My horse has heel pain. What are some of the best ways to help him? Backwards shoes have been suggested…anyone have experience with this? We are also coating his feet with “Seashore Acres” sole paint before exercise. He is a low level dressage horse who is on joint supplements and Adequan. I would like to be proactive in helping him.
What is the cause of his heel pain? I think that will influence the replies.
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Pictures of the feet would help. The best are with the camera sitting on the ground, straight from the side, front and back of the foot and a solar shot of the sole.
Like this
http://www.all-natural-horse-care.com/good-hoof-photos.html
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Ditto to Boyle… pics will help us help you.
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The cause of the heel pain is that he has low slung heels - the way his feet naturally grow. The farrier is trying to correct the angles to the best of his ability but, its a process. I am also having him x-rayed for navicular changes. Just wondering if icing or any products would help in the meantime. Thanks
The nice thing about shoes is that you have a way to immediately correct the angle of the foot, while the correct trimming over time - and it shouldn’t take forever - fixes the angles of the hoof growth.
Wedge pads or shoes, along with setting the shoe back to put the breakover where it belongs, immediately aligns the hoof-pastern angle.
If the back of the foot has too much pressure on it that it cannot yet handle, then the farrier has to address that. Some pressure/stimulation is necessary to cause healthier growth in the back of the foot and cause more heel expansion. But too much creates pain issues that will be counterproductive. Your farrier should be making sure that whatever he’s doing it forcing/allowing as much heel weighting as the horse is comfortable with.
One thing I see far, farrrrrr too often is farriers think those “low” heels should be left alone, and that whatever else they are doing will be what fixes them, and that is the wrong approach to take. Those underrun and crushed heels must be trimmed every time, back where they belong.
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I have one in Morrison Rollers with heel plate - they are fantastic, but I also have a very good farrier, he is now transitioning into wedge pads. I would have further diagnostics taken so that you can best address the cause of the heel pain and whether the pain is from an injury or poor shoeing / hoof conformation.
No… icing or topical products will not give any relief. Bute might but that is only a short term solution and a bandaid and does nothing for the cause. Long toe low heels usually come with thin soles too, so that will also contribute to the pain.
What you really need is a farrier who understands how to manage underrun heels. On some they cannot be corrected only managed and on others it’s something that can be corrected but the farrier isn’t taking the right approach. Many farriers make the mistake of not taking any heel when in fact the heels are there, they are too long and instead of growing down are pulled forward by the toe and are crushed or folded under(which will cause pain). Feet like this usually always tend to have too much toe also. The heel and toe need to be brought back as far as possible(without making them sore) every. single. reset.
For example my boy naturally puts more pressure on his heels because of his long sloping pasterns, so his feet can go south really quick. My farrier manages him very well. He’s on a 6 week cycle in the summer and we pull his shoes in the winter and he’s trimmed every 8 weeks or more often if necessary. Right now he’s in natural balance shoes that set his breakover back to where it should be and he does very well with it.
We would really love to see pictures to see what’s going on. That’s the only way we’re gonna be able to help steer you in the right direction.
Yep… I see this all the time. These horses are almost always short shod too.
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Check out this thread. It’s long but has lots of pictures and great information from members on this board. The OP was awesome and updated along the way. Last report her mare was doing great.
I had a previous horse that had the backwards shoes on the front feet but that was for navicular changes. The farrier called them poor man’s bar shoes. My horse did not have heel pain.
My navicular/heel pain/whatever you want to call it horse LOVES her wedge pads. I know a lot of people don’t like them but she is so much more comfortable in them. She also has a straight bar on her worse foot.
Wedge pads, roll the toe.
I have a horse now that has sore heels. He came to me with a terrible shoeing job and WAY too much borium. Our first try was to use a pour in pad. It helped some, but not enough.
The next cycle we used a frog support pad. That has made him feel amazingly better. My farrier feels that he will need to be in the frog support pads for another cycle, maybe 2.
I agree with others that it’s important to know what is causing the heel pain and FIX that.
Best of luck.
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I’m currently in the mother of all struggles with heel pain. My horse has underrun heels and has some early minor navicular changes. We’re on farrier number 3. None of them will touch a rocker shoe and we have already tried regular shoes, regular shoes with pads, custom hot shoes, and just a better trim. Of all the options barefoot seems to make her most sound with a proper trim which I learned about on this forum. The heels need to be brought back before they can grow down. BUT current farrier and vet say she needs shoes for heel support. I’m very torn and stressed out over heel pain!
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