Q & A with The Vet

Mare with navicular and using boots and pads

I had written to you about my mare who was recently diagnosed with navicular.  I purchased some easyboot epics which I have used a few times when I have ridden on gravel.  I have continued to ride my mare barefoot on softer ground as often as I can.  I had my farrier come this past week and do a balance trim.  I had him drop her heels a bit (just above the live sole, I didn't want to start with any big changes).  I also had him lower her hoof wall to just above her sole and rocker her toes (better breakover) and put a mustang roll on walls of her hooves. I lent him some current articles that I had on natural trims and my new Pete Ramey book.  He said he will keep an open mind, and when he returns in 4 weeks and we can make more changes as needed.  I recently purchased some 1/4 inch comfort pads to give my mare a bit more cushion in the boots.  I had looked at pair that belongs to a fellow boarder and decided that the 1/2 inch seemed too bulky hence the decision to use the thinner pads.  I rode my mare today for about a half hour and she wore the pads down almost to the point of wearing a hole in the pad at the hoof wall.  Am I doing something wrong????  I had removed the heel straps too on the boots post my last email from you.  I did remeasure her feet post her recent trim and her feet are still in the parameters of size (1) boots.  Her right foot is slightly smaller than her left foot and that pad is more worn than the left foot pad????  But neither pad will last more than a few rides at this rate.  Both her feet are the same height at the heels and at the hoof walls so I am confused????  Any insights???  Help! 

Hi there,

 

Glad you're able to do some riding.  I think you'd find the thicker pads will work OK after they're smashed down a little bit.  They conform to the soles and frog well and can be used for a long time without falling apart.  I use the thin pads in pieces to further pad a frog or a toe in certain lameness cases.

 

That's cool that your farrier is willing to listen and learn!

 

Try some thicker pads, even though to begin with (first day or so), they will be slightly bulky.

 

Dr. Tom T.

Using hoof boots on a sore horse

I want to say my big boy has turned a corner, he has been less sore the last few days!

He was pretty sore and would not get out of a walk and he would walk slowly and shake his head, I guess because he hurt.

But now he is better using the easy boots and I have renewed hope for his soundness!  It has only been 6 weeks, and since I don't have a barefoot trimmer I have been looking at pictures and filing his hooves, I guess I have done OK because he is getting better.

 

Well I just want to say again thank you!

 

He is a great horse and I love him and can hardly wait to ride him again.

Many times over thanks!

 

Hi there,

 

Sounds like some good news.  That's great that you're learning some trimming on your own.  You'll enjoy more time with your horses and learn a lot, too.  You probably should get some "epic" boots or the new "bare" boots from Easy Care.  They are more user friendly and they stay on well, not like the old easy boots.

 

Have fun riding,

 

Dr. Tom T.

Recovery from hoof abscess

Dr. Teskey,

 

My horse is recovering from a hoof abcess.  I know he should move around a lot to get faster hoof growth and good circulation, but there are some rocks in the turnout that I'm afraid will hurt his hooves.  Don't you think he should stay in his stall until the abcess is healed?

 

Hi there,

Your horse can be turned out with boots, and he can also be turned out without boots if you think he'll be relaxed and not "blast off," bruising the soles of his feet.  One of the big problems with keeping a horse in and then letting them out later is that they often overdo it because they've got "cabin fever" from having been locked up. I would just keep the gate open all the time between his smaller pen and the bigger area if possible.

 

In the end, you'll have to use your judgment on whether he'll cause himself damage on rocky areas.

 

Dr. TT

Horse with abscess

Dear Dr. Teskey,

 

I have a horse that is 20 years old and has been barefoot for 2 years.  Last week he developed 2 abcesses one in each front hoof both ruptured at the coronary band even after soaking.  He got IM antibiotic and got worse so I had to admit him to the Equine Hospital where they diagnosed:

Abscesses of LF and RF feet- both came to a head at the coronary band- mild pedal osteitis of the RF medial coffin bone- Treatment included soaking in Epsom Salts/ Sugardine bandages/ Bute/ drain abscess by making a small hole in the posterior aspect of the hoof and Regional perfusions below RF fetlock twice with antibiotic.

 

He is doing better. The X-ray showed:  Rotation- about 13 degrees on the club foot (right) and 5 degrees on the left front (1 to 4 degrees can be normal).

 

I want to do natural hoof (barefoot) but the advice of my vet is to put him in correcting shoes for 3-4 months

 

Could you please make some recommendations for his follow-up?  He has club feet, do you think he has it in both feet? Is that adquired or congenital? Could it be corrected with the natural hoof trim?

 

Thanks for all your time and for you help,

Hi there,

 

It looks like you have a pretty involved case here.  Horses with hooves shaped like this are more difficult to rehabilitate, but certainly not impossible.  The right hoof coffin bone may have been pretty damaged.

 

You should get some hoof boots instead of shoes to keep him in.  Click here to visit EasyCare, Inc.  Get some Boa Boots or Epic Boots for him.  They will allow his hooves to heal, be easy to take off and on so you can treat his abcesses and sores, and allow his hooves to circulate blood so much better than if you shoe him.

 

Also, you need to find someone in your area that is knowledgeable and can help you with careful trimming.  Some of the websites have lists of people around the country.  Do a web search for "barefoot trimmer".

 

Dr. Tom T.

Bruised hoof

I have an 8 year old gelding who has been limping off and on when I rode him.  I don't do heavy riding, just rope the dummy a little, ride in a field, trot some poles, pull a log a time or two and would like to get back to riding on the gravel road again.  We have a lot of hickory nuts and when he stepped on one that seemed to be when he limped.  But then I started noticing him limping when he came in the barnyard where there aren't many hickory nuts to eat his grain.  That's when I called a  farrier.  He said that the back of the frog or buttress was bruised, and put lifting shoes on him to keep the bruise off the ground.  I dont want to use shoes if possible.  I've looked into boots but dont know how long they would last if I kept them on him all the time.  The shoes were put on yesterday.  The farrier said to take them off when the bruise or indention went away.  I rode him today and he seems happier!  I haven't cantered him in the round pen but he used to always buck when I did for a little bit!  He's not had shoes for a year now but when I got him he did.  Lastly which hoof boot would you suggest if any??

 

Thanks,

 

Hi there,

The lifting shoes on your horse will cause more problems.  I would get them off and put the horse in boots.  Also, elevated heels puts a horse in to a position that increases chance of founder, causes bruising at the tip of the coffin bone, and reduced circulation.  Many other problems, too.  Your horse seems happier, most likely because sensation to the hooves has been blocked by the shoes.  He doesn't perceive what damage is there right now.  This is not a very safe situation.  Be careful doing too much with him in the shoes.  They are so good at desensitizing the hooves (in the short term), that horses end up causing more damage and they don't even realize it (until they lose a shoe or the problem gets out of control).  I think the Epic boots will be the best ones for you, as they are easy to get off and on and won't cause the hooves to stay wet if you take them on and off every day.

 

Take care,

 

Dr. Tom T.

Transitioning to barefoot with thin hoof walls

I have read your articles and I have a couple of horses that are in dire need of your methods. Everything makes total sense to me but I have a few questions.

One of the horses has very thin hoof walls and not much to nail to. We have found out that he is beginning navicular syndrome and I want to stop it now. Your method

I believe can help him. The only problem is if and when the shoes come off, what happens when his hoof wall breaks away and is gone? I really need your help.

We had him to the vet just yesterday and of course they wedged him up. He wants to see him again in two weeks. Looks like with your method, we can pull the shoes and be on our way to recovery but I need to talk with you and find out more.

I sure would appreciate any help you could give me. Thank you very much.

Hi there,

 

I think your best bet is to check out some more information, like can be found on www.wholehorsetrim.com, www.hoofrehab.com, www.equinextion.com,  www.betterbebarefoot.com, and www.usethehooves.com just to name a few.  If and/or when the weak hoof walls break away, your horse will bear weight on the soles of the hooves, which is perfectly acceptable and actually a helpful thing in order to allow newer, stronger walls to grow in.

 

You need to have hoof boots available before you pull the shoes to protect the weak structures.  Like you said, the walls will fall right apart if you take the shoes off, unless you have some boots available.  Click here to check out EasyCare's website and order some boots.

 

And certainly it would be great if you could find someone in your locale that is familiar with natural hoof care.  Ask around and see what you can find.  Some of these sites have directories on them to help find someone closer to you to help.  I'm looking for more information on that.

 

Dr. Tom T.

How long to leave boots on?

You said I should get the Epic boots which I have.  Should I keep the boots on her all the time or just during the day?

Hello again,

I have kept boots on for a day or two at a time, but usually you want to take them off and on every day at least a little bit so they don't get smelly and too damp inside.  Once a horse starts to move around more they usually will "show" you where their hooves can be trimmed.  Trying to trim very much without the horse moving first is pretty difficult, because you can't see where they are landing and wearing on their own.  After about three to four weeks of using the boots you should see significant improvement.  If not, often times you've got something pretty severe that is preventing healing.

 

Dr. Tom

Out of shape horse

Hi Dr. Tom,

 

I have been working with my horse, and she is pretty out of shape.  I've tried to go slow getting her back to work.  She is very stiff in the poll and in the ribs and as a result, her back muscles don't move much either.  She also has very poor joint flexion of her hind leg joints and we are working on helping her to improve that.  Her coronary bands seem to be swollen to me, no temperature difference, just kind of 'puffy' but had a full feeling, not soft, not squishy.

 

What do you think her problem is?

 

Hi there,

 

The stiffness you describe could be due to inactivity and/or mineral imbalances/deficiencies.  Here in AZ I have continuous trouble with horses low in Selenium and Vitamin E, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Copper, Zinc. 

 

The coronet description indicates to me you may have some laminitis going on.  Though it may not be severe enough to cause any real separation between the coffin bone and hoof, it may be causing her a lot of pain and making her body stiff trying to compensate.

 

Going for some longer rides with boots on some varied terrain is often helpful getting the body to loosen up.  Horses like the distraction and it's something different.  Do you think she's up for some liesurely riding at a walk with boots?  I suspect you could start off with an hour or two and work up from there.  Using boots up front will keep things protected while getting those hooves working a bit more.  If there is any soreness then get her some of the neoprene pad inserts.  Easy Care makes those "comfort pads" that fit inside their boots.

 

Look up "Jiaogulan" on the computer also.  I have used it with success on some of these horses that would benefit from improved circulation and feeling better.  It is an interesting herb.  You can order it bulk from www.herbalcom.com if you decide to try it (One-half teaspoon per day in some oats is what I've used).  Sometimes evaluating some bloodwork, especially a blood glucose measurement, is helpful.  Another good site is www.safergrass.org and this leads to possible testing of sugars in your hay.

 

Dr. Tom T.

Laminitis in the rainy season

Dear Dr. Teskey,

 

My horse is having a severe reoccurrence of laminitis when it started to rain the last couple of weeks.  We have pulled her shoes and are following all of the methods suggested (freedom of movement with other horses, high fiber diet, using hoof boots, etc.).  My farrier is open to trimming the horse to the Strasser methods, but knows nothing about them.  He can only come out once a week.  I feel we are in an emergency situation.  What can we do RIGHT NOW to help her?  Your advice would be so much appreciated.

Hi there,

 

Often times, wet weather will cause a horse's hooves to soften and bend and flex more, causing them to feel unstable to the horse.  If this is truly a case of laminitis, realize that it has not simply come on "all of a sudden."  It has been coming for a long time, and the wet weather is simply the "last straw" for the horse.  All horses living in wet conditions should be provided some "high ground" to keep their hooves from getting totally water logged.

 

I don't trim horses like Dr. Strasser teaches, though I've learned a lot from her.  I would say I think more along the lines of how some of the other natural hoof care people trim.  See www.hoofrehab.com, for example.

 

Right now, it's important to be feeding grass hay only.  No alfalfa, no pellets, no grain, no fruits.  See www.safergrass.org.  Since this is a recurrence, do you have an idea what is going on with her metabolic and/ or hormonal status?  More and more we recognize problems with sugar metabolism in horses that have recurring laminitis, so diet usually ends up the number one concern.  On the hooves, toes should be brought back to proper break-over and heels at appropriate height.  Me saying this and you or your farrier doing it might be pretty different!  Certainly one of the more relieving things for these horses is to at least have some hoof boots available during the day.  There are pads that can be put inside the boots as well, and together they really make these horses so much more comfortable.  Click here to visit the EasyCare website to see more.

 

It's good that she is in with other horses for company.  Do what you can with the diet if you haven't already.  Check out some boots if you don't have any, and keep in touch.  We could consult more using photos over the email, too.

 

Dr. Tom T.

QH with navicular

Dr. Tom,

 

I have a 11 year old Quarter Horse mare who was recently diagnosed with Navicular Disease/Syndrome.  We did blocks prior to the X-rays to confirm that there is pain in both front feet.  I had notice that she had been pointing her left front leg when she was standing in the pasture and she had also seemed a bit short strided recently. Hmmmm, I wanted to rule out a soft tissue injury or the possibility of a case of laminitis.   She is a trail horse and I have owned her for 6 years.  She was barefoot for the first three years that I owned her.  I let myself get talked into shoeing her, during the riding season, for the past three years.  She is always barefoot over the winter and yes I ride in the winter.  The first year I let it happen because my farrier took her too short and she was gimpy. I was headed out of town on a ride soooo??  My riding buddies said you NEED to shoe her.  Ok???  I left her in shoes the entire season since I had some rocky rides to go on.  The next season I started her out barefoot but as the riding season went on she appeared to be wearing her feet more than usual so I looked into Old Mac boots.  I followed the measurement guidelines of this boot and was able to borrow the right size to try.  I made sure her feet had recently been trimmed prior to trying them.  They didn't seem to fit right, so I had the farrier put shoes back on her.  She wore shoes again for the remainder of the season.  This year my vet scolded me about even thinking about starting the season without shoes.  So Duh,  I must be a slow learner:  I had shoes put on in early May and headed out for the first big ride of the season in Northern Minnesota over Mothers Day weekend.  She contracted Erhlichia on that ride and 6 days later spiked a fever of 106 degrees. Yikes!  She was treated for 7 days with oxytetracycline.  Once she had recovered from that I noticed she was showing some of what I would call fever rings on her front feet.  My farrier came out and reset her shoes on our regular 7 week scheduled date.  She just didn't seem herself and as the weeks passed I noticed that she did not appear to be loading her front end and would point her left foot out in front of herself more often than not while resting.  Hmmmm.  She was 5 weeks out on this set of shoes when I called my farrier and asked him to come look.  He had me move her and said he couldn't really see anything???  I asked him to hoof test her.  I think we were both surprised when she tested positive on not only her left foot but her right one too.  All my farrier had to do was mention the word laminitis and I was in a panic.  He suggested rim pads, soaking her feet twice daily and bute for three days.  He also suggested a follow up call to my vet if I did not see improvement.  I should probably stop here long enough to say I do really like my farrier and my vet so I am quick to take their advice but ALWAYS ask a lot of questions.  I asked my farrier if perhaps we should just pull her shoes but his response was NO, that could make her more sore! We have had almost no rain in Minnesota this season and the ground is extra hard.  OK, rim pads, soaking and bute it was.  Ruby appeared to be comfortable while on the bute but post that she was doing even more toe pointing so I called a vet I don't normally use and had him come (he has a portable digital X-ray machine).  The outside temperature here was 100 degrees and I didn't want to haul my mare to any of the big clinics in my area in that heat.  The vet who did the X-rays explained he would have to pull her shoes and pads.  At that point they had been on for only a few weeks but my response was PLEASE DO!

Needless to say the *navicular news was not what I had hoped for.  My regular vet was out of town so I wasn't able to visit with him about the results until the following week.  This was good since it took me that long to get my act together and stop crying so I could do some research.

 

Post the X-rays I put her on bute again.  3 grams for the first 3 days then 2 grams for the next three days then 1 gram for three more days.  The vet who had x-rayed her for me suggested egg butt or bar shoes, he mentioned isoxsuprine and the possibility of having her nerved.  WHOA!!!!  I explained that I had some previous experience in dealing with a horse with navicular and NERVING was out.  I did not think isoxsuprine worked and if the idea of trying to restore circulation to her feet was right why would I nail on MORE shoes???  I think he may have thought I was crazy when I said I will try her barefoot.  Oh well, I am sure he understood I was not trying to be rude but I was protecting my riding partner.

 

My regular vet and I had a follow up conversation about the fact that there are changes in her navicular bones but that I did not have previous baseline x-rays to confirm what her bones looked like years back so how could we really know what those x-rays really mean???  Also, since different horses respond differently to treatment there is not any evidence that one thing will work.  I explained that I was going to put her on MSM in addition to the probiotic fastrack that she has been on,  I had her toes rolled by my farrier and purchased a pair of easyboot epics.  Now what???  So far she seems more comfortable and I have ridden her a few times in the boots (I just got them).  She seems pretty darn good in them.  I am staying out of the arenas since the footing is deep.  I have ridden her bareefoot too in a grass pasture.  I want to keep her loading her feet.  My mare is out almost 24/7.  On a rare occasion she is in a stall but I do have stall mats.  She eats a small amount of grain daily and alfa/grass mix hay.  I board so I do not have control over the hay mix.  I would really prefer her on only grass hay and in a perfect world out on pasture 24/7 but that is not an option.

Everybody who knows this mare LOVES her.  She has her own little fan club.  I continue to get advice from everyone and am willing to listen to it all but have declined ideas about radical trims and shoes.  Your web site information confirmed my thoughts totally.  Thank You!!!!!!  Maybe I am not crazy after all and am on the right track???  Hopefully my mare will continue to improve.  I ordered the Pete Ramey Book to continue to learn more about natural hoof care.  I know my farrier will be open to doing what I think is best.  If by chance he isn't, I will seek out someone who is.  I have to admit, I laughed when a fellow barn boarder talked to me about a guy he knows who does natural shoeing.  I was polite but had to explain that my current thinking that there is nothing natural about nailing shoes on a horses foot but I sure appreciated the information and his concern.

I am looking forward to getting the Ramey book in my hands.  I need all the help I can get.

 

If you have any additional insight I would greatly appreciate it!

 

Wow, that's quite the story!

 

You've come a long way, haven't you?!  Those boots you have will work even better if you get some of the pad inserts for them.  Order from EasyCare the same way.  You will want the 'comfort pads.'  She will really have some relief (and therapy) from these.  I use them on all my navicular and founder cases to varying degrees and they are great.

 

Another book to get (you'll learn a TON from Ramey's book) is Jamie Jackson's one called "Founder."  Lots of good general information there even though you're not dealing with outright founder right now.  I'd say you're fortunate she didn't founder after that Erlichia infection.

 

Do you have someone reputable to trim for you?  Someone KNOWLEDGEABLE about all of this stuff?  There is a list of trimmers on the Easy Care website now.

 

You say that the hay mix with the alfalfa is not anything you can control, but you need to change that belief.  Better come up with a way to get her grass hay only and get her ALL the way out of a stall situation, or all your story-telling isn't going to have a happy ending!

 

You're on your way, congratulations,

 

Dr. Tom T.