Does anyone ice their horses front feet on a regular basis? My guy has terrible front feet and pedal ostitis in one of them. Very flat and giant feet. He’s in special plastic shoes and pads but I want to do as much as possible to keep him comfortable. We’re going to be regularly jumping this summer (once a week or twice if there is a show on the weekend) and was wondering if anyone ices feet and if they have had positive results from it. Do you use ice water or ice boots? I also have BOT bell boots that he wears at night. Plus he gets hoof supplements and MSM. He’s only just turning 7 and I want him to have a long and comfortable career as a hunter.
I’ve only done it with a pony that had laminitis. I just used a big rubber feed tub for him.
Only for particular injuries with our jumpers, then it was a bucket of ice water.
your guy is only just seven and hunters don’t jump that high, but leg/hoof issues and a sport career you definitely want the best farrier and vet you can find, and you need them to work together.
we had a very big guy whose feet were just not honestly big enough to support his body. He ended up in round Italian shoes in front with a leather pad and pour ins. This helped significantly.
still be ultimately went to someone who was just wanting to do the 1.10.
I’m eventually hoping to do the big derbies so they will be fairly big jumps. We went through a lot of trial and error and the shoes and pads he has now really work for him. I know the pedal ostitis is exacerbated by a lot of concussion and I just want to do everything possible to keep him comfortable. Everything else about this horse is perfect I don’t want to let his front feet ruin it for us
If you want to avoid compromising his hoof quality by soaking them regularly, there are several options for “dry” icing with ice packs and boots, too.
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Yes that was more of what I was looking at. Though the two options I found had fairly mixed reviews. Any product suggestions?
The best thing you can do for him is be vigilant about footing. If the show footing gets like concrete and loses its bounce late in the week - scratch. You can pack his feet with Magic Cushion after you jump as well if he isn’t in full pads. You can try the Ice Horse Big Black Boot which is my favorite of the hoof icing options, although it doesn’t compare to the cold you get from standing in ice water.
To get to the barn where I ride I have to walk about 15 minutes down the road. And even though we’re only walking I know that is hard on his feet. Fortunately they have good footing there and I only flat. Where I lesson (and therefore jump) they have the really expensive synthetic footing. I read reviews on the big black boot and some people really didn’t like it so wasn’t sure. Does it come in a pair or just one? I definitely don’t want to stand him in ice water
Do consider using metal shoe for better hoof support. Plastic shoes offer no hoof support, allow more hoof sreading. Perhaps a program of alternating metal and plastic if you really like the plastic shoes. Hoof with metal gets supported enough to hold shape thru the plastic period. Then metal is back on to help again. I knew a lady who did the alternating of shoes and was pretty happy with hoof shape holding itself properly, instead of pancaking as it had with continuous plastic shoes each cycle.
I would NOT recommend repeated hoof soaking, it is very hard on hoof walls, softening them. You will have shoes coming off, walls won’t hold the nails.
Not sure if ice packs will help hooves be more comfortable after work, but plan to dry hooves after so they stay hard. Walking on hard surfaces will help harden bones and hooves with impact. This makes them more dense, tough, for work. Unless horse really slaps hoof down hard each step, I certainly see no problem walking him on pavement. We walk ours a mile out and a mile home, on pavement without problems.
The Big Black Boot unfortunately comes singly. It’s interesting because there is a pocket for an ice pack on the bottom of the hoof, but I don’t know how beneficial that would be if your horse has pads.
I’ve wrapped ice packs across the coronet band in front and vertical from the heels to the fetlock and secured with a bandage for 15-20 minutes. Maybe save soaking in ice and water for times when the ground is hard.
So what we do in the ASB world because my farrier would have hung my hide if water touched those leather pads, is use either contractor trash bags and duct tape or turkey brining bags and wrap the hoof, secure with duct tape. Then place hoof in pan/bucket of icy cold water.
Steel is a better shock absorber then plastic, maybe the rubber horse shoes they use on the carriage horse? I know they are meant to for asphalt. If there is bruising or you are trying to keep pressure off a certain part of the hoof and use pour in pads, use the felt circles they put under furniture to keep it from scratching floors. Trick from the vets at Rood and Riddle. After you stick the felt circles in the area, use your pour in pads, then add a leather pad and shoe. Keeps pressure off the bruised area and the rest of the foot has the benefit of pour ins.
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Perhaps a different career for your horse if he’s already having soundness issues? The level of competition you are planning would not be conducive to keeping him sound with his current issues.
I was going to add a caveat regarding reusable gel ice packs: the moment they start to warm up get them off. I was reminded icing my own foot last night (stroller/sandals incident) that as well as holding cold, they also excel at holding heat once warm.
And the suggestion to wrap the feet in plastic bags and secure to soak in ice water is brilliant! I feel so ignorant for not figuring that out for myself! Thank you, luvmyhackney!
These are the shoes I use on him
https://www.easycareinc.com/our_shoes/Easyshoe_performance_ng/easyshoe_performance_ng.aspx
and he goes really well in them. Plus the pads he has are sorbothane - a visco-elastic material with very high damping effects.
I’m not really sure where you get the idea that steel is a better shock absorber than plastic? Say you throw a metal shoe at a wooden wall. The wood is going to deform to absorb the impact not the shoe. If you do the same with the plastic shoe the plastic will deform as it can flex therefore absorbing at least some of the impact. So when walking on a harder surface like pavement neither the ground or the shoe are absorbing much impact but rather the horse is absorbing it. Could you imagine what it would feel like to walk in metal shoes? You’d probably end up with shin splints and very sore joints before long. We don’t expect our athletes to run in metal shoes why should we expect our horses to do the same? Their hoof needs to be able to flex and metal shoes prevents that. Plastic shoes do too just not as much. And since barefoot isn’t an option for us plastic it is
To be clear the only two times he was lame was when he was in just a regular metal horse shoe with no pads or anything and when I started regularly riding again with his shoes off. He is never lame anymore but I know that his front feet will always need some extra care and I want to do everything possible to provide that. I’m sure I’m going overboard but I’d rather do too much than too little.
But I love the idea of wrapping the feet in plastic bags then putting them in water! I would think that would be the most effective icing method and cost effective as well!
OP… Icing will not prevent or mitigate the damage, if any, done by jumping this horse. A jumping horse lands on first one front foot then the other. It puts a terrible load on those feet, even when the feet are healthy. Jumping a horse with compromised front feet is dangerous for the horse and the rider.
You have a responsibility to help this horse maintain his soundness. If jumping is going to damage his feet he should not be jumped.
If your heart is set on jumping you should do it on another horse.
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That is what I was trying to get out of this. Whether icing aids in prevention or not. He is 100% sound in the shoes he has on. That includes weekly jumping. The only reason he wasn’t sound before is because he had shoes on with no pads and needs the frog support. His current shoes offer the frog support. I simply want to offer as much preventative aid as I can. The same way anyone else does with icing legs or providing supplements
Have you ever tried packing his hooves after rides? I had a hunter that was a bit hoof sore due to some bad footing and my vet recommended a regimen of icing his front hooves (in a rubber bucket) and then packing them overnight with magic cushion after heavy jumping lesson. Worked really well for him!
There is nothing to pack his shoes and pads cover the whole hoof. @HJdaydream did you find the icing to be helpful or do you think it was more the packing?
Whoops! Now I’m embarrassed lol:o
Honestly, I think packing is more effective. Not sure why I think that, but probably because it is on all night, versus the comparably short time I iced him. My trainer swore by magic cushion as well, so maybe that has swayed my opinion.
I agree packing is probably more effective but I’m sure icing can’t hurt. Ugh if only our horses could talk to us! My last horse tore his suspensory ligament and I still feel to this day that I could have done more to prevent it. I’m sure that has made me both a little paranoid and over protective.
