross who stands 17hh and weighs around 650kg. She is curently on 2 bute a day for arthritis in numerous joints. She has recently been too uncomfortable to lift one of her front legs for the farrier. ( I need to point out that other than this she is comfortable and not noticibly lame and appears sound when ridden lightly). The ONLY issue is the lifting of that one front leg for the farrier. We need her to be shod, so can anyone suggest a way of making her more comfortable for the farrier using more bute, or by some other means.
So my questions would be. 1) How many bute could I give her safely as a one off when shod, 2) How long before the farrier comes should I give it to her, or any other suggestions or comments would be very welcome.
 
Have you discussed the possibility of having her worst joint injected with steroids/cortisone with the vet? That would alleviate the pain pf arthritis for a few months at a time.
 
Have you considered taking the shoes off, arthritic horses are often a lot more comfortable, less weight to drag around and less toe dragging due to a more natural hoof confirmation over time, also the trimming can be little and often with rests, my trimmer does my 17hh ID HW hunter who has arthritis in near hind like this, quite a bit she can do with him resting his toe too.

I know you say he 'needs' to be shod but my chap was for 18 years (13 of them with me)but to my surprise has thrived in the last two without.
 
My mare went the same way unfortunately. She was better in the summer when she was turned out 24/7 but the winter brought problems. I had very good success with a combination of magnetic boots and Global Herbs Alpha-Bute (Bute-X as it used to be called). I chose to take her shoes off and trim her feet myself. I did buy some hoof boots for her but never actually used them (note to self - find them and sell them!) because her lameness on the road worsened so we just tootled about on the fields. She did go on Metacam in due course but gradually her arthritis worsened and getting her front feet tidy got harder and harder. I used a standard size road cone for a tripod and because her arthritis was in her shoulders as well as her knees, she frequently struggled to hold the leg forward . Then she started getting balance problems when I picked up her hind feet. To me that was welfare issue and it was one of the primary reasons I chose to have her PTS before things got worse for her. I had doubled her dose of Metacam in the final 6 months without any obvious harm but clearly it wasn't sufficient for anything other than allowing her to stroll around in the field. I'm sorry OP if this sounds so gloomy but it is a progressive problem and it is better to be honest and truthful.
 
Given what you describe, the only person you should ask these questions of is the vet who knows her well, its not a question anyone can answer over the internet.
Take care.
 
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