I’m going to put a call into my farrier soon but I thought I would ask here as well to get some ideas. I have a barefoot 3 year old pony that has slightly sensitive feet right now. He has nice hard feet, no chipping but after his spring shots he had a mild case of laminitis (a few weeks ago now). I lunged him for the first time in a few weeks and he’s almost completely sound but when he steps on a rock or when he first comes out of his stall in the morning, he’s slightly foot sore on the fronts. Once he’s on softer footing, he’s comfortable (he’s also on chromium and Heiro, out on grass in the AM only, on dirt for the rest of the day and 1st cut hay and low NSC grain). He has made a great recovery in a short time as we caught it early.
But of course I want to make him a little more comfortable. He may need some front shoes with pads for a bit (farrier comes next week, and I’ll put a call into him today to make a plan) or I was thinking maybe Keratex hoof hardner may help in the meantime? Has anyone had success with a slightly foot sore horse with this product?. Any other ideas? Thanks in advance.
I used Keratex on my guy when we transitioned to barefoot, jury is out on whether it really helped or not. I hear a lot of good things about Hoof Armor. The application seems a little tricky at first but you get the hang of it after a couple times.
I personally just used and still use hoof boots when we are on iffy terrain.
Good ol’ Venice Turpentine painted on, pack with dry sawdust, wrap, and put on boots is what helped my mare transition back to barefoot after her first real trim after shoe removal. I was worried her feet might get a bit moist (not sure why I worried when she literally wore them 24/7 for months after she foundered!) but they came out completely dry so she wore them for a good couple of weeks with re-wrapping every 2 - 3 days.
That said, if the feet are possibly still painful from laminitis you’re going to want to do more than booting to make sure you get as complete healing as possible!
I doubt it will do anything between now and when the farrier comes. I’d be more inclined to use something like magic cushion for a few days or pick up some hoof boots.
Thank you all! I did speak with the vet and they recommended hoof boots as well (as well as the Heiro supplement). The farrier called me back and said turpentine wont hurt but he pretty much just needs time to heal the laminae. Which of course he can have the time!
What type of boots do people recommend? They are ok to stay on 24/7? Or remove at night when he’s in his stall at night? He is on about 15-16hr of turnout every day. He for sure is more comfortable after walking around for the day. He does run around in his paddock on his own so is for sure feeling a bit more comfortable now. The only time I notice him a bit foot sore is when I bring him out of his cushy stall in the morning and walking on the concrete. Very hard to notice now, but slightly short strided. As soon as hes out of the barn, he’s walking normal. When I bring him in at night, he walks totally sound on the concrete so moving around for sure helps him.
If laminitis is the true cause, Keratex may not help, but it wouldn’t hurt. I’ve used it on the hoof walls, and sole with great luck. You can also use iodine or Venice Turpentine, both are messy and stinky. If you’re okay with some overhead cost and time spent, Hoof Armor is an option, but I’ve never had good luck with it, even when applied correctly by certified farriers.
I would also invest in some hoof boots. I like Cavallos the best, but they’re not a perfect fit for every horse. The only brand I would avoid is Flex Boots. I am happy to elaborate if you’d like to know why. It will just be a lot to post here.
Lunging or riding in circles creates a lot of torque on the hoof and it’s internal structures. I would be spending time on driving lines and keeping this pony away from circles. Long straight lines are much easier on the foot as it heals. Hand walking, jogging in hand, ground driving and dry lot turnout would be the limit for me on this pony’s rehab with current symptoms.
I went through the hoof hardener thing and didn’t find that they worked on my lami pony. Hoof boots are your best best of you can’t get shoes and pads or whatever the farrier has in his bag of tricks. Cavallos work for my pony pretty well. Also, if you haven’t, it might be a good idea to get a set of x-rays so you know exactly where you stand re: any rotation and to have for comparison if he has issues in the future.
There aren’t really any boots that are good for all-day everyday wear. Even those that are specifically made for therapeutic purposes (like the EasyBoot Cloud) are usually meant to come off for at least several hours everyday.
In general, the best boot is the one that fits. You’ll have to measure your horse’s hooves and then check those measurements against the various manufacturers’ charts. You might also ask your farrier for recommendations since he knows the hooves well.
While you’re waiting for the boots, you could try wrapping the front hooves with Magic Cushion: slap some of that on (use disposable gloves), wrap with vetwrap, and then with some duct tape. It can really provide a lot of relief.
Mine spent literally months in boots (and shoes) 24/7 during her laminitic episode. I used Easyboot Gloves. I bought a sheet of foam insulation (pink or blue) and cut hoof shaped pads* to insert in the boots. I replaced the pads daily at first and then every other day as she became sounder, then just boots for the final weeks of recovery.
IMO (and the opinion of my farrier and my one vet who was heavily into “alternate” medicines) making them as comfortable as possible so they will move as much as possible is a huge part of recovery. That included forced exercise of hand walking which it sounds like your guy may not need since he’s comfortable enough to move on his own once he’s off the concrete*. My traditional vet at the time believed in full-time stall rest … but since stall rest was a big contributing factor in her foundering in the first place, I chose to go with farrier and alternate vet.
*Place foot near corner of insulation, trace around with pen and mark L or R for left or right foot, repeat for other foot. cut slightly smaller than your pen lines and stuff in boot to make sure fit is ok - trim as necessary. Use those first two to trace and cut a whole bunch more so you only have to mess around with pony standing on insulation once Also, I think I used 2 layers of insulation pads for the first couple of weeks when she was in the most pain. As she was able to walk more comfortably I used just one layer which was way easier to deal with and provided enough cushion so long as I changed them out frequently enough when they got squished down.
**My horse when she was at her most painful, “Concrete is LAVA!!!” Boots with insulation pads got her over that fear immediately
@sascha - My farrier asked if the vet recommended stall rest or not. She did not mention anything to me and I also believe moving around does him good for sure. He’s more hesitant to walk first thing in the morning after being in his stall for 8 hours. When I bring him in every night, you would never know he was even foot sore, so he must feel better as the day goes on. The farrier was totally fine with movement, and he recommends it as well, but he didn’t want to go against the vets wishes of course. My guy is trotting, cantering and rearing/bucking outside already (witnessed this as he had a temper tantrum when I put a grazing muzzle on him. He carried on for 10 mins this way. Galloping around, standing in one spot rearing then bucking over his head. Dragging his head on the ground trying to remove it. Made quite the show!).
My farrier also mentioned the foam! He said I may be a bit behind the game on this since he’s doing so much better already, but I don’t think it would hurt. I could always add this into the boots once I have him measured.
I have an email into my vet for xrays and bloodwork as well so hopefully I can get them out before next Wed before my farrier comes, just so he can see the xrays and proceed as necessary.
I’ll look into the Easyboot Gloves as well. Thank you for the recommendation!
He’s only on grass for the am and we keep it to about 6" long. Its a 4 acre paddock so lots of moving around. Its kept not too short as the sugars are higher when grass is low and stressed ( I turn out at 4am so when sugar is lower. Its also when I start work, so I start early and I’m home early). He’s on a dirt paddock for the afternoon until he comes in around 7/8pm. He is actually getting better/sounder as the days go by and I’m watching him (and my others) like a hawk. He was very, very unsound after his vaccines (not on grass at all then) and was left 100% on the dirt paddock for a couple of weeks afterwards. I have been slowly transiting them to grass about 2 weeks ago (started with 2hr) and they are now on the grass for the mornings and on the dirt/winter paddock for the afternoons. I have been doing this routine for years and works well for weight management as well as risk of founder etc. My vet and farrier knows all of this as well.
This is also the product my vet recommended and he’s been on it for a few weeks now in the morning before turnout. He’s doing better but not sure if its from just time or if the product is helping. I’ll keep him on it as long as he’s on pasture for the summer. We close our pasture in the fall. I also add chromium to all of my ponies diets in the mornings.
Sorry, I missed this. He was not on grass when he had his shots. When I also thought about it, he had his fall rhino/flu last year (and again was not on grass and hadn’t been on grass for months) he was unsound for 3 weeks afterwards ( I thought he pulled a shoulder muscle in turn out and treated it as such. He became sound a few weeks afterwards and I chalked it down to that. I treated him with a Beamer and back on track sheets). I never once thought about laminitis as he was 2 at the time and not on grass or 2nd cut hay and only on low NSC grain. I put 2 and 2 together after his spring shots this year and called the vet to discuss. She agreed that it was probably caused by the shots and going forward we will treat with flunixin before, during and after his shots next year and to do intranasal when possible.
I’m an old school turpentine girl, too. I also really like Jim Rickens Hoof Care - I don’t know the magic behind their formula, but it has helped all my thin soled horses. I always have Re-Bound on hand, too. It’s horrible to work with, but if you use a batter spatula to paint some on and pack it with clean shavings, i’ve found it to really help give them a little extra cushion.
If the horse has laminitis because of an inflammation reaction to vaxx, hardening his feet is not going to help. He’s inflamed from the inside out with swelling in the laminae, which I figure feels like your foot swelling inside a tight shoe. Putting a harder sole on that shoe isn’t going to help the all around soreness. You want to do things to help the inflammation including icing, soft footing, Bute, or padded hoof boots.
The formaldehyde based hardeners (Keratex or Durasole) are the only ones that change the structure of the hoof horn. They change the protein bonds to make them harder but also make them way more durable. So they allow the hoof to build up more retained sole or the wall to not chip.
Whether you want the hoof to keep more retained sole is going to be an individual decision on any given horse. Retained sole and overgrown bar causes its own set of problems!
Venice turpentine (a kind of pine tar) does seem to dry out and harden the hoof. But it doesn’t change the protein bonds like formaldehyde.
I would also suggest crunching the numbers on his diet and making sure the hoof health nutrients of copper, zinc and biotin are high enough.
As far as Heiro, I Googled it. A herbal supplement with low levels of vitamin E and zinc. My guess is it’s not doing much. I really like a comprehensive Vitamin Mineral supplement in a small beet pulp mash, but you may have an excellent ration balancer in your market as well (I do not).
You could also consider flax for the Omega 3. A cup of whole flax in the mash.
I don’t know if laminitis from vaxx predisposes horses to laminitis from grass in future. The issue with grass is metabolic syndrome like pre diabetes in humans. They can’t process the sugar overload.
@Scribbler - thank you for your write up! The farrier pretty much said the same about the hoof hardeners, he said it won’t hurt to try the turpentine, but it probably won’t do much. I called about Easyboot Glove and they actually recommended Easyboot Cloud so I’m going to measure him tonight for them and have it ordered in.
Also, I think I used 2 layers of insulation pads for the first couple of weeks when she was in the most pain. As she was able to walk more comfortably I used just one layer which was way easier to deal with and provided enough cushion so long as I changed them out frequently enough when they got squished down.