Tendon Injury and shoeing

[Jay.o]

My horse has quite a severe tendon injury on hs left hind, with a reasonable prognosis, so he should make a full recovery given time and patience.

He is a really flat footed TB and has only be shod on the fronts for the past 18 months because I haven't een riding due to injury and operation on my part. The plan was to put shoes back on when I start riding again. He has coped very well and after a week of being a bit footy, he got used to it and now you wouldn't know. He's happy and his feet have toughened up significantly.

My question is, would he benifit from having back shoes put back on to raise his (incredibly) flat feet and thus raising up his heel and not pulling so much on the damaged tendon and ligaments? Or, as he's been used to having no shoes, would putting them back on cause more problems than good as he'd have to re-balance himself and get used to it again?

I have the vet out again today anyway, so was going to speak to her about it too. Just wanted some opinions from you as well?

 

[me_n_super_abby]

Is it a DDFT injury? Under run heels do put more pressure on tendons. You have options like 'remidial' farriery and maybe wedges, heel pads, egg bars. Or the natural route of building the hoof up to heal its self and correct the under run heels and hoof balance.

Abby had this and starts of navicular and was shod and had under run heels. I tried her in egg bars to 'support' the caudal part of her foot. These did not work or correct her under run heels. Her heels contracted and started to breakdown. I took her shoes off and got the support of a hoof care professional (my choice was an EP) She now has fantastic feet, no under run heels, and manages very well barefoot. Fingers crossed she has been barefoot and sound for 18 months.

Vets will recommend shoeing as its whats traditionally recommended. I was lucky and my vet was up for me trying barefoot and is very pleased with the results. This is only from my experience and i can only talk about what i have experienced.

There are loads of people on here who have had experience of barefoot and shoeing for this issue so im sure you will get loads of information.

Good luck with your decision and fingers crossed for a good result :happy:

 

[learningcurve]

A pony I know had a torn suspensory ligament, farrier fitted wedges under vets advice.

Pony had box rest for 6 months, he is now sound and back to barefoot.

 

[popularfurball]

I would personally stay barefoot as its the best way to "heal" a hoof in a long term manner, feet develop concavity with stimulation - so wont hapen "fast" if just in a field of grass.

If under run heels then generally goes hand in hand with long toes - so pull them back and the hoof should be of a better weight bearing shape....

I dont know much about the farriery side of thigns though

 

[Midnight_Ashes]

Two of mine have had tendon injuries in the past - one an infected tendon sheath leaving adhesions on the tendon and one a totally knackered tendon and check ligament. The first was put on box rest, had two operations to flush the tendon sheath out, and then sent home for a summer in wedges. He wore conventional shoes with an 1/8" or 1/4" wedge. (can't remember!).
Then when he returned to me (I sold him then bought him back) his feet had been left to rack and ruin, and he had collapsed heels and an inflamed navicular bursae. He was put on box rest in egg bar shoes, again with a wedge, as his tendons were taking too much strain. After 12 weeks the wedges came out and he wore egg bars for 18 months or so and I took his shoes off in October of this year. He had been barefoot since a 5yo excepting the remedial shoeing mentioned, so for him back to barefoot was going to happen at some point, he has good TB feet. He may need them back on in the summer, he will get egg bars on again if he does, because of the extra support they offer.

The second was on/off lame for some time before finally "doing" the leg. He had previously worn standard shoes all round (excepting quarter clips in front) as he has rubbish flat TB feet that fall to pieces. He was put in egg bars (except they were altered to have a straight back as he has a big over track) and wore them for about 18 months. He is retired and his feet were also recovering from the damage of him being on box rest/field rest/box rest/field rest/in work/out of work etc - it had taken it's toll on his feet.
He also had his shoes taken off in October, but he doesn't do any work (bar the occasional walk under saddle when I boot him). If he was in work, there is no question he would need shoes, he would wear the bars again. I would put them on any horse in a heartbeat if I thought they could help - the improvement in both of mine was huge :biggrin:

Speak to your vet and your farrier about bar shoes

 

[Yann]

I think it depends, and it's probably worth getting some proper advice, which I'm sure you are The problem with hinds is that many horses do wear the heels very short as a matter of course, something that shoeing will control for obvious reasons. The other thing with hinds is that they will often wear unevenly across the heels as a result of issues higher up, and this can affect the flight of the limb, again a shoe will stop this happening. They aren't always a bad thing in some situations, but I think there are a lot of myths about things like 'support', after all the horse's hoof is simply stood on a shoe rather than the ground.

 

[Jay.o]

Thanks all for your replies and opinions.

It's not the DDFT, its the SDFT, so not as bad.

I spoke to the vet as planned tonight and said to leave it for the time being. He's going to be stood in his box for the next 6 weeks anyway with no walking in hand so not to bother for now.

At the end of January he's having another scan and depending on what that comes out with, he may be allowed to be walked in hand for 10 minutes or so once/twice a day. At that point, when he's going to be walking out and putting a bit more strain and pressure on the tendon, then it may be benificial to have him shod behind with some heels/wedges, but only slight ones.

The plan was to put his shoes back on when I could start riding again anyway, so we're going to play it by ear and see what the scans say in a month's time