Very sore soles - HELP

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Hi,

I have a pony which has always been barefoot- hes 5 and not broken, with very sore soles which the vet is not getting to the bottom of! Suggestions please - he is currently turned out on a soft area about the size of 2 stables. He has had no grass for 2 months, is now on hay which has been soaked for about 15 hours and has nothing else, but he is still not right! He is too sore to exercise. He is not fat, but has signs of low grade laminitis, but never had a full blown attack. Do I need shoes, supplement, etc - all suggestions greatly apprechiated. His feet are cold in the morning with no pulse and by the end of the day they are hot with a pulse!! I don`t want this going on any longer. His hay is last years meadow hay and he reacts the same on all the different ones I`ve had

Thank you
 
Have you got any boots and pads? My horse was like this last week, I had him in for a few days and the I turned him out in the day in his boots and also led him out in them!
He is ok again now,but I am keeping a close eye on him!
 
First are you sure it's just his soles, what are his frogs like? Perhaps some photos (from varioius angles including sole shots) would be useful for the more knowledgeable if possible?

He will need more than just soaked hay. Here's some diet advice that might help. Add a good balancer to the emergency diet. http://ecirhorse.org/index.php/ddt-overview/ddt-diet

Or contact Forage Plus for diet advice. http://forageplus.co.uk/

Has he been tested for Cushings? I think this is definitely worth doing if not or even repeating. Some vets will agree to a Prascend trial in the absence of testing in extreme cases so it's worth having a good chat with the vet about this.

ps. Make sure no one is feeling sorry for him and slipping him feeds or treats etc.
 
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A friend of mine has an insulin resistant mare which she tells me can only eat hay which has been soaked for at least 24 hours.
 
Sorry forgot to add he been tested for cushings and metabolic syndrom just to rule it out and all was fine. I`m on top of his thrush so I know its not that. Tonight I pressed his sole in front of the frog and all over and it gave under the pressure, I then pressed it with the hoof pick and he certainly doesn` t like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so do we recon soft soles or thin soles - they have however not been paired by the trimmer, so could they just be thin or do we think soft???????? I then painted them with some `Rock Hard` as I had some on the shelve.

No one is feeding him and if I just put boots on I think it would just mask the problem - I want to get to the bottom of this asap. thanks
 
My horse has very thin soles despite a good low sugar high fibre diet and the only kind solution for him is front shoes. Tried minerals and biotin and only shoes keep him comfortable enough to work. I'll be watching this thread though for other suggestions
 
Thin soles can't be mended quickly I'm afraid. They have to be assisted to grow thicker over time with diet etc. and are closely related to compromised lamina attachment in many cases.
Shoes may help with pain relief but in themselves wont improve sole thickness.

These articles might help give you more ideas. http://www.hoofrehab.com/HorsebackMagazineArticles.html

ps. It may well be worth contacting forage plus anyway.
 
If you can press the soles and they move they are very, very thin imo. Thick calloused, healthy soles do not give under finger/thumb pressure even in wet conditions. Sounds a horrid situation.

My belief is boots and pads are better for protection than shoes as they are non invasive and actually protect the sole.
 
this sounds a bit like one of mine when he was 5 except the soles were never flexible. By 6 he had full blown laminitis. By 14 he tested negative for cushings twice and it was only when I realised the cushings test was unreliable in the younger horses and insisted on prascend that I made progress.

Could the soft surface be putting pressure on already very weak and inflamed soles?
I would boot with thick pads probably in epics. The boots would not be to mask the issue but simply to prevent damage and abscessing until I got to the bottom of the problem. Hopefully they would also enable the horse to be exercised even if only in hand. If he is on an area the size of 2 stables and is unable to be exercised then presumably he is getting very little movement.
I found feeding a supplement (I use equimins metabalance) to be essential. Mine was I suspect cushings by the age of 5 or 6. I have found cushings horses need help to grow good feet ie supplementation, magnesium and good quality protein.

what was the cushings reading and at what time of the year? I was told mine was 26 and all was fine. It wasn't. I retested a couple of months later, used a different lab just to be sure and it came back at 11. I was again told all was fine but insisted on a prascend trial. He has been on prascend for 9 months and is ridden daily with part of the work unbooted. I would never have been able to go unbooted before prascend. I always treated him as EMS both dietwise as you are doing and also getting daily exercise into him booted.

The signs of cushings did not become obvious until he was over 10 but all the time the damage, especially muscle damage was being done. Whilst I have been able to correct some of the damage it has wrecked the horse.

There is a lot about cushings on the phoenix forum PPID/EMS section. Mine was not the only young horse who tested negative.

If you have nowhere else to go I would go back to the cushings, retest now the levels are rising to try and get a better result. If I was still getting nowhere I would trial prascend.
good luck

ps. tried shoeing. It was perfect in Jan and Feb. I thought I had solved the problem. Then came March and back to LGL. so I am afraid shoes are not the answer plus there is the risk the horse will get very quickly into full blown laminitis before you can see it with shoes on.
 
I would get another vet get a second opinion, have you tried keratex hoof hardner on them.

Just read other posts and might be worth testing for ems and cushings again, my friends horse was tested 3 times and they gave her prasend in the end the horse is much better now no signs of sore hooves at all, might be worth just asking for some.
 
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Another vote for boots and Styrofoam pads. These are better than shoes as they will support the sole whilst also stimulating it and therefore encourage growth and thickening of the soles.
 
The feet will probably improve with the boots and pads because they will enable the pony to move more and it's movement which he will need to grow better feet. Walking out in boots and pads will help him a lot provided he has no active laminitis.
 
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