Feeling very discouraged - heartening update :)
- Thread starter Jane&Ziggy
- Start date
I'd like to second what Carthorse has said about x-rays. Without them your hoof professional is working blind. My farrier was convinced he knew what he was doing and didn't need x-rays. I got x-rays and a new farrier who confirmed Daisy's heels were too high and her toes were too long which is why we weren't making progress. This picture is of her front right hoof and it's obvious even to me that the pedal bone needs to be lowered at the back and that a big chunk needs to come off the front of the hoof which is exactly what my farrier has done. It looks a bit strange but the bone is in the right position now and we just have to keep her stable while the hoof capsule grows out correctly. Without the radiographs, nothing would change as the hoof would have kept being trimmed like this.
@hepsibah I hope Daisy comes right now you've got a correct trim on her. If it's any encouragement my Welsh D had much worse x-rays than that, so bad we weren't even sure he'd make it never mind be ridden again. Years later and he's in a reasonable amount of work, very Welsh (think a drama queen dragon lol) & the only thing he gets is Equiife's NoMetSyn. Yes his front feet look very odd & he's shod with pads & putty, but apart from that clue you wouldn't guess there was a problem. He's kept low at the heel & right back at the toe which has a permanent cheesegrater look to it, but that's what his x-rays show he needs & if he gets a fraction too long I can see it in his movement. Fingers crossed for you.
@Jane&Ziggy I hope he starts to improve now, but I would still recommend x-rays.
@Jane&Ziggy I hope he starts to improve now, but I would still recommend x-rays.
Thank you @hepsibah and @carthorse . Remembering your advice I said to my trimmer, "Shall I get you a set of x rays, just to be sure?" And he said (exactly as you describe), "Nah, I don't need them, I know what is going on here."
I think I may call my vet and ask how much it would cost for front x rays (he's not insured on his feet).
I think I may call my vet and ask how much it would cost for front x rays (he's not insured on his feet).
@Jane&Ziggy well done for mentioning it to him. I must admit if that was the response I got I'd either be looking for another trimmer or finding a way to market his x-ray vision!
Finding another trimmer is well nigh impossible where I live, @carthorse, they are all at capacity (anyone want a new job?). Also he had a good rationale, which I can't remember in enough detail to give you but it sounded very reasonable. It was only what @hepsibah said that made me wonder.
That rationale isn't helping Ziggy though, no matter how reasonable it seems. Yes the hoof will give some clues, but they won't be enough to be sure of the precise placementof internal structures & so a precise trim that will give maximum pressure relief just isn't possible & in some cases to try it would be madness - for instance it would have been irresponsible to take LU's foot back as far as needed without x-rays since if there had been less rotation there would have been a very real risk of trimming into bone! But it's your horse & your choice, personally if he wasn't prepared to work with my vet & x-rays I'd find a farrier sympathetic to barefoot who would.
I don't know anything about laminitis really and I am just avoiding doing my work and musing on this.
Laminitis is popping up everywhere at the moment, I have never known a year like it. My friends horse had x-rays and it showed pedal bone rotation on all 4 feet. Now I don't know if this has aided the treatment plan or not. Maybe the treatment would have been the same without the x-rays? Are the x-rays a 'nice to know' or a 'need to know' if that makes sense.
I would be asking your trimmer what their plan of action would be in different scenarios. If the pedal bone has severe rotation, does this mean he would trim in a different way compared to if there was minimal rotation? If the answer is yes the treatment would be different, I would go going for the x-rays.
If the vet thought that x-rays were necessary, I would have thought that they would have advised you to have this done when he has his check up with them?
Laminitis is popping up everywhere at the moment, I have never known a year like it. My friends horse had x-rays and it showed pedal bone rotation on all 4 feet. Now I don't know if this has aided the treatment plan or not. Maybe the treatment would have been the same without the x-rays? Are the x-rays a 'nice to know' or a 'need to know' if that makes sense.
I would be asking your trimmer what their plan of action would be in different scenarios. If the pedal bone has severe rotation, does this mean he would trim in a different way compared to if there was minimal rotation? If the answer is yes the treatment would be different, I would go going for the x-rays.
If the vet thought that x-rays were necessary, I would have thought that they would have advised you to have this done when he has his check up with them?
The answer is yes, the trim is different as you would have to correct the rotation. But vets and farriers have been treating less acute/severe cases of lami for years without Xrays, probably for several reasons, financial/insurance, availability of equipment, knowledge (or the lack of any of these 20 years ago), so many now feel their experience means they don't need Xrays to manage it or that it is not normal practice to Xray. But there are some huge benefits of Xraying.
I personally wouldn't Xray if the symptoms seen were mild, I appreciate the symptoms are not always reflective of the damage done but initially I wouldn't Xray if my horse was just a little footy and the vet said it was clear cut lami or LGL BUT if the horse didn't progress as quickly as the vet and farrier had expected with conservative treatment, then I would do it in a flash. I approach most any illness/treatment like this, conservative at first and progressing if expected improvement is not seen. Having said that I did have Jess' feet Xrayed when she went footy just before her PPID diagnosis, because it really wasn't very clear that it was laminitis (we didn't know about her PPID at the time) and we thought we were chasing a (mare) hormonal problem and the sore feet appeared at the time as a curve ball.
Your friend did absolutely the right thing as the trim will have been altered to realign the hoof wall with the rotated angles which you can't do if you don't know what those angles are. The aim of this is to reduce the pressure on the laminae which will help lessen ongoing damage & increase comfort. It's not unknown for poor foot balance to actually cause laminitis which should give you some idea of how important it is to get the trim right for a laminitic.
In an ideal world any case of laminitis would be x-rayed. However some owners can't afford it or aren't prepared to pay, and some professionals think they don't need them which I find alarming.
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