Dear all,
thanks first of all if you read this (rather long) post, and thanks again if you are able to offer some experience and pointers.
We rescued a 15 y.o. OTTB ex-show jumper (really a lovely gelding) school horse who was to be put down (not making revenue owing to the intermittent lameness) three weeks ago (because, rightly or wrongly, we were appalled that such a practice existed - yes we were that naive - obviously not anymore). We are in the tropics and have a few hours’ access a day to a sand paddock, tarred roads, grass verges, gravel and stone laneways (not really the nice pea gravel that’s always mentioned as desirable but a mix of gravel and broken bits of tile, brick, and rock), as well as a fibre/sand arena (can be varying degrees of wet or dry) and an automatic walker (which atm only goes one way). Horse is stalled for about 18 in 24 hours. Hand walked and hand grazed / groomed and fussed over for the remaining 6 hours. Hooves are cleaned twice daily (hoof pick, scrubbed with brush) and painted with 10% iodine on the sole, potassium permanganate on the frog. Had canker in front and hind hoof (left) on adoption, but have managed to clear this up in the interim. Intending to put Keraflex on soles (as Durasole not available here) as soon as delivery of it arrives.
Switched from hard feed (with a couple of kilos of bermuda hay) to 50% timothy/50% bermuda hay and no hard feed, Kerabol for hoof development, weekly pentosan (Cartrophen) and since two days ago, 500g ground linseed/sunflowerseed/pumpkinseed/seaweed meal/nutritional yeast/natural sourced (i.e. not synthetic) Vitamin E and 1/4 shredded red cabbage/1 beetroot/2 carrots/2 tablespoons black molasses (for palatability) once a day to supplement for zinc, copper, selenium, threonine, glutamine, and magnesium (until we receive an overseas shipment of powder-based supplements. This is based on the hay analysis (way too much iron and manganese in the hay)). A blood analysis of the horse also showed iron overload (a contributory factor would be the rusty water dispenser in the stall, replaced now with a massive plastic bucket). Horse has lost muscle tone (having been stall bound for the better part of a year), but is not underweight, and looks sleek with good coat shine and growth in mane and tail.
Have had a tough time to obtain the medical history of the horse and why it is intermittent lame, and what it was doing etc. This has dribbled out over the last three weeks from various sources (some more credible than others), so the learning curve has been steep (and obviously with hindsight, some of our decisions would have been different had we had more knowledge, but you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it - or whatever the relevant saying is).
The horse was supposedly fetlock lame on and off several months ago, received steroids on the basis of x-ray in the affected fetlock, and while off and not earning money, therapeutic shoes were removed and replaced with not-well fitted and inappropriate steel shoes. There is currently no evidence of any fetlock lameness.
A few days after taking on his care, had the vet do a nerve block (palmar digital) and the horse went from 3/5 lame to almost 0/5 lame. On the basis of this, pulled the shoes, and farrier suggested lots of walking on hard surfaces to strengthen tendons (given the previous fetlock issues). A few days later, had vet x-ray hooves (because had asked for the x-rays and was told there were none of the hooves (!) ). Pedal osteitis in the lame hoof, with hardly any sole, under-run heel, and inflammation of the periosteum. Beginnings of pedal osteitis in the not lame hoof, less under-run heel. Videoed gait - pronounced toe landing, particularly on lame hoof.
Immediately switched surfaces to reduce concussion to pedal bones, i.e. from hard surfaces to arena only, and put boot on the hardly-any-sole lame hoof (farrier concluded horse didn’t need boots on other hooves). Horse was very happy with all the walking and when released in the paddock, went ballistic quite a few times - the lameness seemed to occur with no regularity and not in response to the horse’s own activity choice (galloping up and down the paddock!) Vet OTOH was not impressed and wanted the horse shoed because of the sole thinness and the concussion, so after researching Nicky Barker’s Rocklea Farms, some PUBMED research articles, and polyurethane glue on shoes vs aluminium etc, opted for a therapeutic PU glue on for the lame hoof (to correct stance and lessen concussion, while hopefully allowing heel growth), and a matching boot (to account for the heel lift in the lame foot) for the other fore leg, along with aspirin to promote blood flow. Farrier considered hoof and sole development on hind hooves and other fore leg to be sufficient not to warrant PU shoes on those hooves.
Horse is however intermittently sore (today he was fine in the morning, sore in the afternoon), and the sight of him favouring a hoof (not the PU shod hoof, but same side rear hoof) means still haven’t figured a workable solution, so have opted for low dose Bute while waiting for (overseas delivery again) of 4 boots (which with hindsight should have been ordered on immediately pulling the shoes but…hindsight being what it is etc). Was only informed today about the previous therapeutic shoe replacement with el-cheapo shoes (and according to the vet those should never have been put on, and definitely added to the problems, but was outside vet’s control) - so while OTOH it could be argued pulling the shoes that were on was barbaric, since the lameness hasn’t gone, and the horse is decidedly footsore at least on one hoof, OTOH had the shoes not been pulled, the PO diagnosis and the titbit about the previous therapeutic shoes wouldn’t have been revealed either.
He rolls, rests a hoof now and then, isn’t pre-disposed to laying down, is bedded on rubber mats and 6 inches of woodypet over concrete (changed from shavings on farrier’s recommendation). The one recommendation from vet/farrier we’ve not yet taken is Osphos, having looked at the studies for Tildren and Osphos.
As to the dilemma - the horse needs more movement (blood circulation, hoof development etc) but he’s sore, hence starting the Bute (which masks the pain, but still doesn’t give licence to exercise more). The pedal bones need soft ground (to avoid concussion), the frog needs flat, hard ground (to avoid too much abrasion - both vet and farrier agree on this). The compromise is the fibre/sand arena, which is still abrasive, particularly when wet, and contributing to, if not creating, the footsoreness. If the new boots (hopefully arriving within the next couple of days) don’t alleviate the footsoreness, it looks like PU shoes (but not for two weeks, since farrier is on holidays, and he’s the only person in the region who can do this). Is there anything else that can be done to help hoof development (given the constraints of lack of 24/7 access to paddocks etc) and the pedal osteitis?
It’s not the matter of time waiting it out that is distressing us, it’s trying to find a solution (short and long term - and these may not be the same) that helps the horse without causing him pain or at least alleviating the existing lameness (and that’s a confounding factor too…because his evident lameness with the horrible shoes on didn’t suggest pain, but his footsoreness without shoes on suggests that he’s much more picky about where he’s putting his feet and what kind of movement he wants to make - certainly not teararsing up and down the paddock and skidding in pirouette halts for half an hour!). The perceived complexity (a cynic might suggest just to cut the Gordion Knot) of his condition is emotionally consuming. Our battle here feels as much overcoming the effects of neglect as it is to help him be healthy and happy.
This is probably as much an outburst of frustration as it is a request for support and anecdotes. In the last three weeks we’ve read many many CotH pages and learned much from different stories shared. Please do add if you can, hopefully positive. Thanks in advance.
