Q & A with The Vet

Hoof lameness & navicular

Q: I took my TB mare (see previous discussion below) to the University of Guelph and they did extensive radiographs which showed beyond a doubt that my mare has developed navicular.  There are deep groves on her navicular bone.  I have not yet received her full report, but I was quite surprised as my hoof care practitioner maintains that the natural trim prevents/heals navicular.  So I have been doing a bit of research and now know that my mare probably was tender after her shoes where removed so began to travel toe first, and this probably caused the navicular.  Compared to my 3 year old TB, this mare has a very underdeveloped frog and narrow heel.  I have included pictures of her feet (see below), if you have the time to offer an opinion.  I am not looking to point fingers, I just need an honest assessment so I can make decisions regarding her care.  To continue with the natural trim under the same or different practitioner, or to go to what the vet recommended, shoes and and wedge pads.  In the meantime, I have been using the hoof boots with insoles and the mare seems very comfortable in them.  She is turned out barefoot on pasture and isn't too sore on the softer footing. 

 

Thanks again for all your help, it is very much appreciated.

A: Natural trim methods can bring healing to horses as long as all other variables are addressed, especially nutrition and movement on appropriate terrain.  Depending on who was trimming and how aggressive they were, your horse could have certainly been caused to have more heel pain or not been trimmed to deal with heel pain if it was all ready there.  More and more, trimmers realize that the horses need to be in boots after pulling shoes, not later when complications develop.

 

The hooves in the pictures you sent are too long in the walls and laminitic "rings" are evident.  The frogs are underdeveloped like you said, and can't engage the ground properly with walls this long in general.  Definitely glad you're working with pads and boots.  Healing in this sense will be shown in soundness of the horse, not how x-rays look in the future.  Generally you can always see "ashes from a previous fire" in these horses, though they are sounder than they've ever been once their hooves and bodies are recovered.

 

Keep reading and learning.  Most success with these cases is coming through methods such as seen at www.hoofrehab.com.

 

Take care,

 

Dr. Tom T.

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Since being barefoot, my mare is much less sore when wearing hoof boots, which we have just recently purchased, but still isn't perfectly comfortable.  We have not yet tried pads.  What further action do you suggest we take?  Would an MRI be able to diagnose the problem with any certainty?   Any insight would be very much appreciated, the vet our stable uses is very traditional and advice is limited.

 

Thanks for your time.

Hi there,

 

Certainly, MRI is quite sensitive at telling you exactly what things look like in there, but unfortunately many of the veterinarians that are using them simply don't know what these soft tissues should look like in the first place.  They haven't done any hoof dissections to give them a base point of reference.

 

If you're going to work the horse on terrain that makes her ouchy, use the boots, and definitely give the comfort pads a try as they are VERY relieving for soreness.  Also try to find some areas where she can exercise without them comfortably as well.  I'd say you should have a pretty fair idea whether you'll be able to get her going soundly within three months.  Things should be noticeably better by then if she is going to heal.

 

Dr. TT

Turnout, or confinement?

Q: He was VERY hyper today, but is usually a very calm horse.  (He has a girlfriend now - a mare is sharing his area now.)  I put him in the large sand arena (which I haven't done - keep him out of sand and just on fairly soft but firm trail walk).  He did do a little bit of trotting and cantering but I didn't want him to hurt himself, just calm down a bit.  His head slightly bobbed (two months ago it was a serious bob, now slight).  Is this bad for him to run in the arena?  What if he has the Old Macs on?  I didn't let him do too much because I didn't know if this was bad for him or not.  Is it okay to let him run around in there or is that really bad right now?  Thank you I appreciate your input.

A: I leave it up to the horse whether they feel like they can trot and/or canter around.  Sometimes they "pay for it" with more sensitivity the next day or two, but I haven't seen any real self-destructing problems from this.  I know that many DVM's and others think that horses will self-destruct if we "allow" them to run around.  This is nonsense for the most part.  They desperately need to be a horse and it is a critical part of their rehabilitation to be able to "run around".  We should not be "stall resting" horses 99% of the time that we do.  THIS is what is destructive to the horse, and I've got dozens of examples to prove this and can also point to hundreds more horses that are degenerating right before their owner's eyes simply because they lock them up.  Their dogs have more room to run than their horses!

Make sense?  I can be pretty opinionated on this sort of thing.  That's because I'm right on when it comes to the nature of the horse.  :)

That would be fine to keep the boots on him the first few times he wants to run around.  Nothing wrong with that.

Take care,

Dr. TT

Relieving pain to a foundered horse

Q: My favorite horse has foundered.  She started out with laminitis with no rotation for 2 months.  Then one day my husband made a very serious error (with the best intentions) which caused her to get very upset and run until she could not walk at all.  That resulted in 8 degree rotation in both front.  She has been on butte since August.  Now she is showing symptoms of ulcers so we are treating her for ulcers. I have ordered Power Horse and am hoping it will help.  When is it a good time to use bute and what are the alternatives to bute for treating inflammation and pain?  My vet seems to think she is stable.  But she still has her bad days where she walks tenderly.  I want so desperately to get her off bute and as soon as possible.  I also read where you suggested using apple cider vinegar daily, is this better than betadine or bleach?  Will it treat mild thrush?  Thank you for this site and your help. 

A: I have the best results with pain control by getting the hoof balanced, heel at proper height and toe back correct amount.  I have used devil's claw and yucca-type "buteless" solutions with mixed results.  By far the best way I've found is to let the horse move around as they feel able.  Improving the shape of their hooves is the key, as is keeping them on proper nutrition (see www.safergrass.org), and with plenty of room to move about if they want.  No confinement whatsoever at any time, keeping them with at least one other horse that won't pester them (too badly).  That a horse would run themselves in to a founder situation makes me suspicious that they weren't allowed freedom of movement to begin with.  Although maybe the upsetting situation she endured really messed up her head?  I'm sensing that her environment is a problem.  Ulcers, not enough room, need for other horses, environmental stresses (predators, excess or imbalanced nutrition, lack of herd interaction, poor hoof form).  The cider vinegar should be adequate.  If you're having persistent thrush or abcesses, the hooves are not balanced/ trimmed correctly.  Lysol solution (two tablespoons per gallon of water) also works well for disinfection.  It is critical that you have properly sized boots for her as well (Epic or Boa boots work well.  Visit EasyCare, Inc. to order some.  If you're in need of more specific consultation on exactly how to trim and feed and help the environment, I can help you in this regard for $150.00 per week via email.  You also need to get hooked up with a competent hoof trimmer that understands what is going on, as most farriers do not appreciate what is happening with the hoof in these cases and often trim off the wrong parts of the hoof that should have stayed.  Other links to check out are www.hoofrehab.com, www.equinextion.com, www.equethy.com.

Best wishes for you and your horse.

Dr. TT

Barefoot Trimming

Q: I need your advice concerning a client's horse.  It had a real long toe which had tearing in the laminae.  The soles are flat.  I cut the toe back, and have started to get concavity.  The horse doesn't seem sore in the feet.  It seems sore up by the bilateral cartilage.  Since the foot structure is being changed, could the cartilage be overworked?  Any advice would be appreciated.  Thank you. 

A: I've been cutting toes like that back as well, but not rasping the front of the hoof as much right away.  Leaving some thickness out there to stabilize things seems to keep the horse more comfortable.  If the pain is coming from the cartilages or that area, it certainly could be because you've pushed the weight bearing back further by removing toe length.  The area is probably just not used to taking the weight.  So, I would put the horse in boots, and even with a thin piece of padding if necessary, and get them walking.  You want to stimulate the rear of the hoof without pain, and using the pads in the boots works really well (just on for the day, off at night works well). 

Take care,  Tom

Bone Spur

Q: I have a warm-blood 13, who has a bone spur on the coffin joint.  I was thinking of doing the surgery until I read your letter on crystal.  I'm having him blocked to see where the pain is coming from, he has very slight narrowing of pastern joint I've injected him twice in a month with both drugs in both joints and still have the head bob.

I just bought him, spent $1000 on pre-purchase exam.  He passed vet check, the vet said he has a small spur but was sound.  I started jumping him, he was lame in about 2 weeks.  I wondered what your thought was on a bone spur??  The left front is a little smaller and a little contracted at the heal.
 
A: A bone spur around the coffin joint or any joint area is going to be a totally different problem versus the classical "navicular" problem.  Nerving the horse is still a bad idea as far as I'm concerned, because the horse will only be numb for a year (or less) and not safe to ride in the meantime (compared to a horse that has full feeling).  I have had good results getting bone spurs to decrease in size using natural hoof care, but if arthritis sets in you may not be able to get the horse back sound again.  I would get a hold of someone that knows about trimming and using boots and see what progress you can make.  Going with the surgery and/or special shoeing is only going to buy you a short amount of time.   

Dr. Tom T.