Would going barefoot help arthritis?

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Cello_song

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Help! I am at my wits end and am willing to try anything to keep my horse sound and comfortable!

This year he has been diagnosed with spavins in both hinds and arthritis in both front pasterns. He has had steroid injections which haven't made much difference - he is still inconsistently pottery in front and is uncomfortable going down hills when ridden. He is on 1 danillon per day, cosequin, wears magnetic boots, has lateral extensions on back shoes and rolled toes on the front. At the moment he is "field sound" - looks absolutely fine in walk, trot and canter in the field - he canters down the hill to me everyday neighing and looking fab! When ridden however, he takes little steps downhill and is intermittently pottery in front. Some days he'll canter down the field looking great then when I get on him i realise I'm not going to be able to ride him that day as he's not right. My vet has suggested giving him the danillon 1 hour before I ride and cutting down the workload so now I'm only riding him twice per week for a half hour walk round the fields. I'm reluctant to give him more steroid injections because the first lot haven't improved the situation and I've only got £300 insurance money left.

I was wondering if going barefoot would be worth a try? And if so, what would I need to feed him?

Any other suggestions greatly appreciated!

Thanks x
 
Ive heard some say going barefoot helped, however it depends how he takes it it could make him sore making things worse.

Re supplements how much is he actually having?

My horse has hock arthritis, I used to feed glucosamine but it was a waste as i wasnt feeding the required amount, Ive now started my horse on riaflex and feeding 10g msm, 10g glucosamine and 4g chondroitin and its made a world of difference, even after the injections he was still a bit off, but now hes doing really well, deffinately sound. I dont feed him any bute at all.
 
Sorry but I don't think it'll make the blindest bit of difference hun. What you describe sounds like the classic bi-lateral front foot lameness of DJD/navicular syndrome. My last horse developed this at only 20, largely because for years he'd been a truly safe trekking pony that would give even non-riders a lovely safe hack. The end result of years of trundling around on their forehand wrecks front feet. My horse started stumbling and tripping on uneven ground, especially going downhill. To my undying shame I just thought he was being lazy but thank god I was advised to take him for a full lameness work up. He didn't appear lame at all and that's the danger of bilateral lameness. BOTH front feet hurt as much as each other so the horse can't favour one foot. He had one foot nerve blocked and the result was shocking. He was absolutely, mind-numbingly, hopping, dog lame on the OTHER foot. When the vet looked at the x-rays he said it was one of the worse cases he'd ever seen. We tried steroid injections into the hoof capsules and newmarket glucosamine but you can't undo years of degeneration of the joint. Vet said he could potter about the field for another 18 months or so (he too could come at a canter to begin with) but after a few months he started to lose weight and was getting bullied in the field. He started to get terribly distressed and panic stricken if his best buddy wasn't out with him because he knew he couldn't look after himself. It was pretty terrible to see and before the winter set in I knew what had to be done. RIP Sullivan x
 
Being barefoot won't cure the arthritis but it may help a little.

With barefoot he will be able to wear a foot balance that suits him, rather then one forced by shoes - it can make a big different. You may find he developed very 'squint' looking feet over time but they will be the balance he wants to minimise joint pressure.

Barefoot also has less concussion so may slow the arthritis progess.

If he also has navicular changes (which by the sound of it is a possibility) then barefoot will help drastically.

One top of that - it's a hell of a lot cheaper in the long run! If he's only doing a couple of days work on soft ground the there is no reason he will need shoes on. Get a pair of boots if need be (that also reduce concussion further)

In terms of diet, he need to have a low sugar diet - too much sugar makes their feet sensitive and therefore 'footy' on rough ground. So no hard feed and restricted grazing with a hay top up if needed.

Do looks into getting boots - they will allow you to ride on the roads, from his point of veiw on a soft cushion surface.

We had an ancient old girl who, after years and years or being hammered as a Common Riding horse, and wearing shoes, has quite bad arthtiris in her front pasterns, plus very 'shoe sick' feet. I had her shoes off and conditionied her feet barefoot - it made a big difference to her arthritis and by the time she was PTS she had lovely feet.
 
You have to ask yourself whether or not you are prepared to put an already compromised horse through a rehab process that may (note the word *may*, not will) involve periods of foot soreness.

Then you have to consider the mechanical advantage remedial shoeing *will* give. Spavin and ringbone are two conditions that can be helped by shoeing.
 
tommy30 said:
Then you have to consider the mechanical advantage remedial shoeing *will* give. Spavin and ringbone are two conditions that can be helped by shoeing.
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I the word *may* is more suitable to this sentence too!

I doubt very much that a doctor would suggest a older person suffering from arthritis would be more comfortable wearing hob nail boots? Why would an arthritic horse be more comfortable in inflexible metal shoes?
 
maggiesmum said:
I the word *may* is more suitable to this sentence too!

I doubt very much that a doctor would suggest a older person suffering from arthritis would be more comfortable wearing hob nail boots? Why would an arthritic horse be more comfortable in inflexible metal shoes?
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Experience tells me otherwise. Most of the ringbone horses I have done need more eased breakover all around the hoof than they can accomplish barefoot.
The idea is to allow the foot to really roll over any direction without flexing the affected joints very much.
 
Can I ask - did you try them barefoot? Or (I;m assuming you're either a vet or a farrier?) did you stick with what you know and shoe them straight off?

Forgive me for being sceptical, but i'm inclined to disagree that the horse is incapable of wearing his feet in such a way that would give him maximum comfort.
 
maggiesmum said:
Can I ask - did you try them barefoot? Or (I;m assuming you're either a vet or a farrier?) did you stick with what you know and shoe them straight off?

Forgive me for being sceptical, but i'm inclined to disagree that the horse is incapable of wearing his feet in such a way that would give him maximum comfort.
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No, neither myself (farrier), the vet or the owners were prepared to put such animals through a rehab process. It seemed appropriate to provide the horse with as much relief of pain, and ease of movement as possible.
Sure, if it were barefoot it would wear its hooves so that it was as comfortable as possible, but it is limited by the hoof itself. Shoeing provides a mechanical advantage in such cases, as the ground surface of the shoe is brought inside the hoof - to get the same rolled effect on a hoof you will be into the blood.
 
TBH, if you're only pottering around the field on him occasionally, would it not be kinder to pull the shoes, get a good trim (which shouldn't cause any discomfort) and just let him retire gracefully?

We look after an older mare who had side bone behind when we took her on, she worked quite happily barefoot for a couple of years but sadly is now too lame to carry on - she is not in serious pain in the paddock but has been retired.

I can't say barefoot is a cure-all, but it might help.
 
Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply to my post.

intouch - I think retiring gracefully is on the cards, which is partly why I'm thinking about taking the shoes off - shoes are expensive when we're just getting out for the odd potter!

Tommy30 - The eased breakover you mention is what my farrier has been doing this year - I just wondered if since this doesn't seem to be making much difference i.e. he's not really rideable, is it worth trying shoes off?

I can totally understand both sides of the argument - don't want him to end up in more pain being footsore but since I've tried everything the vets/farrier have advised and he's still not rideable, is it worth a try?

I'm so gutted by this all - he was my dream horse and I just managed to save up enough to but a trailer last autumn so we could start competing - and now, less than a year later, I'm having to seriously think about retiring him and letting him have some time mooching in the field before having to make the horrible decision! :-(

My vet has suggested trying to find a companion home for him rather than paying livery but that's not easy!
 
If you've tried everything else and he's still the same then you don't really have anything to lose. people get in a flap about taking shoes off but at the end of the day if you feel it doesn't suit either of you, you can always put them back on! :-)
 
Just to jump in here.... Tommy 30 - my boy was lame and had significant amounts of cartilage which looked like ringbone, unfortunately it turned out to be navicular. However since going barefoot, the 'ringbone' changes have significantly descreased and there is barely any cartilage to be seen or felt just after 9 weeks.

PS the vet told me that he had a 40% chance of being sound ever again as the navicular changes have been so huge, i also *had* to go the remedial shoeing route. 10 weeks later he is totally sound.
Good luck
 
Barefoot may help

My boy has just been diagnosed with bilateral bone spavins.

He was barefoot until June when I had him shod as his soles were getting very worn. Since then he's been lame.

My vet suggested that this may have been what aggravated the spavins due to the angle that the farriers need to hold their hind legs at to shoe them - sort of like they do during a flexion test as it stresses the hock joint.

Obv corrective shoeing works for a lot of horses, but that doesn't mean it works for all - if you've tried it and its not working then you don't have much to lose. Yes, he will be footsore for a week or so, but the ground is getting softer now. If you're really concerned, give him bute for a few days which will take any inflammation and heat out of his soles while they harden off.

I'm having Finn's shoes off again asap! :)
 
OP - I know a horse which was diagnosed arthritic. Had the natural balance shoes to ease breakover etc. Was pottery, stumbled a lot and was generally 'lazy' for months if not years.

Had shoes off and with sympathetic, informed management was allowed to grow the foot he needed. Which was at least one inch shorter (toe to heel) than with a shoe on. (he has big feet). Despite this dramatic pull back on the breakover there was no blood spilled or even seen.

Within a month he was no longer stumbling or pottery and 3 months on is offering to jump - which was previously unheard of.

Not everyone has seen just how much a foot can change shape an example can be found here:

http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/lameness-case-study-8-weeks-6-days.html

Although the horse in the post has not been diagnosed arthritic, it is a suspected laminitic - you can still see how the foot has changed shape. This one has also gone from barely able to walk to now moving very happily, although it will be a long time to full recovery.
 
Those pictures show an exceptionally overdue and badly shod foot. Its no wonder it is now much better, however being correctly shod would get the same results, and IME a lot quicker.
 
DSCF0381.JPG


Over 9 months on my TBxID - if nothing else, this convvinced me that shoes were doing nothing for the caudal hoof health.

That was the shoe that came off that foot.
 
Hi I m new to the site, but I have just read the posts about arthritis in the hocks and supplements and I have got to say that I agree with purplepickle, My girl has been on Riaflex for a year, before she was on it she used to drag her foot when she came out of the stable in the mornings and I rang Riaflex and they were really helpful and told me about amounts of each supplement which was in Riaflex and its the exact amount they need per day to make it work and my girl has been really good on it, made a great difference, I would never take her off of it now and panic when I am running low. Brilliant supplement.
 
tommy30 said:
Those pictures show an exceptionally overdue and badly shod foot. Its no wonder it is now much better, however being correctly shod would get the same results, and IME a lot quicker.
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And what would you have suggested for the foot in the pics? Rasp it right back? Get the breakover more 'correct'? Tidy up the sole? All very cosmetic, but not actually improving the structure of the foot. A horse can do the latter themselves.
 
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