Hello Dr.Teskey,
I just read one of your articles about how going barefoot from shoes for some horses with a compromised liver can be deadly. I trim some horses at a stable where a horse was just put down for complications from liver disease. He had his shoes pulled in April '06 and left off to heal coronet-to-ground cracks in all 4 hooves. He took to his barefeet very well and made a marked improvement for a while but then started downhill again. He was never foot-sore, but began to lose weight and to show gait abnormalities and confusion. The owner would then feed him a lot of sweet feed (at least 4 quarts) and keep him in overnight. He would be bonkers in the morning, get fed the same amount of feed and get turned out. Was having his shoes pulled without giving him some form of de-tox what sent him over the edge?
What kind of risk is there of the horse dying from toxic overload and should every horse that has it's shoes pulled have some type of de-tox administered just in case?
Thank you for your dedication to the horse.
Hi there,
I think most often a horse that has shoes pulled goes in to further problems because of their discomfort/pain being mismanaged, being overtrimmed, not moving enough, and not eating well due to pain. This all sets off the gut problem and worsens any organ dysfunction. Yes, there are toxins that build up in bad hooves, but I don't think, in general, that this toxin is what does them in. It's the overall change that affects their attitude/appetite, then they go downhill even faster. There are a myriad of problems that horses develop due to gut problems. Whether it's a leaky gut scenario, stasis, bacterial bloom, or indigestion. Anything that goes wrong with the gut in an animal like a horse has PROFOUND effects on their well being, from joints, to hooves, to their minds.
Pulling shoes on horses that you suspect may have problems for any reason is risky business. As far as that horse is concerned, you just cut off most of their hooves simply by pulling the shoes. Boots are MANDATORY. Get them BEFORE you do anything. And yes, horses should already be on a proper (grass) diet before shoes are pulled, well in advance if possible (weeks). I have used charcoal orally in an attempt to "de-tox" horses as well, In the end it's more realistic to have the horse on a proper high fiber, low carbohydrate, moderate protein diet in order to de-tox themselves. I've seen so many laminitic horses become immediately (overnight) more comfortable simply by eliminating alfalfa hay from their diet and adding soaked bermuda grass (to reduce sugars even more). See www.safergrass.org for more specific information.
Take care,
Dr. Tom T.
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