Posted by Gary on October 21, 2003 at 22:48:51:
In Reply to: Soft sole on one foot posted by trudy on October 21, 2003 at 17:30:39:
: Chief is a 13 yr old, registered appy. He is 16.2h and weights between 1300-1500lbs. He has white, black striped hooves. I have had him for 3 years. During that time he has come up with a soft sole on right front foot. I had the farrier put a pad and shoes on him. Kept shoes for about 2 years and then tried him without any. He ends up with mushroom looking feet that pancake outward from the hairline over time. So, back on went the shoes in front.
: This past month we took them off again and he was lame for 6 weeks. He would limp on that one foot. Soft sole on that one foot. Tried the turpentine and DMSO route, without any change. Farrier trimmed him up when he came out again and the hoof looked strange. The area along the toe, just inside the white line, was concaved and dark before trimming. The sole had uneven growth with the outside growth higher than the inside part of the foot (toward his body v.s. outside). After trimming, a black line was still seen deeper into the hoof. It reminded me of a cellary stalk cut off at the end. Dark, separated tissue, not flat and solid like the rest of the hoof. The black line area is hard to describe. The area wasn't solid across, you could see up inside where it was stringy looking and pulled apart. Sorry, hard to describe. This wasn't crumbling like whiteline disease. It was just like layers that pulled apart, like the edges of book pages seen from the side. You could pull the pages apart and see into the crevice into the hoof, like between the pages of a book. Hope that helps.
: Put shoes back on. Sole was still soft but not as much as prior to the six weeks before removing the shoes and trimming. After two days, he is rideable again with shoes.
: Farrier thinks he might have a rotated hoof capsule, not the coffin bone. I don't want to go through the hassle and expense of x-rays if this is not the case.
: Any suggestions?
You need to go ahead with the radiographs! Thats the only way to see whats going on inside with the coffin bone. The seperation at the toe could be seedy toe or the results from an abcess in that area. The sole is and keeps bruising because of the lack of support from the hoof wall at that area of the hoof. Quit quessing and spend the money before it gets worst, Good Luck! Gary