Well that worked till now, no more shoes now thoug

[calekio]

May was doing well shod.. other than the issue of getting shoes on... until.. today..

Maybe this weather contributing factor.. i knew this was a risk.. this morning she has a chunk of hoof missing from around the nails on one side.. and the shoe is loose..

Phoned farrier who is going to come out and pull both shoes off.. as he won't be able to get nails back in this foot and she can't walk round with one shoe on!

Depressive isn't the word.. i've been in tear and came very close to losing it and screaming and hitting the wall (the fact i was in with her was what stopped me)
The shoes went on because she was so foot sore.. we couldn't keep her sound.. now we can't keep the shoes on Was a risk i knew off..
Farrier has said what with no shoe and now no hoof wall one side.. she is going to be sore and need to stay in... oh she'll love that!
Spoke to vet.. expressed me concerns and maybe its time to call it a day with her (she is chronic lammi, ems, cushings to name a few things that make her lame) but she said why don't we see if she can cope.. see how she goes.. she might surprise us and be ok..

Use the hoof boots.. but she never liked them.. i think she found them too big and bulky.. never walked well in them..
and now we are moving fields.. which means no stable in the fields.. its a 15 min (her pace) walk up the mostly stoney tracks to her field... how the hell is she going to cope...

Anything i can do... failing the pts option which yes i want to see if she will cope but equally can't see her suffer.. can't see her stuck in a box 24/7 months on end again..
She is currently refusing her feed unless i practically force feed her but i'm hoping reducing the pergolide will help with that as we increased it over the seasonal rise to help her cope...
She is currently on bute for the arthritis as the cold weather, snow and rutty icy ground caused problems there.. now have to wean her off the bute so can watch her feet...

It was all going so well and now... i have a EPA who came to see a few others and seemed to think she could help may go barefoot... do i try it..??

(sorry this really is more of a rant!!)

[Deleted]

I'm sorry to say it but I don't think I could keep her going on what seems like a pretty small chance. From your recent (and older) posts it sounds like she's spent a long time in and out of pain already, never far away from an attack. If her arthritis was bad enough to need bute, and you take her off it she'll be suffering from her arthritis even if her feet do come good.

The only way I can see her coping with 15mins walking on a stony track each way to/ from the field would be booted all round, and if booted she is still very sore I don't think she should be being asked to do that twice a day.

Given her arthritis and poor feet I'm guessing she'll not be able to exercise in which case there are only 2 ways her feet will improve - 1) if the trim hasn't been well balanced then getting her feet properly balanced should help 2) if you improve her diet, but given that I know you already restrict her grazing and weigh and soak her hay and have her on pergolide etc I'm not sure there's a lot more you can do.

I'm sorry It's clear you've had a long fight for her and have put in all the time and effort possible to keep her comfortable for as long as you can x

[bertie666]

If she's very sore in boots then Id be querying her quality of life - if she has to be in 24.7 that would be the end for me.

Which boots did you try? The easyboot gloves are about the most slimline ones I can think of.

I think the management is obviously a big issue here, chronic lami and EMS would scream at me you need either a massive barn + cattle yard + wood chip tracks etc to keep her off grass - on soaked hay and mineral balanced etc etc

Clearly that isnt possible on a LY or unless you have a healthy bank balance to put towards the project :/

[mandal]

Pads in the boots are one option if you think it's worth a try. These pads can be cut to size and taped on or put in some deeper types of boots I believe. They squash down and mould to the hoof very quickly.

www.equinepodiatrysupplies.co.uk/Pads/EPS-4-lb-Pads

[passingpanda]

I have a horse with similar issues to yours . Speak with your farrier to see if he can use Vettec products to make a "shoe" to help with foot soreness.
It isn't cheap but it's good stuff.

[calekio]

I just feel so torn.. and last thing i want to do is give up on her and then feel like i've let her down ... (especially when vet is saying lets see what happens when we pull the shoes...) a few days in the box we can both deal with.. especially in this weather as it was on the cards anyway as she was struggling to move well over the frozen ground... but i'm not doing weeks or months again... she can't cope with it... (let alone me!)

Her arthritis isn't that bad... she's only been on bute about a week low dose when the weather really turned, according to xrays she barely has arthritic change... lol and she was being weaned off it anyway (i basically give her bute when she looks like she is struggling.. off when she is moving ok behind)

My farrier had also said previously about pulling shoes off... as he said her feet have changed shape... but me and vet thought she'd still be too sore.... and i was reluctant to change something that at the time was working.

she has easyboot orignals with the black pads... but the pads have no give in them and are very hard... maybe the other pads might be better to try... :/ I think i looked at gloves but... either they didn't come small enough... or did they have to be put on by a farrier???

[bertie666]

Gloves dont have to be put on by a farrier (yet - im sure the FRC would luuuurve to get that passed - sorry diverted!)

Are they the sole mates pads? Those give like a sponge and u end up with the imprint of the horses hoof on them.

If shes in constant pain because of her feet she might well thankyou for letting her go

[potto]

xxxxx

[curlytobiano]

So sorry Calekio, its horrible for you and you clearly have worked so hard to give May a decent life. I should think right now you are at a very low point and some times this can get in the way of having good ideas or any faith in the possibility that things might get better. I would give it a bit of time and as you say, she may well not mind being in full time right now as the weather is so ghastly anyway. Give yourself time to get past the immediate body blow and see how you feel in a few days. ((((hugs)))) x x

[KoLaTo]

Friend of mine's farrier made her shettie aluminium race shoes and glued them on, worked for a while but he had very much similar issues to yours and she let him go in the end after a very long hard fight. No quality of life IMO if she is sore even in boots.

[calekio]

I dont think she is in constant pain at the moment... Luckily she is very good at letting me know when she isn't happy...just in behaviour.
I must admit more time to think and well maybe what vet says is worth a try as long as she is happy and pain free... I did this over the shoes.. As she was so uncomfortable, farrier wasn't keen on idea of trying to get heart bars on her.. Etc I was like 'this isn't going to work' but it did... Maybe as farrier said... Her feet have changed shape..maybe that is good.. I suppose wait and see.. So far she still has them on.. But kept in the box.. She wad more unhappy that hay ran out today.. Lol but then hay runs out in the field as well and currently she is sharing her stable with her cushings friend at night who is quite tiny.. But maybe she is enjoying the company.. (well.. She isn't sitting on him! Lol)

[Pony-Nutt]

What about wraps?

[june]

Most of my lot are barefoot but one has front shoes on as we can't get her sound without them. She lost shoes a lot this summer and pulled chunks of hoof wall off. The farrier has been quite creative and put on wraps with shoes nailed mostly into the wrap. That was pretty successful and allowed her feet to recover sufficiently to keep the shoes on for that last two shoeings. Might be worth having a chat with the farrier about wraps.

[calekio]

wraps?? What are wraps??