Update on sudden lameness

[hopscotch bandit]

My horse has been to the vets today for her sudden lameness and query DDFT injury 9 days ago and after lunging and trot up flexion tests and scan she has injured her check ligament.

Vet has advised 4-6 weeks box rest and walker gradually building up time. Scan reveals healing has already started in part due to the box rest, ice vibe boots and bute.

Continue to be amazed at her soundness borh in hand and today on the lunge considering she's nearly 23. Think the turmeric is deffo helping there!

Was initially sceptical about the box rest as i didn't feel it fair with her arthritis but vet seems to think its a no brainer.

She is having shoes removed and feet trimmed on vets advice so i need to get this done asap. Got to paint feet with solution of i think he said iodine and eucalyptus oil. Any bare foot tips appreciated. Fortunately her stable is only 20ft from the walker so she should be good.

Glad its nothing more serious.

 

[ycbm]

If she has to have done a tendon or ligament, HB, that's the one you'd choose. I'm happy for you it's not one with a worse prognosis. I've seen loads come back from that injury and don't know of one failure. Though one had to be taken barefoot, after which he never did it again even though he went hunting in hills.

Keep us updated. Fingers crossed for you.

.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

If she has to have done a tendon or ligament, HB, that's the one you'd choose. I'm happy for you it's not one with a worse prognosis. I've seen loads come back from that injury and don't know of one failure. Though one had to be taken barefoot, after which he never did it again even though he went hunting in hills.

Keep us updated. Fingers crossed for you.

.

Thank you. Yes its good news i know, as it could have been so much worse.

 

[PurBee]

Glad to hear your horse is recovering well.
Iodine is said to harden soles aswell as be a good general antibacterial. I dont know if it does harden soles though! Its a great antibac diluted for the frog. I also use copper sulphate crystals diluted in water which is fab at keeping fungus at bay.

Has the horse low heels long toes? That strains the DDFT, so if that is the hoof shape, you may want to speak with farrier/trimmer about heel wedges in boots for a few weeks while trimming to bring toe back and heels uncrushed/lengthened.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Hi PB the vets have always been complimentary about her foot balance in the past saying my farrier is very good so not sure why its changed or why they think she can grow more foot without shoes. She is getting pigeon toed slightly so i think they thought going barefoot (and in the future providing more lateral support on the fronts when back shod again in a few weeks) might benefit her.

 

[ester]

If she is being shod again so quickly what is the perceived advantage of removing shoes now?

 

[hopscotch bandit]

If she is being shod again so quickly what is the perceived advantage of removing shoes now?

Hi Ester. I think just to allow her feet to grow differently. Believe plan is to shoe after 6 weeks is up. I need to speak with my friend who came with me as i must admit it was all a bit over whelming. I always said i wouldnt go more than 2 weeks box rest due to her arthritis and it not being fair to her. i know how i seize up after a 40 min car drive to work. But my theory was blown away by how sound she is on the lunge and trot up flexion tests, the good prognosis and the vets certaintity that box rest with controlled exercise is more than fair and ethical for her.

So from going with the intention of the possibility in the back of my head at potential pts to the three of us being stunned at her soundness happily blew any doubts syraight put of the water. I firmly believe that Tumeric has helped hugely.

 

[ester]

They would take longer than 6 weeks to do that though, 6 weeks is really just the starting point. 6 months would allow them to grow differently.
I guess presuming she has fairly good structure and soles already + box rest there may be minimal point in keeping them on currently either though .

 

[hopscotch bandit]

I can't get hold of my farrier, I am assuming that he is still on a Xmas break. I've left a message last Monday asking him to contact me with a view to coming out and taking of the shoes and trimming but no joy. I think I shall ask the vet to liaise with the farrier. That way he can explain exactly what is required.

On the plus side my horse started her therapeutic long wave ultrasound treatment last night with my physio. She will receive this targeted to the lateral aspect of the check ligament for ten minutes a day. Hopefully this, the box rest, icing, removal of shoes and controlled exercise will give her the best chance of recovery. This morning I was bleary eyed at the yard at 5.45am icing the leg whilst mucking out before driving to work for 7.30am. Staff are caring for her next Monday going forwards but I wanted to blitz her with twice daily ice-vibe for the rest of this week and the weekend first.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Farrier came out and whipped shoes of my horse yesterday, I didn't know he'd been until I led her out of her stable and all was very quiet (no hoof sounds!)

She is remarkably sound considering she's had shoes on for probably 20 years. She did her controlled exercise of 5 mins on the horsewalker last night and this morning as directed by my vet. I put it on a very low speed for her and there is plenty of dried crushed poo on there as it's never mucked out so its nice and soft for her and its rubber matted too. Here are some photos of her feet taken this morning. (I know the Icevibe boots been put on rather hastily but at 5.45am with a day of work ahead of me to look forward to, I'm too tired to really care lol)

I am that impressed and shocked at how well she's doing that I am now thinking about the possibility of her going barefoot for good but it's early days, I haven't had the hoof crack or chipped feet crises that other liveries have had whilst doing their barefoot journeys and I am probably very naive about it all. I have put a topical solution of iodine and eucalyptus from my vet on her feet last night, he said to repeat it every few days. The vet wants the farrier in 6 weeks or so to put some kind of extension support to the lateral aspect of the front feet. Goodness knows how much this will cost....

Anyone with any comments/suggestions/tips. Please be kind. Newbie to barefoot here. Need guidance not criticism. Thanks

 

[PurBee]

Her feet look good for barefoot from what is shown! Wow - youve had a good farrier!

The foot shape looks very good to transition...from above. Hoof wall smooth, diet working for her, she has heels, it doesnt surprise me she’s sound without shoes.
Obviously thats just from the shapes in the pics, havent seen underneath or other detailed views, but theyre really good for having been in shoes for yrs.
For barefoot, it depends on what you want her to be doing work-wise, while transitioning takes place. If you need her available for all surfaces you’d want to have boots on hand to use.

 

[PurBee]

For getting all that work done at 5.45am youll never be getting criticism from me

 

[ester]

I’d be worried if you’d managed a hoof crack in <24 hours. I wouldn’t expect much chipping on box rest either so you shouldn’t have to worry about either of those things.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

I’d be worried if you’d managed a hoof crack in <24 hours. I wouldn’t expect much chipping on box rest either so you shouldn’t have to worry about either of those things.

Ha! No I think you misread/misunderstood. My post said "I am that impressed and shocked at how well she's doing that I am now thinking about the possibility of her going barefoot for good but it's early days, I haven't had the hoof crack or chipped feet crises that other liveries have had whilst doing their barefoot journeys and I am probably very naive about it all."

I was alluding to the fact that all that is to come and that I've obviously not had that yet as its only been 24 hours lol

Sorry maybe I should have been clearer.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Her feet look good for barefoot from what is shown! Wow - youve had a good farrier!

The foot shape looks very good to transition...from above. Hoof wall smooth, diet working for her, she has heels, it doesnt surprise me she’s sound without shoes.
Obviously thats just from the shapes in the pics, havent seen underneath or other detailed views, but theyre really good for having been in shoes for yrs.
For barefoot, it depends on what you want her to be doing work-wise, while transitioning takes place. If you need her available for all surfaces you’d want to have boots on hand to use.

Hi Purbee. Thanks for your comments. The farrier is very good, on xray the horse has been shown to have perfect foot balance. But when the initial vet came out on the 21st December when she blew her ligament she said I needed to get the farrier out asap as in her opinion the foot balance was wrong (toes long) and when I said she wasn't due for 3 1/2 weeks as she was only 1 1/2 weeks after being shod she seemed really surprised. This sounds really weird now but when first shod I inspected her feet and felt that her feet had been crammed into her shoes and they looked like they were a bit tight on her. That was my immediate reaction, but I never pursued that train of thought at the time and I'm not a farrier and my farrier is very good and well respected so I was probably talking rubbish. I know about medial/lateral foot balance but only as a layman and I know about foot pastern axis, long toe/low heel and sheared heels basic knowledge but that encompasses the total sum of my knowledge about feet tbh. But 15 years having had the same farrier I have never felt that about his shoeing before.

The 2nd vet who I took my horse to in order to be scanned said that he wanted the shoes off to encourage the hoof to sink a little and for the ligament to stretch a little or at least that's how I understand it now. Then he was saying that because said horse is slightly pigeon toed (and due to neck arthritis this can manifest as all sort of odd foot positioning/posturing i.e toes in/out/base narrow/base wide on a daily basis) he felt that when re-shod after the box rest period is up the farrier could allow for a little lateral support (and pointed to some very nice aluminium shoes displayed on the wall) with a very nice price I don't doubt!

 

[PurBee]

The xray dont lie, if they show a good balance, they should be used as a guide for trimming.

Obviously your pics are limited view of toe/heel heights lengths, and possibly your vet could see the damaged lig. Foot was overly long in the toe. However, theres plenty of worse long toes out there without blown ligaments so maybe your instincts about this last set of shoes looking tight on her has reduced her hoof flex, and strained the ligament.

My point was mainly that for just being out of shoes for so many yrs, her feet look good for transitioning to barefoot, if you wanted to pursue that route.
When its not 5.45am maybe you could get sole pics and closer view pics taken for folk here to assess better.

Good news shes recovering well