Pulling horse's shoes when there is an unknown lameness?

[Libby2563]

Short version: older horse has unknown injury that blocks to the front foot, believed to be a soft tissue injury. Would you pull his front shoes?

Long version: My 22-year-old warmblood has been off on his left front since September. It blocked to the foot. The lameness specialist injected his coffin joint since we know he has some arthritis there due to an old injury but since that did not help, he believes it’s a soft tissue injury. He did not recommend an MRI for a horse his age with no performance expectations. He said that pinning it down to a specific ligament would not really affect his treatment recommendations (continued turnout but no riding until he’s sound, if ever). In an ideal world I would know exactly what’s going on but it did not seem worth the money when the horse is happy and comfortable in turnout and has more than earned his retirement. I was thinking he might come back into work someday but now as time has passed and he is still a little off, I’m thinking he’s probably retired.

I’ve been thinking about pulling his front shoes now that the ground shouldn’t be hard and frozen much longer (long winter this year!). I’m a little nervous about changing anything though since I don’t know exactly what’s wrong and whether shoes might be helping to keep him comfortable. He transitioned to barefoot behind 2-3 years ago very well, while still training and showing in FEI dressage. The farrier recently commented on how well his hinds have done barefoot. I suspect that he would not be as comfortable right off the bat up front. Is it worth trying to work through some initial discomfort? I keep him at home and can definitely monitor closely and buy some hoof boots to use as needed. Or we can just put the shoes back on.

What do people think?

[Training_Cupid]

Based on this info, I don’t think I would pull them.

[OneTwoMany]

What does your farrier say? Your vet? If he is not in work, or in need of special shoeing, if his feet are in good shape, and the vet and farrier sign off, I’d pull the shoes and monitor him as you suggested.

[trubandloki]

Have you asked the vet who is treating him what they think of the idea of him being barefoot? What does the farrier think?

Edit to add: OneTwoMany and I posted the same thought at the same time.

[fordtraktor]

I would at least investigate it. I typically try pulling the shoes when I think one is retired and sometimes they go back on. My last retiree had by far the most expensive farrier visit in the barn by the end! But for a few years he went barefoot happily.

I find sometimes they improve with no shoes and Dr. Green, especially if they tend toward contracted heels. The “down time” lets the hoof naturally expand and contract which gets extra blood flow down there.

If your pasture is rocky I might change my mind but given he is doing well without hinds, he sounds like a possible candidate.

I would definitely talk it over with the vet, though. Mine are usually supportive of testing it out.

[Libby2563]

@OneTwoMany

What does your farrier say? Your vet? If he is not in work, or in need of special shoeing, if his feet are in good shape, and the vet and farrier sign off, I’d pull the shoes and monitor him as you suggested.

Duh, that would have been good info to include!

My vet says he would pull them and that I can always put them back on if needed. My farrier was more of the opinion that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, which I understand too. So I guess I’m asking you guys to break the tie! Thanks for the replies so far!

[OneTwoMany]

@Libby2563

My vet says he would pull them and that I can always put them back on if needed. My farrier was more of the opinion that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, which I understand too. So I guess I’m asking you guys to break the tie! Thanks for the replies so far!

Sounds like it is your call and you have permission to choose either route. I like to pull shoes on horses the aren’t in work. But that is me.

[Guilherme]

@Libby2563

Duh, that would have been good info to include!

My vet says he would pull them and that I can always put them back on if needed. My farrier was more of the opinion that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, which I understand too. So I guess I’m asking you guys to break the tie! Thanks for the replies so far!

If you have no indication that the shoes are part of the problem then pulling them may make things worse because the shoes might, note the conditional, actually be reducing the pain to the horse. Of course you can’t know this unless you pull the shoes and the lameness gets worse.

G.

[Libby2563]

@Guilherme

If you have no indication that the shoes are part of the problem then pulling them may make things worse because the shoes might, note the conditional, actually be reducing the pain to the horse. Of course you can’t know this unless you pull the shoes and the lameness gets worse.

G.

Exactly. Will I be able to distinguish exacerbated lameness from transitional ouchiness?

[beau159]

I guess if I were you, I’d pull the shoes and see what happens. Especially if you are going to essentially retire him to no riding.

If he’s in regular shoes, they realistically should not be providing any sort of “support” for something that is a soft tissue injury inside the foot and should have no effect on his lameness.

Now if he actually has an abscess or hoof problem, that’s a different story, but doesn’t sound to be the case.

What type of shoes does he wear now?

[TWH_Girl]

@Training Cupid

Based on this info, I don’t think I would pull them.

Agreed.

[keh]

Have you tried Previcox or bute?

As for the shoes, I’ve seen really sound horses go really lame, so I don’t think I’d risk it. If it is a soft tissue injury, you’d probably want the stability of a shoe for support.

Best of luck - it would be so much easier if they could talk.

[betsyk]

I’d want to know more about what the shoes were intended to do for him - are they simply to protect the hoof when riding on hard or rocky ground, or is there something therapeutic about the shoeing? I had two older TB’s who couldn’t stand in the barn aisle without their shoes (literally, the farrier stood them on a piece of styrofoam for the two minutes they were barefoot while he shaped the new shoe after pulling the old one). They’d been shod since track days and that was that. If you do decide to try it, maybe talk to your farrier about easing him away from shoes, especially if he has pads, and see if you can time it so the weather cooperates. With my luck, I’d pull the shoes and we’d get a week of rain followed by a fast windy dry-out and he’d bruise and absess all summer.

[Tigoli]

Did the farrier say definitively he thought it would be a bad idea to pull them? Or just that it seemed to be going fine-ish at the moment and why bother changing things.

If your pasture is nice (not rocky) and the vet thinks it could be a good option to explore, I’d go for it. Talk to the vet and farrier again and ask them how long they think it should take him to be fully comfortable barefoot. I don’t have any experience with barefoot horses, so I don’t have a guess for you. Also keep in mind that his feet might look worse before they look better.

If it doesn’t work out, you can always go back to keeping him shod.

[Palm_Beach]

It’s a shame the blacksmith could not comment on whether the shoes were supportive of the condition or not. Different shoes can help alleviate pressure/pain. I guess the OP already had the conversation with the blacksmith as to whether or not anything could be done for this horse with shoes.

[Texarkana]

While some seem to think the shoes may be mitigating the problem, I tend to look at things from the other direction. What if the shoes are contributing to this mystery injury or preventing it from healing? If it were me, I’d try.

[Libby2563]

He just has plain old shoes, no pads or anything. He was shod when I bought him as a 4-year-old and I kept him that way until pulling the hinds a couple years ago. He’s never been in pads (other than snow pads) or had any sort of therapeutic shoeing. Since we don’t know exactly what his injury is, I don’t know whether they are supportive of it or not. I am pretty confident it’s not a hoof issue or abscess though, given the presentation and how long it’s gone on; the vet would agree I think. He does have very good hoof quality and has never abscessed.

There are no rocks at all here, other than the gravel driveway (or in the creekbed on the trails, which only matters if he ever gets to trail ride again). He only has to walk across the gravel when he is moved to/from the barn. Right now he’s out 24/7 so he doesn’t cross the gravel; he’s either standing on stonedust/sand (in the dry lot) or dirt/grass.

He was on Previcox for a few months earlier in his recovery. I stopped it to see what difference it would make, and I couldn’t tell any difference at all, so I’ve kept him off it. He hasn’t had bute since the initial injury. I really prefer not to keep him on it long-term if I don’t have to.

Still torn, though I’m leaning towards keeping them on to be safe. I’d hate to see the old man suffer, and at the very least the shoes don’t seem to be doing any harm.

[tpup]

You can always pull the shoes and use front boots like Cavallo simple boots for turnout - if his feet are getting beat up or if he is very sore the first few weeks. To me it would be worth it to try to find underlying cause and you could trail ride him in the boots too. I pulled fronts on my OTTB to get his feet healthier - he lived in Cavallo’s several trim cycles. Best thing we ever did. Feet are beautiful now. And he was very comfortable in the boots - galloped all around in them and was rideable in them too.

[trubandloki]

With the information given, if he was mine I would pull the shoes and see how he does.

I would not likely add boots since they are something he is not used to and at this point it is probably best to not add something like that in the mix.
If you find he simply can not go barefoot while he recovers then slap his shoes back on.

[theresak]

With an injury likely in the hoof, I’d probably try some therapeutic shoeing first to see if you can alleviate strain on the structures of the hoof - something like clogs or rocker shoes.

If there is no change in the comfort level of the horse in therapeutic shoes, I’d then be more inclined to pull them.