Hi,
My name is Jess and I have read a recent article on what you advise horse owners who are dealing with navicular to do for trimming. I have a beautiful black 8 yr old quarter horse mare who is experiencing pain in her front feet, and I am so frustrated. I feel so bad for my horse. I got her back in May. After speaking to the original owner he pretty much told me over the 8 yrs he's had her he didn't do too much with her feet, but somehow before I got her and after she left this original owner acquired a tendon injury right above her left from knee. She has had a lot of changes in the last 8 months- moved 3 times, separated from her mother, her herd she was with for the past 8 yrs. She was already favoring her left leg when I got her and somewhat stiff in the front. The Vet says it's not founder, not a bad knee because we took xrays, but range of motion on the left side isn't normal due to the injury. I suspect this injury brought on what the vet feels is navicular symptoms due to compensating for the injury. She did not get vet care for the tendon injury when it occurred. The advice I got from this vet was to put corrective shoeing because he suspects navicular, but I'm a naturalist and it makes no sense to put more trauma on feet that are already painful. My farrier is coming out this Friday, he's been in the business 20 yrs and he's really good and patient. I would like him to try the wild horse trimming technique which makes more sense. He did a good job last time. He says her feet look good and did not see any abscesses the last trimming. Of course my other horse experienced quite a bit of discomfort in the trimming process last time because of her pain. Is there a suggestion that can help relieve some of this pain while trimming at this point. It took an 1 1/2 last time the Farrier trimmed her. She gave her back feet just fine, but it was obvious the front feet hurt her. Would you recommend a sedative, we used the twitch of couple of times, but I hate knowing she is in pain while doing this.
Thanks,
Jess
My name is Jess and I have read a recent article on what you advise horse owners who are dealing with navicular to do for trimming. I have a beautiful black 8 yr old quarter horse mare who is experiencing pain in her front feet, and I am so frustrated. I feel so bad for my horse. I got her back in May. After speaking to the original owner he pretty much told me over the 8 yrs he's had her he didn't do too much with her feet, but somehow before I got her and after she left this original owner acquired a tendon injury right above her left from knee. She has had a lot of changes in the last 8 months- moved 3 times, separated from her mother, her herd she was with for the past 8 yrs. She was already favoring her left leg when I got her and somewhat stiff in the front. The Vet says it's not founder, not a bad knee because we took xrays, but range of motion on the left side isn't normal due to the injury. I suspect this injury brought on what the vet feels is navicular symptoms due to compensating for the injury. She did not get vet care for the tendon injury when it occurred. The advice I got from this vet was to put corrective shoeing because he suspects navicular, but I'm a naturalist and it makes no sense to put more trauma on feet that are already painful. My farrier is coming out this Friday, he's been in the business 20 yrs and he's really good and patient. I would like him to try the wild horse trimming technique which makes more sense. He did a good job last time. He says her feet look good and did not see any abscesses the last trimming. Of course my other horse experienced quite a bit of discomfort in the trimming process last time because of her pain. Is there a suggestion that can help relieve some of this pain while trimming at this point. It took an 1 1/2 last time the Farrier trimmed her. She gave her back feet just fine, but it was obvious the front feet hurt her. Would you recommend a sedative, we used the twitch of couple of times, but I hate knowing she is in pain while doing this.
Thanks,
Jess
Hi
Jess,
Trimming
should not take more than 30-40 minutes. If it's taking longer, stop for the
day and do the other hooves another day. Trimming should NOT make the horse
more sensitive. If it does, TOO MUCH hoof was trimmed off all at once. Go
slower with the trimming and don't trim the soles with the hoof knife at all
(the soles should be trimming themselves as the horse walks/moves around between
trimming sessions).
Hoof boots
with inserted Comfort Pads are needed to get the horse moving and provide
comfort during this time. Visit the EasyCare website to learn more. Putting a boot on the opposite hoof while the other
is being trimmed works well to give comfort, or standing on some carpet or
other soft dirt/etc.
I do
not sedate horses to trim them. Again, if a horse is too painful to stand to be
trimmed, use pads and/or wait until the horse is not as sore. Rarely is it
necessary to trim a horse lying down or to use drugs. This all varies with
trimmer experience, of course.
Twitching
is not a good idea either. Trimming should be a time to bond with your horse,
not a time to cause them more pain. If you do a search for "hoof trimming
natural handling" you'll find lots of good links.
Also,
get the book by Pete Ramey titled "Making Natural Hoofcare Work for You"...and
keep reading all the sites on the internet about trimming...
Take
care,
Dr.
TT
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