Help with rescued horse

[wpenfold]

I have a 4 yr old gelding rescued 8 months ago. He had never had his feet trimmed, plus had been confined to a stall for a year or more. He toes out on both front feet about 20 degrees or more. He had severe thrush, no frogs, contracted heels and his inside hoof walls had folded under so he was walking on them. His feet have improved greatly with some regular trimming, thrush is cleared up, he has frogs again, and he is sound. However his hoof walls are deformed and don't grow straight and my farrier does not know what to do about them. The inside hoof wall grows in at an angle towards his frog. His inside heel tips in and is underrun. At the walk and trot he hits on the outside of his foot and rolls to the inside. Do you think it would be helpful to use a product like Vettec's SuperFast to build out his inside hoof wall in the hopes that if his foot is getting the proper pressure that the hoof wall will start growing straighter? Also, would it be better for his long term soundness, to try to get his foot so it hits flat? To do this the inside of his foot will have to be probably 3/4 inch higher than the outside? Do you have any suggestions for shoeing for a horse that turns out this much? I'd like to use him for some dressage. He's a very nice mover with a big lofty trot despite the condition his feet are in. Thanks for your ideas! Wendy

[Phil Armitage]

Hi Wendy, bad feet are not the only problems, this horse probably has no muscleing at all which means his tendons and ligaments are not supporting his skeletal structure very well, which affect the shape and condition of the feet. I recommend doing daily ground work with him, do what he can tolerate for short periods of time like walk and trot on a lunge. I recommend doing this before you get on his back, get his abs and back muscles stronger first so he can handle the weight on his back. It could take months maybe over a year to get him into reasonble shape. Being confined to a stall for a year is like a human put into a small box, the muscles atrophy and tendons, ligaments and joints are weak. He needs regular light excercise. Daily turn out will help alot. After he gets stronger the feet will also improve as long as there is no permanant damage to internal structures cause by lack of circulation and thrush. It will take much more than 8 months to get those feet and his body into good shape. I would just keep him on a regular trimming schedule and keep excercising him. This could take over a year to resolve. The other thing that probably was missing was nutrition, which also affect the feet. You have a long project on your hands but it will be very rewarding. Glad to see good people like you who will take on a recue horse and give them a second chance and better life. Good luck on your Dressage and maybe we will see you at the Olympics. :)

[wpenfold]

Hi Phil, Thanks for your response. You are right that it is going to take a long time to get him back into shape. His tendons were very contracted and he had little muscleing. He has been running outside since I brought him home. He only comes in for grain once a day unless the weather or flys are really bad, and he looks like a different horse. He is sound now, and I have started him under saddle and am trail riding him very lightly. He's really a sweetheart to have survived that neglect with such a positive attitude. My farrier just doesn't know what to do about his feet--they are very mishapen and she doesn't know what problem to address first. I don't want to switch farriers, she's been doing my horses a long time, this is just a little beyond her experience. Is it possible to upload a picture on here so maybe we could get some ideas on what to do? Wendy

[Dave Purves]

How straight are the legs, what deviations do you have from knee to pastern to coffin joints? Do you have any x-rays, to give you an idea of what damage has been done to the internal structures? If you don't have or want to get x-rays and you just want to wing it, the only thing you can do in my opinion is put shoes on the horse and support the foot where you belive the support should be. That means you may have 1 inch of shoe hanging out but you will help the horse support the bony column. I bet though that if you had some x-rays you would see alot of distortion to P3 and that causes everything else to reshape around it. Many times the damage that has been done to these poor guys cannot be undone and the best you can hope for is a good friend that stays sound with little work. My wife and I have rescued a few horses in similar condition and we have learned to expect the worst and be happy with soundness and an apetite. Very few rescued horses will make good competition horses, the damage that is done by bad living conditions and malnurishment many times cannot be fixed to the point of campaigning a horse. Do all you can to find out exactly what is wrong, the best way to fix it and be happy when you have a good friend and a good trail horse.
best of luck
Dave :)

[wpenfold]

Hi, I've uploaded some pictures. He's in pretty good condition now and sound. If you look at the picture of his left fore from the rear you can see the 'squashed' effect the inside of his foot has. The inside hoof wall is undershot and grows at an angle in towards his frog--yet his heel looks higher to me on that side?... His right fore is not quite as bad. Do you have any suggestion on how to proceed on this? Thanks! Wendy

[wpenfold]

Here are some more pictures... What I would like is some ideas on how to fix his feet as much as possible and best keep him sound for long term. I know there may be damage to the internal structures that can't be repaired. I haven't had any xrays. Would that help to know what to do with his feet? I'm not planning on doing any serious competing with him. My farrier is stumped because there are conflicting problems to deal with. He seems to have sheared heels with the inside heel being higher, but he hits on the outside heel first at walk and trot and she thinks it best for long term soundness that his feet hit as nearly flat as possible--which implies raising his inside heel. I'm a single parent so I don't have a lot of money to spend on him--not that he doesn't deserve it. I can afford to give him reasonably good care and lots of attention. He's really a sweetheart--despite being a stallion (gelded now) and being confined in a stall for over a year, he was still sane.

[cynthia-jay]

Beautifull animal...worth rescuing...

Sheared heels are painfull and expect your horse to go thru ouchyness as you level or balance him up.

X rays would be benificial to your Farrier to help determine the true angles ect and show any internal damages that may or may not be there.

As you continue to balance this horse up and get him level you should be OK and it can be done barefoot or shod depending on the skills and talents of your Farrier.

Usually a shoe is used to stablize the sheared heel and the owner can also aid in filing the heel that is jammed up to drop down on a daily basis.

There are several ways to address this situation and I wish you the best of luck,
as always,
Jay

[Phil Armitage]

Hi Wendy, I looked at the pictures and I have to say your Farrier is doing an excellent job. When you consider what this horse went through and the damage caused by lack of proper hoof care and then left in a stall for a year lacking excercise and proper nutrition it is amazing his body, limbs the feet are in this good of shape. I would continue what you and your farrier are doing. X-rays are nice, however I do not see any reason to spend the money on them. The deformed hoof capsule may or may not be permanent and it may or may not cause stress and sorness in the feet. I would just take it a day at a time and see what they look like a year from now. He obvioulsy has a better home and better care now, this horse is tough, imagine if he had proper care to start with. Tell your Farrier for me that I am very impressed with what he/she has done. Both of you deserve a huge pat on the back for bringing this horse around. As far as shoeing him, I would continue leaving him barefoot unless you absolutely need shoes, you could help the LF inside heel by shoeing, but I like what I see right now and this is just going to take time. The important thing is your farrier knows how to trim. Give him a year or good care and to be a horse and then come up with a plan. Keratex has some good products that might help you guys out, can look at there products on the market place on this site. There Web site is very informative.

Phil