Posted by Sarah on September 11, 2003 at 15:40:15:
I know that most corns are caused by incorrect shoeing, however I seem to have a horse who is prone to corns due to her conformation (this is what the vet said) and am wondering how to help her. I have had her four years (two farriers during this time), and this summer is the third time I have had lameness from the corns, which are on the insides of both her front feet but usually cause lameness only in the LF (this summer was both feet, possibly exascerbated by wet weather). You can usually see the corns but she is mostly sound on them. She lands on the inside of her foot. I have an excellent farrier and two other farriers plus two vets have examined her and told me that the shoes are not causing the corns. They were set quite full.
I would like to know what else we can do. We have started taking off more on the lateral side of the foot at the suggestion of the vet, and now she is in heart bars to relieve the pressure on her heels as she was very lame in both front feet this summer(she's sound now but off and on for a couple months). It appears that the corns had abscessed this summer which is what was causing the pain. I am concerned about how this might cause other problems by putting stress on her legs. Can you tell me more about strategies for shoeing horses with corns (medial side)?