Could you advise on my horse, Joe?

Hi Dr. T,

 

Long time no chat. I would like to run an interesting horse by you.

 

Joe is a 6 year old QH paint from out west.  He was shod for the last 7 months, here in SE Pennsylvania.  During the spring, he was slightly off, first on RF, then LF.  He took the summer off. Body worker recommended he go barefoot.  I trimmed him today for the 3rd time.  Although his foot is round, concavity forming nicely, nice frogs, great horn quality, his toes are long and his heels are under-run.  He wears Old Mac's G2 hoof boots with half inch Comfort Pads.

 

Lifestyle: Turned out for the day time and in at night, "the winter schedule", with a small herd in a nice sized pasture.  Food is fine. Owner does Parelli on ground and riding about 5 days per week. They have a soft arena and cross county.  I am not sure owner can talk barn manager into leaving him out at night with a friend, but that would be my recommendation.  He is a bit chubby but not laminitc.

 

He was diagnosed with Lyme disease (apparent in most of our horses) but because of his lameness issues is being treated with an antibiotic.  Owner is supplementing with a pro-biotic.

 

Today, I trimmed him and he is off on the soft arena and firm grass.  The vet was visiting and called him foot sore. (I don't agree.  To me foot sore horses can walk in soft terrain but not on gravel and rocks)  The vet wants to shoe him then block him to see where the problem lies.  She thinks shoes will take the "foot sore" variable out of the mix.

 

He is 99% sound with padded boots.  The vet said it's barely perceptible.  I forget your rating system but the number where only a professional will notice it.

 

So my common sense tells me that the long toes and under run heels may have taken their toll on his tendons and joints during his 6 years.  I would recommend as much sound movement as possible, avoiding whatever bothers him, like small circles.  Given his age, I would expect him to work thru this period.  He is trimmed every 4 weeks.  I do Pete Ramey's trim but leave the walls just a nick over the sole, not an eighth of an inch.

 

Your comments are most welcome and don't worry about contradicting my "common sense".  I am a lifelong student.

 

Thanks, as always for all your help.

 

Dawn

Hi Dawn,

As you are likely aware, horses recently out of shoes like this can have multiple issues.  You're still in that real touchy time- we underestimate how many changes are occurring in horses like this.  You mention seeing some concavity developing, but this is not likely the case.  It is concavity that is already there.  It may disappear with coming out of shoes and the capsules collapsing, especially with some laminitis.  I think you are correct in thinking it is a problem.  I don't think we can expect to see honest, new concavity developing in laminitic cases until the walls are nearly grown out.  Often times you'll maintain concavity and never lose it if laminitis is kept at bay.

If your horn quality is as good as you say coming out of shoes, it should be phenomenal next year.

Wonder what the Lyme is doing/has done to his connective tissue/metabolism/soundness?

Certainly the long toe/low heel adds some fierce stresses to the legs and joints.  Your plan sounds prudent- as much sound movement as possible will heal the horse to the best of his ability.  Well, not quite that good with the stalling at night, but pretty good.

See how it goes.  Horses need at least one to two years to fully recover from the negative effects of shoeing, so long term planning is always a good bet.

Dr. Tom