Bit of an update and WWYD

Jessey

Jessey

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
Things are still a bit fuzzy (that's the best word I can come up with just now) with Jess, good days she is sound in walk and trot (canter and gallop) on the grass/field, tracks and on roads she's good apart from the odd step, bad days she shows slightly lame in trot on corners in the field, either way its not bad enough that I want to bute her up, she still has her daily mad gallop without issue so it can't be that bad! She also seems better if I exercise her daily/every other day rather than just leave her in the field, we are treating it as navicular syndrome, without the MRI we won't get anything more specific sadly :( There seems to be a few schools of thought on improving things, minimizing vibrations/resonance, improving heel first landing, optimizing foot balance and ridding the foot of thrush etc

That has been with steel shoes on (2 sets by different farriers just in case), prior to that we had the special shoes which made her very lame, prior to those she was bare and was field sound for about 4 months, then started working and did up to about 50 mins a day mostly walk with a little trot and remained sound for the 6 weeks before the special shoes which were meant to help :(

So I think I am going to pull the shoes, and the ponio's will be going back on the track this weekend hopefully so I have some good opportunities to really work on rehabbing those feet, as usual I'm working on a budget as its not my land but I'm trying to decide what surfaces I can put down, I have several pinch points which will be ideal for putting surfaces down on;

1) I can put stone down (I can't get bulk as they can't get the trucks into my place) but I have found 20mm rough stones in 20kg bags at a good price but is it worth spending a bit more on pea gravel? how big of an area do you think you need to do for it to be effective? and with it laid on a membrane, on top of sand, how deep would it need to be? I'm thinking I could get away with a thinner layer as it will bed into the sand a bit and longevity is less of a concern.

2) concrete/paving slabs, I worry about the muppets galloping over these though as they do like to hoon around a lot, would the feet get enough concrete time if I made a tie up area outside of the field (currently don't have any hard standing at all just sandy grass!) or am I worrying too much?

3) I was thinking about putting a water hole in anyway as I think Hank would like it, but I figure that wouldn't hurt feet that spend so much time on sand

4) a foot bath, so I can leave it with thrush busting stuff in it, like apple cider vinegar, and position it in front of perhaps the trough so they stand in it regularly

5) Some kind of anti-bacterial chop/chippings area, any suggestions? I was thinking dry wood pellets in the stable might give some texture along with a drying effect, not that Jess uses the stables much.

6) ????? what else might help?

Sorry this turned into an essay!
 
Gosh so much to think about! So you are trying to create areas of varying terrain? Hmmm. Ours are both barefoot and we have the arena (mixed fibre and silica sand), a travel track down one of the longsides of the arena plus a small area in front near the gate and the actual concrete on the yard. Now like you, I worried about mine hoolying about and coming a cropper on the concrete - but they seem to do okay. When you mention paving slabs - are you thinking of a long track or wider area? I think if you made a tie up area of them then it might be enough? Would they be able to suit themselves and take it upon themselves to come and go over it? So many questions lol
That's a shame you can't get the stone / gravel delivered in bulk as it does work out so much cheaper. And mine your back too if you decide to get bags! Be careful even with the barrow.
It's good that she doesn't need bute either - that sounds positive.
 
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Yes going for varying terrain to try and get the digital cushion as developed as possible to support everything else in the back of the foot, which should hopefully in turn help her be more comfortable. I think if I did a thin track she would just never use it as its easier not to, so it would probably have to be blocks of XX in the bottle necks so she has to pass over them regularly, or perhaps put them in the places they often stand so they spend time on them. She's been barefoot for years but with our soil being all sand I think this has hindered our progress in this regard as they are constantly on the soft and not challenged.
 
Sounds great what you are going to do. Maybe Rockley farm will have some ideas or answers to your questions on their fb page or website?
 
Of course I'd love for her to come back to work, so that's what I am aiming for, but am fully prepared not to get there :( I haven't yet called Rockley, I feel a bit rude picking their brains when there is no real chance of her going there, I plan to poke about on their sites and see what I can find but their website is blocked at work :p

I just read this paper, its super interesting if your into barefoot and the comparison to feral horses :D
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...Szq3_rFUczQqB3dgQ&sig2=B6KrHxtkmO-QBkSN5WvzWw
 
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I have no idea @Jessey but I just wanted to say your ponies are incredibly lucky to have such a thoughtful and committed owner. If anyone can get her sound, you can. And if not, she will still have the best of care. So sorry this has happened to you both though. :(:(:(:(
 
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I sort of skim read the article but the conclusion was that it is wrong to entirely compare the wild bare hoof to the domestic? It was a heck of a study they did though wasn't it? I am a bit fluffy bunny, it upset me thinking of the bit where they observed the aged mare dying by the watering hole:(those brumbies sure do have a hard life in some respects, nature is not entirely kind at times.
 
There was certainly some question on extreme mustang rolls being put on feet, because they are a symptom of environment rather than something that is evolved so to speak, they explain it far better :)
 
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The gravel is the one thing I would be going for - I think it holds more benefits than slabs/concrete so would probably put hardcore at both points, and round the water trough/hay point.
 
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My pea gravel has made a vast improvement with Nealas feet and with Torins. Even farrier says they are excellent feet and he can see they haven't been standing in shavings or mud all winter. Both have got through the awful wet winter with just a tiny amount to of thrush at one point soon cleared up. They both also love rolling and lying on it!
Good luck I think as has already been said your horses are extremely lucky to have you.
 
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I don't know if this helps, hinders or is just pain ignorance through innocence but - both our retiree's with navicular were shoed all their lives (not by us). Once with us and they were clearly diagnosed as navicular we pulled their shoes and retired them to grass livery. They have never had any foot or hoof problems since. Their hoof shapes have however changed massively! The livery where they are have around 90% retirees & 10% working. The owners advised us that once retired horses will "do what ever they feel capable of on the day", pretty much as we would do if we had an illness and didn't have to work. We trusted in this and took their shoes off and have never looked back.
Disciplined schooling had taken a hard toll on our two over the years (again not by us) but once left to roam free in a field of grass nature seemed to work for their hooves as it should do.
 
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My first thought, is it navicular?
My vet has some new scanner thing and they were able to tell me my issues were not Navicular. It wasn't an MRI, I just wonder if there is another vet in your area that has a machine like we have?

Improving the terrain, foot balance is good for any hoof, shod or not.
I don't compare domestic horses to feral, because ours are bred in captivity. Some you might buy as foals off the moors, but for most of us this isn't the case.
Ours don't walk or eat what ferals do, we have little fields in comparison. The hoof is the last to get nutrition and it will only be as good as what the horse eats.
 
It's not navicular disease as in a disease of the bone, her xrays were totally clear, but navi syndrome or caudal heel pain, as its now referred to, pretty much covers all the other stuff in the back of the foot.

I spoke with the vet again today and she's agreed with pulling the shoes and upping her exercise to see how she goes. I'd be interested to know what machine your vets have @newforest, was it perhaps just ultrasound? That can see some of the ligaments etc but only the tops of them if you're lucky, the other options were ct or scintigraphy but they are better for boney issues which Sarah is fairly confident this isnt.
 
It was digital radiography and arthroscopy (cameras that look inside joints)
Just checked and it was the first vet in the country to do this, sure more will follow.
 
I don't think they did poke, the camera is that powerful you can see inside I think it means.
 
Arthroscopy is keyhole surgery inserting an endoscope/fibre or video scope through an incision to look whats going on internally.
 
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