Well, good news is that Cruiser's right hind/lower back issues seem
to be slowly improving, but now he's lame on the left front. You'll
recall that about 2 weeks ago, I posted pics of his most recent trim
where the trimmer took of quite a bit of the flaring quarters. After
that, I did notice that he was just ever so slightly tender, but it
was quite subtle. Since then, I've been backing up the toes, which
hasn't seemed to affect his comfort level in the least. His feet
look pretty decent now, I think.

Unfortunately, now he's lame in the left front (again). It started
rather subtly (ha, so subtly that I tried to ignore it!) and then on
Monday he was clearly lame. I had the vet look at him on Tuesday, and
she found that he's sensitive to the hoof testers in his sole area
under the front part of the coffin bone – just like last September.
(Then, he was more lame in the left front, but showed the same
bruising in both fronts. A month later he had mild laminitis.)
Good news is that there appears to be no heel pain (he was off in
April 2006 on the same foot with heel pain.) We did lateral x-rays
of both fronts.

She called me this morning, and said that his soles are still thinner
than she'd like, 10mm. She said that his angles are improved from
the last set of pics (3-6-07), his pastern isn't so upright, and the
toe length is much improved, so that's all good. But he's still thin
soled. He's on 5 days of bute (1 gram, 2x per day) with his regular
daily turnout (approx 8 hrs/day w/ muzzle), and then we'll do a
recheck 2 days later (next Tuesday).

Unless you guys recommend otherwise, the plan is to see if he
abscesses, and if not, I think I'll have front shoes put back on.
He's been barefoot for a year now, and he's still tender. I've
decided that I'd rather have him comfortable and fit (i.e., ridden
regularly) than barefoot, tender, and unfit. I figure I'll pull the
shoes late this fall. I'll continue his low NSC diet and all that,
but I want him comfortable! (And frankly? I want to ride my horse
while he's still able to be ridden!) I feel a bit like I've failed
with the whole barefoot thing, but if he's thin soled, he's thin
soled. He's 19 this year, and he had front shoes on for a long
time.

Questions:
-Does this sound like a reasonable plan to you guys?
-Can a horse gain sole thickness with shoes on?
-could the trim last time have exacerbated the pressure on the sole?
The bruising seems to be under the coffin bone(between the toe callus
and the tip of the frog, sort of), not where he would put most
pressure (except on softer ground, of course). His heels are also
being left taller because of the flat coffin bone angle in the 3/6/07
x-rays.

I'll post the x-rays and new pics in a few days.

Thanks in advance for your great advice!

Kristine & Cruiser

Why not use boots ratehr than shoeing again?

Nan
Thomas
IL
--- kk_fisher <kristine.fisher@juno.com> wrote:

Unless you guys recommend otherwise, the plan is

to

see if he
abscesses, and if not, I think I'll have front shoes
put back on.
He's been barefoot for a year now, and he's still
tender. I've
decided that I'd rather have him comfortable and fit
(i.e., ridden
regularly) than barefoot, tender, and unfit. I
figure I'll pull the
shoes late this fall. I'll continue his low NSC
diet and all that,
but I want him comfortable! (And frankly? I want
to ride my horse
while he's still able to be ridden!) I feel a bit
like I've failed
with the whole barefoot thing, bu

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kk_fisher wrote:

Questions:
-Does this sound like a reasonable plan to you guys?

Yes - but I'd rather see him in boots with cushions 24/7 for a few weeks to get him over the hump.

-Can a horse gain sole thickness with shoes on?

Yes, and also in boots.

-could the trim last time have exacerbated the pressure on the sole?

Yes, or not.

The bruising seems to be under the coffin bone(between the toe callus and the tip of the frog, sort of), not where he would put most pressure (except on softer ground, of course).

May be an abscess. Or not. That's the sucky thing about abcessing, it's usually a guessing game.

His heels are also being left taller because of the flat coffin bone angle in the 3/6/07 x-rays.

... which will make brusing at the tip of the coffin bone WORSE. P3 *should* be pretty much flat.

-Abby




--
**************************
Abby Bloxsom
www.advantedgeconsulting.com