Q & A with The Vet

Mini's with Laminitis

Hey Dr Tom,

I have two mini's- mother and daughter later was born here. Mother was a rescue turned out to be PG. Mother seems to have mental issues both are lame, baby (4years) was diagnosed with laminitis.  Mother walks like wooden soldier (stiff legged) both have been in barn all summer. Appetites are good and no fever, (feed is Grass hay and no grain) any ideas what could be problem or how to treat???? I know this difficult, but I am at the end of my $.
Thanks,

Bob W

Hi Bob,

Without seeing your horses it's impossible to say for sure, but from lots of experience with miniature horses, I can tell you that laminitis and founder are very common, and this is most likely the problem you have given your description of the situation.

This is a problem with overall management: housing, diet and exercise.

I would recommend you find someone who would be interested in adopting them from you.  Someone who will be able to invest in their care and give them a better chance of surviving this ordeal.  It involves a lifetime of monitoring and management with these horses but is very rewarding getting them to heal.  Iit does take a lot of time and resources and professional help from someone familiar with natural hoof care.  Click here to find a list of trimmers.

Take care,

Dr. Tom T

Horse with Bone Cyst

Hello, I just found your site and will be coming back often. Thank you for all the info. I do have a question for you on the subject "navicular". Today I took my 7 yrs. gelding to a very reputable vet. He took x-ray upon x-ray to help me find out what is wrong with my gelding. He is favoring his right front for two months now. He has not been used since he has shown signs of lameness. I was hoping for a gravel or an abscess. But the vet found an old fracture that is completely healed and a bone cyst on his navicular bone and dry joints. The vet prescribed corrective shoeing (square the toe and raise the heal two degrees) and Cortho-flex rx100 (spelled wrong, sorry) for his joints. The vet says he is not navicular and all that should help him. If he is not navicular is there a way to eliminate the cyst? steroids? surgery? something? I want my gelding to be as comfortable as possible and as sound as possible. And don't cysts have a tendency to grow? I am hopeful that you can shed some light.

Thank you,

Heather

 

 

Hi Heather,

 

The cyst in the navicular bone is not likely to go away completely, but this is not the horse’s problem. The cyst represents the remnants of a fire gone by.  The “ashes” left over from a previous (and likely, ongoing) problem that you are seeing. If it changes, it will be due to the horse’s attempt to heal given what it has to work with. With lack of movement/shoeing/improper nutrition, the bone remodeling will become more sclerotic (hardened) in areas, and lytic (softened) in others, and the entire region will continue to degenerate. With more natural and appropriate care the entire area including the navicular bone will regain improved circulation and sensation, freedom of movement and better utility.

 

Steroid injections are damaging in the long run, and I would not use such treatment in a horse, as they simply mask symptoms, depress the immune system and are a dishonest way of attempting to cure a horse from previous injury or other tissue/joint problem.

 

Surgeries are also inappropriate, as they disrupt the horse’s attempt to heal normally, leaving scar tissue in their wake. Do we prefer to “force” a horse to heal, or simply “ask” them to do their best, providing them the basic ingredients they need? To heal from injury and/or previous mismanagement, a horse needs appropriate nutrition, at least one other horse with them and the largest amount of space possible.  That’s about it.  They don’t even need us to trim their hooves in the slightest IF they are allowed enough movement.  There are many, many professionals that simply can’t believe this to be true, as they have dedicated so much of their lives to learning medical and surgical techniques and have a lot “at stake” to MAKE these therapies work. Unfortunately, the horses were never consulted about what they really needed to honestly heal.  We too often FORCE healing instead of allowing it to occur with time and proper care. Humbling as it is to consider for many professionals, horses know how to heal better than we will ever know.  What they need from us are those basic ingredients once again: proper nutrition, herd life and space to move.

 

A “navicular” problem is a whole-horse problem. Focus on providing just the basic ingredients for your horse, not specific surgeries or drugs. Very simply, the horses know how to heal themselves with these basic ingredients.  They’ve been doing it LONG before we humans came on to the scene.  In fact, it was only after we came on to the scene that they began to have all these extra problems.  Think about it and make a conscious decision to allow your horse to heal.

 

Dr. Tom T.

What Point Do you Recommend Booting Behind?

Hi, I have just started doing LD 30 endurance rides with my six year old paint who has always been barefoot. I boot him in the front, Easyboot Epics or Easyboot Bares and leave him bare behind for the rides. I only boot him at home if we're going to be doing a lot of trotting on dirt roads. He does still get ouchy on gravel. At what point would you recommend booting behind? I would like to do a fifty at some point but am concerned that's too far without hind boots. We live and ride mostly in New England. Can I use an Epic or Bare behind or is it best to foam a boot on so there is no gaiter? Thanks for any suggestions.

Mary

Hi Mary,

In your sport, and with most every other horse, the hind hooves work harder than the front hooves. Why is it, then, that we find ourselves having to boot the front hooves instead of the hind hooves? Seems like this is opposite of what we would think or what we “expect”! We use boots more often on our horses’ front hooves because our horses have more problems up front, not behind. Their hind hooves are stronger and sounder because they work harder. Front hooves “need” boots because they are not as sound as the hind hooves. This is the bottom line: front hooves are more unsound in our horses because of lack of movement/work throughout their lives. Even the smaller amount of movement our horses achieve in confinement allows their hind hooves to become stronger and healthier because they work harder than the front ones. And the ironic part of all of this is that when we shoe just the front hooves, we make the problems up front even worse. Using boots excessively up front can also lead to problems—taking time to ride more on surfaces that are comfortable for your horse without using boots is better than riding on rugged areas that require their use. If you can ride on really rough terrain without boots on the hind hooves, your horse has exceptional hind hooves.  Now you just need to strive to improve the problems up front and ride more on those surfaces that are comfortable so that the front hooves become more callused and tougher and healthier. That being said, I would always protect those weaker front hooves with boots on gravel and rocky terrain, so you don’t add insult to injury. Hoof rehab is a long term and life-long endeavor for many of our horses that haven’t had proper room to grow up with. Allowing young horses freedom of movement from birth is the only way to go in the future.  Soundness is rarely a problem in such horses that have been raised correctly from the day they were born.  That’s the best insurance a horse can get.

So, where does this leave you and others with the horses and your sports? First of all, we need to constantly strive to improve our horses’ living areas to maximize the mileage they put on every day. Many of us ride every day, but what about every NIGHT? Horses will put on a huge amount of movement at night if given a chance, but not if they are “put up” in the stable or stall or left in small turnouts or runs. They must be allowed to be in at least arena-sized areas WITH OTHER HORSES whenever we aren’t riding/training. If a horse is raised appropriately, they will more likely need boots on their hind hooves instead of their front hooves on rough terrain. How many horses do you know where this is the case? The only ones I’ve seen are ones raised on rough terrain from the day they were born as well as the young adopted mustang horses that aren’t confined once they reach their new home. When you do have to consider booting the hind hooves, all the normal considerations apply: proper sizing is the key, and the Epics or Bares will do just fine. There are lots of tips and tricks for fitting on the EasyCare website and on the other blogs on the site.

That’s a bit long-winded for me in answering your questions, but I think it’s important for all of us to get to the deeper causes of some of these common problems and start to think about things from the horse’s point of view.

Dr. Tom T.

Quarter Horse Lame on Left Front Hoof

We have a 3 year old quarter horse that we purchased last January. In July he turned up very lame on his left front foot, in fact, he could barely walk.

After going through the process of eliminating the usual suspects that would cause such lameness, we had digital x-rays taken, which revealed a rim fracture of P3. In fact a small piece of bone appears to be separated at the edge of the coffin bone. Our veterinarian suggested that the standard treatment would be to put a shoe on the foot in order to stabilize it during the healing process. We elected to continue stall rest and put Easyboot Epics on him.

Another issue that we've been battling with him since we got him is a great deal of separation at the white line. The x-rays revealed that quite a bit of separation and so we went ahead and trimmed him back to relieve the pressure from the hoof wall. This of course added some tenderness to the mix, as he was walking on his soles.

After about 4 weeks since he came up lame, he was walking without any discernible lameness. We then let him back into the pasture, again with the Epics on his feet. Because of our concern for the whiteline issues, and because of his walking freely, we started turning him out without the boots. We have continued to treat the white line issue during this time and he remains trimmed short to prevent any further separation caused by hoof wall pressure.

This last week, approximately 7 weeks since he initially became lame, we checked him at a trot. He was clearly still off and the left front seemed to be the issue.

We are now concerned that we are doing the wrong thing. We are committed to our horses being barefoot. It is hard for us to believe that nailing a shoe to his foot would be the best thing to do but it is very difficult to find good advice concerning this issue in the context of a barefoot philosophy. In general, does a P3 rim fracture represent a condition that requires a shoe to heal properly? Is there a better barefoot remedy that we've overlooked, or are have we not given enough time to the healing process to be able to expect improvement at the trot?

We want to do what is best for our horse. Any thoughts you can provide would appreciated very much.

Thank you.

Doug

Hi Doug,

You’ve been doing the right thing using the hoof boots instead of shoes on this horse. The concussion from steel shoes, even with pads, would only serve to worsen such an injury. Shoes, of course, would also cause all the other regular bad things such as contraction, infection and worsened laminar separation. I would take the horse for walks/lead him off another horse with boots AND COMFORT PADS inside the boots.

I would say you need to give things more time to heal and grow out.  Depending on that coffin bone rim fracture, realize you may have a defect in the corium in that fractured area.  Thus continued separation of growth may be a long term problem in this horse. This is generally not enough to cause long term lameness problems though.

I have had the best results keeping these horses in big turn out areas with at least one or two other horses (that aren’t the bullying type), allowing them to move enough to trim themselves at least half-way.  Then when you go to trim them all you have to do is follow the wear pattern already established. Grass hay, a vitamin-mineral supplement three times a week (not every day), free choice trace mineral salt... constant methodical movement... at the three to four month point.  I would expect significant improvement to continue little by little over the course of at least one to one and a half years. This young of a horse needs this time anyway to grow and mature before being trained/ridden anyhow.

Tincture of time is your best ally at this point.

Dr. Tom T.