Would you shoe?

Caramac71

Caramac71

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I'll try to keep this as short as possible!

Bought mare 2 years ago, then aged 5. Shod on all 4 by previous owner as was on flinty ground. We took back shoes off pretty much straight away. At the end of the summer we took front shoes off. Horse has been unshod ever since and seemed to cope fine.

Diagnosed almost a year ago with facet joint arthritis and has been in light work (stop/start) ever since.

We have a yard farrier, horse gets seen ever 6 weeks (I'm not there) but only usually needs a trim every other time she's checked.

I am admittedly not very clued up on feet, I've always just put my trust in farrier who says she has pretty good feet. At the start of the year I did get another opinion from a barefoot trimmer who never saw the horse but asked for photos. She claimed that our horse had thrush from the state of her frogs, gave some advice of how to treat, diet, etc. I never persued this as she had an all or nothing attitude, and I can't control horses diet as she is on full grass livery and field fed with other horses. But I did start giving supplement, linseed, topical treatment etc - making what changes I could.

Frogs still rubbish, spongy and chunks breaking off. Never any smell or discharge. Farrier said it is normal shedding process but I'm not convinced. Horse lives out 24/7, field has been pretty muddy especially around the hay bales and water troughs, and I assume it's been standing in this that has deteriorated her frogs.

Two weeks ago we went back to vet to reassess back problem. Vet noted that horse is slightly lame on left fore on left circle, and right fore on right circle, but only noticeable on the lunge. Wasn't apparent when ridden. Vet suspected she is just slightly footy and suggested we could put front shoes on.

Today we had a different vet (different practice) who we've been referred to for acupuncture. She noted horse slightly lame on left fore on left circle only , sound on right. She also suggested we could put front shoes on and see if it resolves problem.

Horse has ongoing issues and no one is suggesting any front limb lameness is contributing to back problems, it's just something that's been picked up recently during checks.

I'm in two minds really whether to shoe or not. I have no problem with shoeing if needed but I'm also not keen to ignore something I shouldn't and just mask it with shoes. If her feet are slightly sore then I'd rather treat the cause first.

The end goal for us is to keep horse comfortable and in some form of work if she can cope with it, more for her wellbeing than anything else.
 
Being even slightly sore will not help her back problems, it probably won't make it worse but logically it could stop any improvement if she is being a bit careful with how she places them, one of my liveries was having a few issues, she was not lame but was moving awkwardly so the front shoes went back on as we guessed it would be the first thing suggested by the vet, we have now found what the problem is and the shoes will probably come off as they made no real difference to her but it is a totally difference condition to what you are dealing with.

Your mare does not get much, if any roadwork, to help condition her feet, build up the frogs and heels so it may be that shoes are required short term at least while you get on with trying to stabilise her back issues, I don't think shoeing is masking a problem if you cannot really manage a barefoot regime, not everyone has the ideal facilities, time or circumstances to keep their horses barefoot, some horses manage with very little fuss, others require far more in order to function comfortably without shoes.
 
She sounds like it would be good for her to be ridden in boots with pads in to give some frog pressure.
 
Sounds like her frogs need to be treated for the thrush which is making her feet sore. Have you had a look at red horse products? They seem to ressolve the thrush very quickly
 
No i would go for hoof boots and treat for thrush.

Why vets still think chucking shoes on will fix ponies makes me sad :(
 
My (then barefoot) horse was exactly like yours and my vet also said put shoes on - shoes made no difference whatsoever to him, tried several types then ended up going back to barefoot. I agree treat the thrush and maybe some time off. Have they recommended x raying or anything?!
 
My old pony was foot sore in front following this really wet winter. He had his front shoes put on a month ago (after at least 10 years of being barefoot), he is sooo much happier - wish I had done it earlier!
 
Diamore said:
No i would go for hoof boots and treat for thrush.

Why vets still think chucking shoes on will fix ponies makes me sad :(
Click to expand...

^^^ This. Absolute pet hate that some vets first point of call is shoes. I would definitely use hoof boots with gel insert pads and treat the thrush. I'm personally not a fan of the red horse products I've used (hoof stuff and sole cleanse) went through many products that a livery I had on had bought and followed to the letter to use them and made no difference to thrush, farrier suggested gold label purple spray and used it daily and sorted it out swiftly. Not all purple spray contains the key ingredient but gold label does and it's not expensive. We keep all of ours barefoot and use hoof boots.
 
Thanks for the replies. We started using artimud but farrier advised not to use anything so we stopped. However feet haven't improved following that advice do we've started using artimud again. Can it be thrush if there is no smell or discharge?

I'm thinking what I really need is another opinion before I do anything else, which is a bit awkward as there's a bit of an expectation to use yard farrier.

Ridden work has gone on the back burner (again) since new vet came and treated on Wednesday, as horse was very unhappy to be ridden next day. This is connected to back issues rather than any footiness or forelimb lameness.

So back to working her Inhand until next treatment at least. And I think I'll see if I can get any local recommendations for trimmer or farrier to come and have a look at her feet meanwhile.
 
Shoes are quite good at disguising lameness, but I reckon it's better to get the horse sound before sticking shoes on (if at all), especially if there's arthritis involved. Artimud is brilliant stuff! Red Horse also do a product called sole cleanse which is quite good too, but TBH I just use Milton diluted according to the bottle. Soak the horse's feet in diluted Milton twice a week for 10 minutes and apply artimud. Should sort out the thrush in no time at all. It does sound like a 2nd opinion might be helpful...
 
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