My horse has been diagnosed with side bone in one front hoof. Up until now he has been very comfortable. Now seems lame on hard ground but not on good footing. My farrier changed the way he is shoeing him and it seems to help he is also on equioxx … Is there anything else I can do to help him be more comfy so he can keep working?
I think sidebone can sometimes be blamed for lameness that it doesn’t actually cause, so if you haven’t already, you may want to do some basic diagnostics to make sure it actually is sidebone related. It’s easy to assume that because you know he has it, but I’d want to be sure if it were my horse.
I’d probably re-xray and compare current xrays to baseline to see how much the sidebone has changed and also to see if there is anything else (e.g. thin soles) that might be causing problems. Hoof test to see if there might be some deep bruising. I’d probably also block the hoof to make sure the lameness wasn’t coming from something higher up. Maybe see if my vet had any other ideas on things to look for.
My understanding is that if sidebone causes lameness issues, the prognosis isn’t very good–that’s why I would be very, very careful about verifying sidebone was the culprit for the lameness. It would also mean that if sidebone IS the cause, you have up-to-date diagnostics to help you decide what to do–e.g. maybe the xrays reveal something your farrier can try with shoeing that may help more, or if the horse responds really well to the temporary nerve block you may want to talk about nerving him and all the pros and cons of doing that.
I had the vet out and when she blocked the foot it was a lot better. He recently had the pastern injected. The weird thing is that he works out of it. Now with the change in shoeing he is so much better.
We had xrays done not long ago.
We will see how the next few weeks go. Thanks
We have one with side bone related unsoundness. Special shoes, injections, osphos, adequine, and we keep him going. He is a great horse, but this year may be the last year we go all out to keep him sound. It is about 2k a year for all his special meds and trips to the vet. We have kept him going for 6 years . . .he is 20 and we may just let him hangout in the pasture . . .
This is the first we are having issues so it remains to be seen why all of a sudden he is having issues. He has had a lameness work up done in December.
What does the osphos do for sidebone.?
I may repeat the xrays if he doesn’t get better.
They won’t “work out” of sidebone. My 15YO draft cross has it, and they are so large you can see them easily. It’s only recently become a minor soundness issue when making tight turns to the left, and I can tell she carries herself differently in the canter. Minimize the amount of lunging you do, only work on good footing. My mare is shod with Natural Balance shoes on a strict 6 weeks schedule. I’ve also elected to sort of retire her (past life was eventing) to trail rides, flat work, and jumping only occasionally and just at lower heights.
I have a horse with sidebone in both fronts. Apparently, it’s not an issue … until it is. I did Osphos for mine, maintain him on Equioxx, inject the coffin joints, and regularly give Legend. The biggest game changer for him, though, was doing pads and pours. He’s so much better in them. I specified the soft pours, vs the harder variety. Good luck with your horse!
