NPA-- a bit of a success story

[Calvincrowe]

I’ve owned my fabulous hunter mare (when I say that, she’s an absolute “packer” if you can actually ride a little bit and stay out of her way…which is harder than it sounds!) for 5 years now. She’s got some old injury baggage, and a conformational flaw that makes shoeing her properly a must. That said, we’ve had on and off “NQR” in her front end for the last 4 years.

We’ve addressed a few issues with advanced diagnostics and treatments, getting her sound and comfortable enough to show happily. But this last year has been a trial: front end ouchiness galore. So, I pulled the trigger and fetched her back to the lameness only practice near me. We did a full lameness evaluation, blocking, injected coffins, talked about all the possibilities, added an MRI to get a full interior picture and rule out anything career ending, but the vet who has seen her for all her advanced work was also appalled at her feet. So, many radiographs later, we had a clear idea of what might be at the bottom of her issues: NPA, all four feet! Thus began our get that corrected ASAP journey.

Here we are, three months (and many dollars for specialty shoeing) later and she’s (madly knocking wood!!) very sound! We’ve used radiographs to track her progress and it’s looking good in there.

We all realize that she may well have other issues, higher up (we know about neck arthritis, no neuro symptoms, vet checked over the last 5 years), but start with the feet is never a bad plan. I share this to help anyone else who might be dealing with it. Thankfully, she has lovely feet, tons of sole and toe to work with, enjoys tack walking and stall rest, and only bucks a little bit when finally released to canter. Wheee!! (ok, I didn’t enjoy that part as much as she did).

I can assure you, I am going to take photos (I have a bunch already) of what her feet look like now, with measurements, so I can compare as we go forward.

[Peggy]

Congratulations!

Fixing the feet essentially fixed my horse as well. Similar struggles. Grows a crazy amount of toe, especially LF. Took back to breeder, pulled shoes, and let him be for six months. Front has been good ever since, first with wide-web Al, then Eponas, then steel. Now back to barefoot bc I’m not showing and, even with vigilance on everyone’s part, his LF still loses heel and gains toe with shoes.

[OutsidersOpinion]

I fixed my NPA horse by pulling his shoes.

The angles self corrected in 30 days. Seriously.

We X-ray every 6 months and since pulling the shoes 2 years ago, he hasn’t been negative since. Has helped his neck and ankles as well

He consistently shows at the 1.50-1.55 FEI level at shows all over the country- can hack out on any surface and I don’t use boots.

[clburnham11]

It’s amazing how much of a difference it can make! And how often it is missed in the beginning of nqr-ness. Glad you figured it out!

[Obsidian_Fire]

I am very happy to hear this!

[luvmyhackney]

@OutsidersOpinion

We X-ray every 6 months and since pulling the shoes 2 years ago, he hasn’t been negative since. Has helped his neck and ankles as well

He consistently shows at the 1.50-1.55 FEI level at shows all over the country- can hack out on any surface and I don’t use boots.

Since my horse is jumping and barefoot, do you do any additional maintenance or care after jumping?

We are only at 2’6”-3’3” so baby stuff compared to what you do but I want to make sure I’m not missing anything.

[CanteringCarrot]

@OutsidersOpinion

I fixed my NPA horse by pulling his shoes.

The angles self corrected in 30 days. Seriously.

We X-ray every 6 months and since pulling the shoes 2 years ago, he hasn’t been negative since. Has helped his neck and ankles as well

He consistently shows at the 1.50-1.55 FEI level at shows all over the country- can hack out on any surface and I don’t use boots.

I’ve seen some impressive “barefoot rehabs” for a variety of conditions that now makes me take pause a bit when it comes to corrective or remedial shoeing.

My previous horse had an issue that “could only be fixed with shoes” and after messing about with special shoes and 2 different farriers, I pulled the shoes and found a good trimmer. The issue resolved quickly, and we never looked back.

I understand that being unshod isn’t for every horse, but I’m far more open minded about it all now. I’ve also seen a few horses at the upper levels doing just fine unshod.

[Obsidian_Fire]

@CanteringCarrot

I understand that being unshod isn’t for every horse, but I’m far more open minded about it all now.

Just going to call attention to that statement… barefoot doesn’t work for everyone. My own NPA mare (hinds) is the perfect poster child for that. We finally have her in a hind support set up that has made marked improvements to her feet in only a few cycles. Finally. After trying every single thing - including barefoot (for over a year). I wish barefoot had been the answer, it certainly would be cheaper.

[CanteringCarrot]

Yes, that’s exactly why I said it doesn’t work for every horse. It’s great when it does, but if it doesn’t, that’s ok. There are other solutions. I’m not firm in either camp, really, but I used to be more firm in the mindset of you can only correct things with shoes, so I’ve loosened up on that. The bottom line is to go with what that particular horse needs.

I’m glad that you were able go find a solution for your horse. It can be so frustrating at times.

I wish I had taken my last one barefoot sooner. I would’ve saved hundreds or even thousands between the vet and farrier bills. That was with that particular horse though, and doesn’t apply to all.

[OutsidersOpinion]

I have still yet to find the perfect science as we travel to a lot of different climates and his paddocks can vary greatly… he gets about 8 hours outside a day which I find is the hardest on his feet. Keep in mind feet are sponges so they react a lot to the climate. I use Crackdown from Equine Elixirs to start from the inside out, have X-rays from before and after starting him on that and the sole growth is incredible.

In florida:
Before rides I use thrush buster on his white line and where any cracks are, not for thrush but for some reason it helps keeps his feet from cracking. If dry outside I use hooflex on the outside walls for conditioning. If wet out I leave his feet be.
Then I use cornucrescine daily hoof barrier on the bottoms and outside of hooves before every bath. This “seals” his feet so they don’t get exposed to too much water. He has to have a. bath every day due to being allergic to his environment which is not great for his feet. I have found this has helped a ton.

More dry climates:
Same thrush buster, but the yellow hoof conditioner (the name I’m forgetting) that kind of looks like glue before baths.

At shows his feet don’t tend to have small chips like they can get from going outside at home.

Every once in a while I use turpentine if his feet seem soft, but I rarely have to do that now vs when I first pulled them.

He stands in a tub of ice over his knees after jumping and I pack his feet with epsom salt poultice the night before and after showing!

So nothing too special for jumping, but more day to day so I don’t have to work as hard at shows.
Hope this helps!

[OutsidersOpinion]

I agree it is not for every horse, but for the horses that it works for it REALLY works. I do think for problems in the future I will try 30-60 days barefoot before trying wedges/pads etc as going barefoot does not create the drastic change in the tendons like a wedge or pad can. The frog stimulation from being barefoot is a big enough health benefit to try it for a short term then change it mechanically if needed.

[Peggy]

@OutsidersOpinion

barefoot before trying wedges/pads etc

I was told that the horse I mentioned would never go in four flat shoes and would require various wedges both in the heels and some lateral/medial.

[luvmyhackney]

Extremely helpful! Thank you.

[Pico_Banana]

@OutsidersOpinion

He stands in a tub of ice over his knees after jumping

This is just one small part of your routine, but what if you switched to using ice boots rather than having him stand in ice? I really like the Jack’s ice boots. They use real ice and will drip on the hooves but it would be less moisture than standing in a bucket of ice.

[OutsidersOpinion]

He has equifit ice boots for less intense work outs- but there’s nothing better for his feet/pasterns/legs than 20 min in a bucket of ice +epsom salt+ rubbing alcohol after a big class. He does not tolerate the equifit ice bags for feet, and I think icing front feet/pasterns is quite important and often overlooked. He stands in his tub and falls asleep, so I think he enjoys it too

[OutsidersOpinion]

Like I said not for every horse- but I was also told that by two olympic farriers. One day my vet and I just bit the bullet. If he had not responded well we really didn’t have much to lose at that point, but thankfully he went better than ever.

Its different if they have an injury you’re trying to support- but I personally don’t work my rehab horses that hard until they come out of a wedge since it creates a whole other set of problems typically.

[libgrrl]

Not saying this is your issue (because – as we know – all horses are different) but I had one in hydrotherapy that tried to slough off the hoof capsule. I’m now a bit more cautious about too much wet/dry!

[Meshach1]

I am so heartened to hear this! I pulled my horse’s hind shoes on 12/17 and have a podiatry vet appt in two weeks to radiograph all feet and hopefully pull fronts if she gives the ok. I got some scoot boots for hinds and will do so for fronts as well. He has center sulcus crevices in all four feet (which snuck up on me . since pulling the hinds, the crevices have been reduced greatly already. I suspect the radiographs will tell me NPAs. My farrier is not on board with this (says very vaguely “his feet will fall apart”) but being as it’s winter and I am not riding as much, my gut tells me that this the right approach and will take it from here as we see how he goes. And so far hinds are in great shape no chipping or anything.

[OutsidersOpinion]

His feet will fall apart to a degree, but don’t panic! It takes about 3-6 months for the nail holes to grow out, then they stop crumbling (at least in my experience). But my farrier is constantly reminding me that it is all cosmetic even when they chip now. They just need to be balanced, not perfect aesthetically. Unless he is ouchy, I never used scoot boots or anything like that. Better to let them wear their feet naturally and there’s science behind the frog/sole having more contact with the ground and how it benefits the hoof (the correct term is escaping me currently…) If they need to harden up a few days of turpentine should stop the need for the scoot boots too

[LazyA1]

When you pull shoes, you have to be patient during the “nail hole” phase. The nail holes increase the likelihood of chips, so be patient! Takes a couple of trim cycles.

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