WWYD- Broken hoof pastern axis & crumbling feet.

Billy the kid said:
Hi,

yes the white is a hind leg. He is standing forward on the leg in this pic so it looks abit strange anyway. What sort of hock/back problems would you expect to see? He shows no sign of any other problem yet. He is sound atm.

apart from squaring the toes off.

Thanks
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I hate worrying people but I've got no option, sorry.

Bilateral hind limb lameness from the hocks is difficult to spot early on, and the first symptom is often squaring off the toes.

I think your call to the vet is well timed. I hope it shows nothing.
 
cptrayes said:
I hate worrying people but I've got no option, sorry.

Bilateral hind limb lameness from the hocks is difficult to spot early on, and the first symptom is often squaring off the toes.

I think your call to the vet is well timed. I hope it shows nothing.
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fingers crossed!!

Whats happens if a horse does have bilateral hind limb lameness? Can that be cured? Im guessing it depends on whats caused it?

Sorry for the millions of questions.
 
had a read through the report on H&H about bilateral lameness; i can find a couple of symptoms which billy falls into, but there are alot that dont match him at all.

Hoping the vet can clear my mind.
 
Billy the kid said:
TBH i find barefoot a little bit mind boggling, I've red some of the links people have posted to barefoot web sites and i really didnt understand it all.
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I know barefoot does sound daunting at first when you have always been used to shod horses - I was the same! But once you start to understand the hoof and how it works it all starts to fall into place with how beneficial barefoot can be if done properly.

If you personal message Oberon on here and ask kindly I am sure she would be willing to send you these great information sheets on barefoot that she has devised about the importance of diet, stimulation, environment etc for the success of barefoot.. Good luck x
 
ImmyS said:
I know barefoot does sound daunting at first when you have always been used to shod horses - I was the same! But once you start to understand the hoof and how it works it all starts to fall into place with how beneficial barefoot can be if done properly.

If you personal message Oberon on here and ask kindly I am sure she would be willing to send you these great information sheets on barefoot that she has devised about the importance of diet, stimulation, environment etc for the success of barefoot.. Good luck x
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Thanks very much, i thought i was fairly knowledgeable with horses; but this is huge learning curve for me! I will ask Oberon for the info sheets, sounds like they would help me.

Did you go barefoot because of hoof problems when shod?
 
It was a steep learning curve for me as I never really experienced barefoot before - always been surrounded by the attitude that horses were shod all round and that was it. Learning about barefoot really helped me understand a lot more about horses.

I had an ex race horse that's hooves progressively deteriorated in shoes, becoming cracked, flat, and contracted with poor frogs - with a similar angle to your horses. She was never unsound so to speak but would toe drag etc.. I took her hinds off in October which she adapted to inmediately - her hinds improved very rapidly with appropriate amounts of road work, her backs practically self trimmed - they were amazing by summer. I then took her fronts of in April the next year. Her fronts where more challenging but were a lot flatter than her backs with very thin soles.. With work she was able to hack out in hand with no boots on, but I used hoof boots to hack out over rough tracks etc.. I sold her in October due to a personal injury - I've been to visit her since and she is now back in front shoes for hunting and competition purposes but they are in sooooo much better shape from the break from shoes - and she will have regular breaks from shoes from now on.

Diet is so important - I had my girl on fast fibre, micronised linseed and forage plus hoof balancer (amazing stuff)
 
Billy the kid said:
fingers crossed!!

Whats happens if a horse does have bilateral hind limb lameness? Can that be cured? Im guessing it depends on whats caused it?

Sorry for the millions of questions.
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Commonest cause is spavins, arthritis of the not very important little joints in the hock. They usually fuse in time and can be managed. The big important joint is not usually affected.
 
Vet is coming on Friday to do an MOT. Its very hard to imagine him actually having anything wrong, he goes so well,(last dressage was 69.5%) but ill be happier knowing i've had him checked out. Have a new (well recommended) farrier calling me today to arrange a visit. He is on fast fibre already, but looks like i need to find an alternative to the power and performance. Difficult one because he goes much better with a little kick of energy, but most 'performance feeds' seem to have high starch content.

Immys-

Its comforting to hear your mare got so much better barefoot, looks like its the first thing to try with him. Thanks for your input, i appreciate the help. She sounds very similar to Billy.

cptrayes-

Thanks for your reply, sounds like you have dealt alot with these symptoms, I shall give an update once the vet has seen him on Friday. (my Mother thinks im mad and that he is fine; so im having to stick to my gut feelings).I hope she is right.
 
Billy the kid said:
Vet is coming on Friday to do an MOT. Its very hard to imagine him actually having anything wrong, he goes so well,(last dressage was 69.5%) but ill be happier knowing i've had him checked out. Have a new (well recommended) farrier calling me today to arrange a visit. He is on fast fibre already, but looks like i need to find an alternative to the power and performance. Difficult one because he goes much better with a little kick of energy, but most 'performance feeds' seem to have high starch levels.

.
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Regarding the feed - micronised linseed should help with energy levels whilst being good for hoof health. If you need a bit more 'spark' then oats are generally safe to feed to barefoot horses.
 
Billy the kid said:
Hi Everyone,


I'm thinking of changing farriers, but just not sure if im doing the right thing.

Soooo sorry for the essay, id be very grateful of any help.

Thanks

Billy.

Sorry if I've spelt anything wronly, i've tried to be as correct as i can.
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My young TB/ID horse had this. It was called a broken back hoof pastern axis and showed up on his vetting certifcate. It wasn't thought to be detrimental and the horse was passed. It was due to cutting corners, not getting the horse shod regularly and a crap farrier basically.

When I first had him as a result of this he got sheared heels, a painful condition where one side of the foot at the back is higher than the other causing rotation and a shearing effect.

This was remedied with correct shoeing and the horse was fine after I found a decent farrier!

I've done a lot of soul searching recently about whether to change my farrier or not as the horse has had a haematoma following shoeing by the same farrier one shoeing after an other shoeing a total of twice. But I have had the farrier three years prior to this and never had a problem. I think he may have taken a little too much off the horses foot, or it could be that the horse has an underlying issue like pedal osteotitis or something.

Teh vet said to stick with my farrier and the last two shoeings were fine.
 
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applecart14 said:
My young TB/ID horse had this. It was called a broken back hoof pastern axis and showed up on his vetting certifcate. It wasn't thought to be detrimental and the horse was passed. It was due to cutting corners, not getting the horse shod regularly and a crap farrier basically.

When I first had him as a result of this he got sheared heels, a painful condition where one side of the foot at the back is higher than the other causing rotation and a shearing effect.

This was remedied with correct shoeing and the horse was fine after I found a decent farrier!

I've done a lot of soul searching recently about whether to change my farrier or not as the horse has had a haematoma following shoeing by the same farrier one shoeing after an other shoeing a total of twice. But I have had the farrier three years prior to this and never had a problem. I think he may have taken a little too much off the horses foot, or it could be that the horse has an underlying issue like pedal osteotitis or something.

Teh vet said to stick with my farrier and the last two shoeings were fine.
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when he was vetted it wasnt noted, and when i look back at old pictures they dont look half as bad, which is why im thinking its something I/farrier has done. New farrier is also now coming on Friday (looking to be a busy day!) so hoping he can start getting him on the road to good feet again!

I very much hoping its just a case of poor feet management and not an underlaying problem else where.
 
Change to a good remedial farrier. When the foot balance improves hopefully they will crumble less. Also look at his diet to improve horn quality.
 
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