Monday, February 27, 2012

What have I done? The ugly truth under the shoes

Tonight, when the boys were running around like maniacs, Saga pulled his left front shoe. It's the first time I've seen the bottom of his foot in about three months (bad owner, not here for farrier).

 This is his LF today after he pulled his shoe off. At least he didn't manage to rip any hoof wall with it.

This is his LF in November, the day he got shoes.  See any really frickin' obvious differences?

Despite aggressive rasping of the lower hoof wall, despite remedial farrier work, I swear that from this view his feet look WORSE now than they did five months ago. Yet, Saga is sound now and wasn't then.

 Today. Look at the indent at the top of the hoof where the growth is constricted, the pushed-up quarters, and the impressive flaring on the outside. Oh, and he STILL has event lines, probably from shoeing.

 Last November. No flare, no indent at the top.

 The bottom of the foot shows the flare in spades. That's a 3/4 inch deep/wide gap between the hoof wall and the sole. Look at that enormous hunk of false sole he's got on his toe.

 And of course the hoof wall is hugely built up. You can see where the false sole is trying to shed too.

No caudal hoof, atrophied frog, and tons of hoof wall on the front quarters, although his toe is very short (I'm guessing due to the clips). In fact it sort of looks as though the shoe went OVER the toe callus?

The sad thing is that this is a sound hoof, in a shoe.

So, what to do. I guess I've sort of known that his feet were deteriorating bit by bit... I've been watching the caudal hoof shrink and watching to his landing change to toe-first. But he's sound, so I've ignored it. Ignorance is bliss, right?

Do I call my farrier and have him put the shoe back on? It's been 28 days since Saga was last shod, and his feet... look like this. Do I call the "farrier" from down the street and have him pull the other shoe, and try barefoot again? I had planned to do this eventually but was waiting till the summer heat when I won't ride much, rather than doing it now. I had also planned to do some changes to the track to make it more barefoot-friendly before pulling his shoes, but haven't been able to due to the rain we've been having (yay rain!).

In addition, Saga is supposed to joust at a competition in May, and I need to keep him sound for that - barring unforeseen circumstances, of course. Does that mean shoes, or will he be OK barefoot? I guess I won't know if I don't try. 

I have a vet appointment for him later this week for annual shots and such, so I can have his feet re-xrayed then to see if the sole depth has changed. But once that false sole is removed, I'm guessing the answer will be that sole depth is the same as it was in November. For whatever metabolic/footing reason, I think Saga just isn't a horse who grows much sole. In fact, I was looking back at his pre-purchase exam from four years ago, and the vet mentions that he "would like to see more sole". I didn't have a clue what that meant at the time, but now a statement like that sure as heck would raise all kinds of red flags.

For tonight, I stuck an easyboot on the LF and gave Saga an extra alfalfa cube treat. I'll sleep on things and see how I feel about it in the morning. 

What would you do if Saga were your horse?

14 comments:

  1. If Saga were my horse... I'd be switching farriers. But that's me. I've been through 9 farriers in the past two years.
    Perhaps a higher protein feed?? Some biotin supplements??
    As for shoeing.. time would tell. Perhaps shoe him until after the jousting comp and then try barefoot???

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    1. Thanks, LL. Despite this guy being recommended by my vet and apprenticed to the hospital vet, I'm not impressed either.

      A higher protein feed might be a good idea. I'll look into it.

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  2. Ugh, poor Saga, and poor you. :( I'm gonna advise the opposite from Leeshy - leave him barefoot, and if he's iffy in May, slap shoes on him 10 days before the joust. IIRC he went sound pretty much instantly when you shod him in November, so no harm in shoeing him right before the event. And he'd sure benefit from some time out of them.

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    1. Funder, I'd had this thought too. If he's dead lame I can always re-shoe. This is just a mess where hes' at right now, though, and any time out of shoes could be a big help.

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  3. Jen--I went through something similar with Sunny. I shod him for two shoeings with pads (which made him sound) and then pulled the shoes and let him go barefoot again. His feet looked worse after the shod period, just as Saga's do. But he became sound and stayed sound barefoot (I was careful not to push him too hard or ride him on rough ground for a month after the shoes were pulled. Based on my experience, I'd give him a try barefoot. I'm with Funder-you can always slap those shoes and pads back on. And if its not an instant fix, a little bute to complete his event won't hurt him--since you know what's wrong with him and I'm sure would be careful not to push him too hard.

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    1. Laura, thanks. I need to keep reminding my self that I CAN put shoes back on...

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  4. Okay, barefoot trimmer's perspective: your farrier is doing a crap job. His toe needs to come WAY back, his hoof wall needs to be completely off the ground to relieve the jamming at the coronet band, and that retaining wall of bar around the frog needs to come off. He will not grow sole with that excess material there squashing the internal structures of the foot.

    That being said, unless you have a barefoot trimmer than can actually address those issues (because not all of them do and a farrier won't relieve the hoof wall) he will only be on/off sound if you leave the shoes off. If a good trimmer can't be found, you'd be better off just finding a much better farrier than the one you are currently using.

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    1. smazourek, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't think this is a good trim job. I'm just not an expert so I second and third and fourth guess myself. Y'no?

      I do have a good BF trimmer, but I'm afraid to go crazy on Saga's feet all at once. Yes, toe needs to come back. Yes, hoof wall needs to be shorter. Yes, bars need to be better. But if he's got no sole to land on (5-6 mm at last count), and a poor caudal hoof, I'm worried that taking all those other structures away at once could do more harm than good. I'm guessing that a week's worth of short walks on the road (he's comfortable on that right now) plus turnout, and his hoof wall will trim itself to a more comfortable level, his toe will find a better breakover, and much of that sole will slough off. Maybe reevaluate then?

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    2. Hoof issues are tough aren't they. First off, kudos to you for THINKING this through. You will figure it out. I see your posts on Rockley, I read what you do here on your blog. I will say, regardless of if you put shoes/pads back him, he will still be lame. It's just that the shoes will mask it. Sorry..I know that is annoying to hear and it's 100% up to you what you decide, but I strongly feel that to be the truth. Now, trust me, there were days where I thought "FORGET I'm SHOEING!!" but I did that in the past with ILL results so bare is our only option. Its up to us to really provide the best diet and exercise to their hooves health, which u are already gangbusters on. I do think your farrier is not doing a good job for Saga. Laz had TONS of retained sole that never sloughed off, it created other issues and pushed his healing off almost another year..not true for all cases of course, but it was in mine. Time will tell how Saga's hooves will bounce back and it sounds like you are going to give it all you can. :) Great job...and find a new trimmer to at least try out. How far is Andrea from you?

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    3. Kristen, I frankly think he was lame under the shoes, it was just less obvious. Clearly there are odd stresses being placed on his feet/legs/body with the shoes. We'll change some things up and see how we do this time around.

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  5. Oh I feel for you, I have been thru this scenerio. Please read a book called "Feet First" it's on amazon.com.
    Poor feet can be from many things, but most start with internal issues. If you suspect your horse has metabolic issues, you have to address that along with the trimming. I have two horses with metabolic issues, as soon as I addressed that, the feet changed dramatically in a good way. Here's a post about it. http://buckskinandbay.blogspot.com/2011/10/ive-decided-not-to-keep-scout-at-home.html
    Good luck!

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    1. Jill, thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks for the link. I've already got Feet First and am madly addicted to Nic's blog. Saga's on low-starch everything, no grass, magnesium and flax supplements, blah blah blah. Putting shoes on Saga was a temporary way to address thin soles, while trying to address metabolic issues. Unfortunately, his feet are now a wreck (even though he's sound). Argh.

      Does your vet do a custom supplement mix? If so, can you PM me information on that? My address is jen jobst at gmail dot com.

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  6. Lordy, Jen, I missed your last couple of posts (too many trees at our place!) but I can see the dilemma...Those look nasty BUT I can see the attraction of nasty but useable...

    FWIW, I would go with your gut instinct, especially since you've got hind end issues now too. Far be it from me to get involved in what you and your vet are doing but nearly EVERY horse that comes here has major hind limb problems - nearly always related to front limb pain and or bad hoof balance and loading in the hind limbs. So there is a good chance if you carry on shoeing nasty feet that you will find it even tougher to sort out the hind issues... :-(

    I'd agree about not trimming a foot that appears so weak but if Andrea is near you (I know Texas is BIIIIIIIGGGGGGGG!!) then she'd be a good pair of eyes. I'd also agree with tryting to do smidgeons of light, careful work out of boots as long as he feels ok.

    As you know, Im feed-obsessed, but work is a massive part of the equation too...GOOD LUCK to you both and big hug to Saga. Tell Red to stop doing drugs.

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    1. Lol, Nic, "nasty but useable". Yeah, that's exactly it.

      Interesting to hear that most everyone who comes to Rockley has hind-end issues too. It's just all connected. I'm trying to get Andrea down, she's about three hours away and she has kindly been giving me advice.

      Thanks for the encouragement, and I will definitely have a talk with Red about his drug habit! ;)

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