Advice on bad feet

[perle06]

When I bought my mare 7 months ago she had 4 shoes. after having her home 1 week she lost the show on her left fore.

She kept losing this shoe every 4-5 weeks so I thought I'd try bare foot as we had already removed her hind shoes and the feet were solid as rocks.

The weather changed and her feet fell apart, she was very sore so on farrier's advice we put the front shoes back on. That was 2 weeks ago and she already lost that same sheoe.

She is turned out with over reach boots on. Any one any ideas on a supplement I can try, I've thought maybe 'formula4 feet', and maybe a dressing that will help, not looking for a quick fix just one that will help Perle from really badly damaging her feet? and maybe aid my purse.

[Bay Mare]

If she became sore when the weather changed 2 weeks ago I'd suspect that she may have had a touch of LGL. It may not have been the trim at all. Unfortunately a lot of farriers still see 'sore' and think 'shoes' rather than looking at the whole picture.

When you say her feet 'fell apart' what do you mean? Was she getting cracks and chunks coming off? That can be quite normal when you first go barefoot and can be due to WLD, flaring or the trim (or all three). Were there chunks coming out of the sole? If they're chalky looking then that's quite normal too as the sole gets rid of the 'false sole' that's not needed. They can be a bit sore when this happens as they've lost some of the 'protection'. It soon sorts itself out though.

Magnesium is a good supplement for LGL and many people are finding that Top Spec Anti-Lam is brilliant for the hooves.

Can you give us a bit more info on Perle, how long without shoes, did the farrier put a 'roll' on the toe, grazing, feed etc?

[Yann]

If you're taking the shoes off a horse with bad feet there's usually an awful lot more to making a success of it than just pulling the shoes and hoping for the best, it isn't normally enough as you've found out. It's more likely to take a couple of years than a couple of months. It's a huge subject and there's lots of good information on the web, the best thing is to read widely and get a bit more clued up. It's definitely the best way to turn rubbish feet into good ones though :)

[MelanieD]

Echo the LGL thing. Sounds like there's some infection in the hoof wall, white line disease, often seen in horses with LGL but not impossible to get it without. Cracking, chunks breaking off and not being able to hold shoes is usually due to infection. Farrier not being concerned or not mentioning it does happen so wouldn't assume its not there because farrier hasn't said anything. Soaking with borax or milton, or clean trax is more hassle but worth doing if infection is quite deep. Much easier to get rid of without shoes than with but it is possible to use borax with shoes on or take shoes off soak in clean trax then get shoes put back on.

Supplements can help with horn quality or growth rate sometimes but won't do anything much to help if infection is the cause of the problems.

[perle06]

I may be being a little thick here but what is LGL?

Perle is a 15.2 cob, 7 years old. Stabled at night and out during the day. Without shoes here front feet lost really big chunks and cracked and her sole also had large chunks coming off. :confused:

She over reaches which is what happens to the shoes, it is only on one foot, which is the same side as a misaligned hip she has (another issue we are dealing with).

I didn't intend on going barefoot permanently, just over winter as I was concerned she would damage her foot keep pulling the shoe off in the mud.

[MelanieD]

LGL = low grade laminitis. Usually what accounts for horses being footy without shoes when the feet look okay with nothing obvious that should leave them footy. Also often leads to infection in the feet and flare and flat soles.

You don't usually get big chunks of sole coming off unless there's some retained sole that should have exfoliated if shoes weren't in the way or the horse is getting rid of some false sole, then chipping wall could also be the feet trying to break off to a better length rather than an infection problem.

Does your farrier leave some shoe sticking out behind the heels? In some situations its better to do that but if she's pulling off shoes all the time then it might be better to shoe a bit closer than have all the damage to the feet pulling shoes.

[perle06]

Thanks for that.

Yes he does leave some shoe hangng out the back. Next time he comes (hopefully not for at least 5 weeks) I'll ask him.