Trauma Injury front right hoof??

[Rusticomac]

I have a 7 year old Hanovarian Mare who has injured her front right hoof. Last year she had a very similar injury and I had a full lameness workup done but it showed nothing ie "the coffin bone, navicular bone and associated structures were normal. On that examination there was some soreness on the inside wall of the hoof with hoof testers but no radiographic changes associated with that. The most common reason for this type of lameness when abcesses and gravels in the wall are ruled out is trauma to the wall and thus inflammation" The particular hoof in question does toe in fairly significantly so I do suspect that she is hitting it with her left front hoof. This is an extremely hot horse and often does loose her cool. When the injury occured this year it was in April and I was attempting to lunge her to let off some steam - she took off at a full gallop and threw in a bucking fit at the same time - I did hear lots of clicking of the hoofs and she immediately came up dead lame - to the point of standing on 3 legs and holding the front right up off the ground. She has shown significant improvement but when she starts to feel better she seems to re-injur herself. I have tried a month long tranquilizer on her but it lasted only 2 weeks until she was back to her hot self again. Any advice on getting this horse sound would be appreciated. She now has magic cushion under leather pads and always wears bell boots. Is there anything that could protect her hoof better then bell boots?

[cynthia-jay]

eliminate the exact cause and you will eliminate the effect

Try video taping this horse that you can revies in slow-motion and check her angles for balance

A bruising to the hoof will cause ouchy ness

does she get enough turn out to get rid of all that excess energy?

and are you feeding her a rocket fuel diet of pure energy?

These should also be considered and factored in

Hope these suggestions head you in the right direction

best to you and yours
as always
Jay

[calshoer]

I would be seriously looking at evaluating bone alignment and hoof balance with Xrays set up specifically for that purpose. Sighting a pigeon toed foot to try ot balance it can sometimes get the farrier (and horse) in trouble. Pigeon toed horses are commonly "victims" of medial lateral imbalance caused by well meanign farriers who try to make it better.
If there IS some M/L imbalance it could certainly inflame or otherwise injure a colateral ligamnt, or one side of one of the ligaments connecting to the navicular bone, or the coffin joint itself.
Early injuries to ligament structures would not show up on an Xray. Only later as the bone remodelled in resoponse to stress in the connection from ligament to bone would any radiographic changes to the bone show up.
If the vets have not yet Xrayed the foot for internal balance,you should insist the ydo that before she gets trimmed or shod again. Looking at INTERNAL bone column alignment and medial lateral balance (even joint spaces and the bottom of the coffin bone level to the ground side to side, AND breakover point relative to the coffin bone.

Issues with ANY of those could cause the ongoing lameness you describe. And there are very specific ways to take these Xrays as they are not for diagnostics , they are special "blueprints" for the farrier . Go to edsshoofcare.com, click into the "tutorial" (the little red book in the homepage) and in one section of the tutorial there are instructions from a veterinarian on how to take the Xrays.
Patty

[Rusticomac]

Thank You for your replies - I hadn't thought of video taping her, thats a good idea Cynthia Jay, I will do that. However, if I do detect that she is striking herself what do I do? As for turn out - I have tried turning her out but she is a complete "alpha mare" she bullies the other horses relentlessly. We have tried turning her out by herself but she has to be the last horse out & first horse in or she goes nuts. So now she is back to no turnout - no grain, only flaxseed,beetpulp and hay. I walk her for about 20 mins- 1/2 hour and graze her for another 20 mins. She is a dressage horse so when she was sound she was in moderate to heavy work 5 days a week she was also receiving grain in addition to her current rations. Calshoer, your timing is absolutely impeccable as I have the vet coming tomorrow to do another set of x-rays! Thank You both very much for your input. If she does have ligament damage , she is now training at 3rd level and I have hopes to move further , would it be possible with the cooperation of a good farrier or would she be pretty much toast?

[cynthia-jay]

When you have your Vet out also pay attention to the rear end of this horse as well

She should look a bit like she turns out in the rears but moves correct

That is where the push comes from or the engine of the horse

If your Farrier is trying to correct the mare in the front there may be an over correction to the rears as well and she may be hitting the fronts

you may want to consider flexion test as well and have her checked for soft tissue injury as Patty suggests (try soft sand and hard ground to see if there is a varying degree of lameness)

Warmbloods are unique to the Equine world and their ahletic ability and size and are dependant on balance among other issues

Have your Farrier review the video as well as he/she may be able to determine the cause and your Vet may prescribe a set of script shoes/trims for balance

She should heal and be able to go on with training and a good balance trimming/shoeing with a competant Farrier/Vet team

Once you are confidant in this and she is moving correct you should be able to remove he bell boots as gimics and she should be moving freely again without interfearance

best of luck to you and your horse and let us know how it went

as ever
Jay

you may want to try a goat or pony as a companion animal for this horse for turn out and try a different type of grain as in just plain steam rolled oats over a sweet feed

[Rusticomac]

The x-rays shows that my mare is too low in the heel so the recommendation is wedge pads to eventually bring her up 5 degrees and a course of bute for 10 days.
Her diet is low in starch, a high fat high fibre pelleted ration when she is working - I tried her on oats but that was an extremely hot feed for her as it made her extremely tense and spooky , she lost a lot of weight while she was on oats as well. As far as a pony or a goat in her paddock, I board so it's not feasible, she was turned out with a miniature horse for a while but she tormented him and chased him constantly so we had to stop.

[mindless]

Good suggestion Cynthia ... You should really try to tape this horse, and then revies it in slow-motion and check the angles for balance.