Will removing shoes help my horses Ringbone?

Black_Horse_White

Black_Horse_White

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My heavy weight cob has recently been diagnosed with Ringbone in both coffin joints. I have him shod every 6 weeks, he goes lame the week before he is due to be shod then is ok after. I've asked my farrier about trying barefoot he dismissed it. I know it will not cure him but I would just like him to be sound. He is receiving treatment from the vet he recently had injections in both joints, which appeared to make a huge difference, until now. I have also asked if he can be shod every 4 or 5 weeks, again the farrier dismisses it as not necessary. He is only a happy hack but I have only owned him since January and he is only 11. Any advice you can give me negative or positive will help.:confused:
 
My old chap (27yrs) has ringbone and we have him in natural balance shoes to improve the breakover point for him, he's been in them for a while now and I wouldn't change back, he's also retired but its his comfort thats important. Took him a little while to get used to them though.

With regard to your farrier, no foot no horse and you are paying him (I know a good one is hard to find - I think I'm lucky, but there is more than one out there!)
 
He is in natural balance shoes I think. He is a very good remedial farrier, bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired. I will have to tell him what I want him to do. Just trying to make my boy more comfortable.
 
My T.B also 11 has similar problems, tried barefoot for 11 months but it didn,t work for him.
He is now in eggbars and is on half a danilon a day and is much better, also give him global herbs movefree, he is shod every 4 to 5 weeks. my farrier also has these shoes on a h/w cob he shoes with very good results!
 
Taking off the shoes helped our old Clydesdale. Less weight on the joints as he had heavy shoes being a big lad.

I also put on straps from Magnetic which he wore 24 x 7 until the day he died and for him, these made a very big difference. When we took the magnetic straps off, he went lame, put them back on and he went sound again.
 
Go for it - you would need to find a good trimmer, which is not always easy, but however good you think your farrier is, if he is ignoring your requests to help your horse not be lame for one week in six, you need rid of him.
Have a look at Feet First (book) and the Rockley Farm Blog (by one of the authors of the book), the UKNHCP forum, from which you should get good recommendtions for trimmers, and Pete Ramey's stuff on the web. It's all fascinating, and even if you find it doesn't do anything for the ringbone it will still help your horse's feet become much healthier than they can be with shoes on, and usually save you money too.... can't lose!
 
Hi,

my horse is shod with egg bars every 6 weeks and they do really seem to help. Will watch this thread with interest though as would maybe like to try him barefoot when he older and doing less work. Chatted to farrier about it and he said no reason why not if he doing less roadwork etc, would just have to trial it and see. Good luck with yours.
 
Personally, I would suggest that anything that will reduce the concussion when the hoof comes in contact with the ground would be a good thing. So yes, I'd opt for shoes off.

I'd also opt for a change of farrier/trimmer as it sounds as though your farrier isn't open to any other ideas. And you are quite right to want a good regular trim to keep the breakover well back and reduce any stresses either on the hoof wall or on the structures within the leg.

I use an excellent trimmer who is based in Belper, Derbyshire. She is particularly gifted at rehabilitating horses who have suffered laminitis, but is great all round. If you'd like her contact details, let me know. You could always ask her for an advisory visit, so you could then weigh up whether to stick with your current farrier, another farrier or with a trimmer.

Sarah
 
Thanks for all your replies, my farrier is coming tomorrow so I'm going to ask him to remove his shoes and give him a trim and see if he is still lame trotting up. The problem I have is I hack him maybe 4/5 times a week and want to carry on doing so as long as he stays sound. He is and will be for the next 10 months be receiving treatment from my vet to medicate the joint. Steriod injections did seem to help up until now. He just goes worse nearer to being shod.
 
Black_Horse_White said:
Thanks for all your replies, my farrier is coming tomorrow so I'm going to ask him to remove his shoes and give him a trim and see if he is still lame trotting up. The problem I have is I hack him maybe 4/5 times a week and want to carry on doing so as long as he stays sound. He is and will be for the next 10 months be receiving treatment from my vet to medicate the joint. Steriod injections did seem to help up until now. He just goes worse nearer to being shod.
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DON'T do that! If you have a farrier who is not open to barefoot, all they will do is rasp the foot as if it is about to have a shoe put on (specifically, rasp the sole flat rather than leaving it alone), the likelihood is that the horse will not be very comfortable and so will trot up lame and then the farrier will say 'told you so' and have you put the shoes back on, and you'll be put off trying barefoot again. As before, identify a good local trimmer and get them to do the initial introduction to barefoot. You can use hoof boots for hacking if the horse needs a rehabilitation period.
 
Black_Horse_White said:
Thanks for all your replies, my farrier is coming tomorrow so I'm going to ask him to remove his shoes and give him a trim and see if he is still lame trotting up. The problem I have is I hack him maybe 4/5 times a week and want to carry on doing so as long as he stays sound. He is and will be for the next 10 months be receiving treatment from my vet to medicate the joint. Steriod injections did seem to help up until now. He just goes worse nearer to being shod.
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Yikes, you can't remove the shoes and expect to carry on as before. He WILL BE LAME trotting up after removing the shoes, I guarantee it with the issues he has.

Your post starts with talking about ringbone in the coffin joints - ring bone doesn't happen in the coffin joints - so I don't really know what is going on with him. You mention joint injections, is this in the coffin joints? Your diagnosis so far is rather unclear to be honest, but heavy weight horses are the hardest to take barefoot, and should not be done lightly, it will take down time and knowledge to help him through a rehabilitation, I hope your farrier has talked you out of this today to be honest, its not something to be done with out due thought and preparation......and I'm a barefoot trimmer!!!
 
He has had steroid injections into the joints, if I knew how to upload his X Rays I would show you. The farrier doesn't come until tomorrow. I'm just asking the question because I'm not getting
answers from anywhere else. I've asked numerous times about his prognosis with not many answers. I'm not taking it lightly to be honest I'm just asking because I want to do what's best for my horse. I don't seem to be getting many answers from my vet or farrier. Maybe I should change both.
 
It's really hard to decide to step away from the 'traditional' help of vet and farrier for hoof problems. My mare has been barefoot for 10 years now, and a lot of that time I've looked after her feet myself and even then when the vet recommended she had shoes after an operation, I found it very difficult to go against his advice - she ended up having shoes on for 6 weeks and then I took them off (against his advice, but with much support from this forum and other sources) and she has been fine ever since. If you've not done barefoot before and the professionals are either against it or ignoring it, I would think it would be a tough decision to make. If I were you, I would just have the horse shod as normal this time and then take the next six weeks to gather as much information as you can - read all the stuff on the net, ask questions on UKNHCP forum, meet the trimmer that someone else has suggested and watch her work, then decide what to do with your horse.
I'm always surprised how few people seem to be able to distance themselves from the shoeing concept and think about it objectively - how many other pets would be expected to be helped or cured by having a bit of metal nailed to them?
 
Thank you Soloequestrian, I will do some reading and thinking. I was and still am shell shocked that he has ringbone after only owning him a short time. He was not a cheap horse, is an absolute angle 110 % bombproof, and the thought of losing him is heart breaking. He is my perfect hack and I feel it's going to be so very short lived. I just want to do what's best for him.
 
B&W Horse, the best treatment for such a horse is to go barefoot, but he will need to be laid off for a period to adjust.

Absolute correct balance is critical for this type of horse, and if he has anything but the straightest of limbs, a farrier's balance and a barefoot trimmer's balance can be quite different.
 
To be honest I've been thinking about going barefoot ever since he was diagnosed. I have a friend who did recommend a trimmer to me, maybe it's time to get in touch. It's just difficult going against the vet and farrier. But for my horse and me I need to try it. I am prepared to put in the time money & effort, as he is worth it. He is pigeon toed, more so on his right, which the ringbone is worse on.
 
Black_Horse_White said:
He is pigeon toed, more so on his right, which the ringbone is worse on.
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Bingo, a good barefoot trimmer will approach this foot differently to a farrier, and might just be what your horse needs. Glad to hear you are prepared to put in the time/effort to put him right, I wish you lots of luck with him.
 
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