# Collapsed heels/lameness/barefoot/remedial?



## little_flea (25 June 2010)

Our lovely mare suddenly suffered a massive change in hoof quality - suddenly her feet which were always pretty ok, just started crumbling - inside they seemed "wet". She was always in shoes with side clips but there wasn't enough to attach to so she got toe-clips, and as there wasn't enough good hoof to nail to, she briefly went lame and pottery. Hoof walls were filled with glue and shoes nailed through that instead. Trouble is that this just doesn't stay on - had to re-do it twice in 5 weeks.

Then our physio came out and said Maggie was bilaterally lame in both front feet. Farrier out again and Maggie has sore heels because they have collapsed with the sudden deterioration in hoof quality. Discussed what to do - bar shoes, etc. The problem is that there really isn't enough hoof to nail to, so farrier suggested to simply take her shoes off for 6 weeks and just let her be in the field. Without shoes she is really footsore (though ok on grass), feet are really flat so the hoof pastern axis is all wrong, and there would be some rotation of the pedal bone as well. There will obviously be a strain on ligaments and tendons as well in the long term.

My farrier is a AWFC remedial farrier and he is really not a fan of barefoot and thinks it generally damages horses, but he just felt that as the hoof is so poor, leaving the shoes off for a bit might stimulate more growth - and also the fact that it is near on impossible to keep the shoes on.

I am awaiting the opinion of another remedial farrier on Monday. In the meantime Maggie is just in the field. 

Now, what would you do? I realise there are many different approaches here. I am worried about everything about being barefoot - navicular, tendons, rotation of pedal bone, the fact she is footsore. I am also worried about putting bar shoes on as there is such a difference in opinion on how well this really works for collapsed heels.

Shall I get her to a vet for x-rays? Will these be at all valuable if she doesn't have shoes on? Do you think barefoot for 6 weeks will damage her more? Do you think barefoot in the field for 4 days might be harmful? 

I have never had this before, and it happened so suddenly and I don't know who to trust.


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

For the record, we have changed her diet (to Healthy Hooves + supplement). She is a big mare, 17.2hh TBxID and this is her in March before feet went bad - as you can see her conformation in front isn't perfect and she had actually lost the shoe on the nearside front in this pic - but she is endlessly worse now.


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## Angua2 (25 June 2010)

6 weeks in the field bare foot, might allow enough growth for the next shoeing, however she may well wear the foot down in the field.  Being foot sore off the field is about par for the course.  
IMO it is unlikely that just because the hoof qualitiy has deterioated that there will be any affect on the the pedal bone.  Does she have naturally flat feet?  I just ask as my two do (although sid was exacerbated by old injury).  Ru is horribly flat and lame without shoes, but there is no affect on her tendons/navicular/pedal bone, as that is just how she is built.
Bar shoes do work on collaspsed heals, but from my experience you do need to keep the toe short..... but again you do need foot to nail too.

Do you feed her any suppliements that can help? and did anything significant change a while ago as that may affect the current quality of the hoof.

I must say I am surprised that your farrier is against barefoot.... I realise that it does take away revenue, but to say it damages horses, when it is the way they are designed is a little odd.  Horses compete very well barefoot.  There is a particular race horse trainer that has his horses barefoot, Linda Mcalpine has her dressage horses barefoot.  But it is horses for courses, some horses can and some cant!


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## WellyBaggins (25 June 2010)

hello

we have a horse on our yard that has this problem every summer, he is in eggbar shoes but the first time this happened he had, like yours no foot to nail onto, we fed him Navilox for 3 months, to encourage hoof growth, this worked, he grew enough foot, fairly quickly to nail onto.  Last spring we put him on a course of Navilox again, to prevent it happening again, which worked, this summer he has not "touch wood" been on the Navilox or had any problems.  This horse has horrific feet though and will always have to be in bar shoes.  Good luck!


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## Kayfm (25 June 2010)

Put her in equi boots ?


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## jj4y (25 June 2010)

little_flea said:



			My farrier is a AWFC remedial farrier and he is really not a fan of barefoot and thinks it generally damages horses, but he just felt that as the hoof is so poor, leaving the shoes off for a bit might stimulate more growth - and also the fact that it is near on impossible to keep the shoes on.
		
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Personally I'd be rather concerned about your farrier - if it were me, I'd be looking elsewhere.  Fair enough that he's not a personal fan of barefoot, but to say that it generally damages horses is ridiculous.  My horses are barefoot because I prefer them to be that way - my old lad's feet are so much better since removing his shoes and he easily copes with hacking out on roads 3-4 times weekly and stays out for full days whilst hunting.  But I'm open-minded on the subject, as I'm fully aware that some horses don't appear to cope as well barefoot.  I'm intending to keep my youngster barefoot if at all possible, but if it turns out to not suit him then he'll be shod.  

To be honest it just sounds as though he's trying to get more money out of you for remedial shoeing.  It certainly sounds as though shoeing really isn't working for her at the moment.  I think getting the 2nd opinion on Monday is a really wise idea.  But perhaps worth speaking to a barefoot specialist as well?  Not sure whereabouts you are, I use a natural hoofcare practitioner who I couldn't recommend enough.  She also advises on diet and appropriate mineral supplementation which is specific to your horse.

I hope you find a solution for her, she looks a lovely mare.


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

Thanks everyone. 

Angua2 - she has slightly flat feet but not as bad as yours. She is on feed/supplements recommended by farrier and nutritional specialists. I guess the concern about bar shoes is that it can put more pressure on sore heels and crush growth. 

Kayfm - what would equiboots do? Just make her less foot sore?

jj4y - Sorry, I think I didn't explain myself very clearly - farrier is not really saying that barefoot damages horses, just that in his experience very few benefit from it. He has still suggested it as a temporary "course of treatment" - I just don't think he sees it as feasible for a large competition horse like ours. I don't think he is trying to get money out of me  he has given me a list of options, one of which is to try glue-on shoes (Imprint) which could potentially work in the short term, but he thinks is ridiculously costly for the benefits - which is why he recommended barefoot for a while instead.


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## Angua2 (25 June 2010)

Just a thought about the  suppliements.  while reccomended, do they actually work.  With Sids I tried quite a few different products and the one I found had the best results was F4F!..... I don't know why or how it worked.  I came to the conculsion that as it was also a balancer it helped the hindgut where most of the absorption of things took place ( if I remember the reading I did well) and that he was now getting what he needed.  I had similar results with topspec


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## Bethie (25 June 2010)

Sorry for all the questions but I'm not sure from your post how or where the "crumbliness" is, is it all over the foot or just round the walls?   What colour/texture/smell is it?   Are you looking at thrush, canker or white line disease (seedy toe)?   

Have you had a vet out yet?   Sudden deterioration in the feet can be an indication of other issues in the body (or can of course be a localised problem), but I think you really need someone out to examine the horse and see what is happening (again, sorry if you've already done this, not clear to me from your post!).

Has your farrier been shoeing the horse for a long time or is he new to you?   Are you sure this is a significant sudden deterioration or has a change in foot shape been creeping up on you and only now become noticeable to you?   X rays may well help if you aren't too sure about what's gone on with the shoeing in order to get farrier to trim back to where the feet should be.

The crumbliness to me suggests a bacterial infection of some sort at least, which generally prefer anaerobic conditions and are better off being exposed to some fresh air, which means shoes off and preferably out in the field not stood in the stable no matter how clean you try and keep it!   I'd look at soaking the foot daily in an antibacterial solution such as Milton for starters, or you could look up cleantrax which is a real faff of a procedure to do but you generally only need to do it once and it does pretty much kill everything.   If your horse can't cope with the walk to the field I'd put boots on to get her there and back and leave her to potter about in the field with nothing on, with bute if you need to.


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## the watcher (25 June 2010)

I've recently had to deal with lameness owing to collapsed heels, fortunately the hoof had not gone crumbly which is a seperate problem.

In our case we had Xrays of the feet which confirmed that there was caudal rotation of the pedal bone causing pain so we had wide web shoes put on the fronts which where built up at the back to put the bones of the feet back in the right position.
From there we have concentrated on building up the heels, it will be 5 months or before we are anywhere near using standard shoes.

Going barefoot in this case would not have relieved pain and could have led to permanent damage. In other cases it can be very useful for repairing feet or as a long term strategy.


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## WellyBaggins (25 June 2010)

The bar shoes will not crush growth, they will definately help, they spread the pressure elsewhere.  Have you tried http://www.equilife.co.uk/Solution4 Feet.htm this is what our vet suggested, along with the Navilox (this horse does not have navicular, just rubbish feet).


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

Bethie - thanks. We haven't had the vet out yet, only found out she was lame less than a week ago and got farrier out asap. He has been shoeing her for as long as we've had her - just over a year. He says that it may be worth doing a biopsy for white line disease but doesn't think it is bacterial - the part of the hoof that looks rubbish will probably last for 2 more shoeings and after that it looks like the horn quality is decent again.

Problem is that we don't have many vets I actually trust round here - I was going to take her to a specialist for a general MOT anyway as she is 11 this year and has show jumped all her life but I can't get an appointment for another few weeks. My farrier says it isn't really worth getting the vet out at this stage as it is pretty obvious to him that all issues are directly related to deterioration of hoof quality which in his opinion is in turn directly related to nutrition. But I will get a second opinion. What other issues in the body are you thinking of?

She is currently in for 6-8 hours during the day (on shavings) as we don't have very good grazing to sustain 24h - and out for the rest. She is pottery on hard ground but can walk and it is not far to the field. Seems fine on grass. She is on bute as well.

Angua 2 - not sure if the supplements work yet, too soon to tell, but on farriers and nutritionalists recommendation we changed the entire diet to one designed for better hooves as the absorption rate is much better than with just an added supplement.


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

Thanks EmmyC, Solution4Feet looks good. What does Navilox do? Is it prescription only?


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## WellyBaggins (25 June 2010)

The formula 4 feet solution is really good   Navilox is Isuxuprine, it increases the blood supply to the foot, encouraging hoof growth, it is primarily used to treat Navicular as it increases the blood supply to that area but it also really useful in those horses that don't have a lot of foot.  Yes it is POM, I know as I have used it in my old horse, who does have navicular and we have also used it for this horse that has poo feet


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## stormybracken (25 June 2010)

I suggest you do consult a vet as soon as possible so you have an independent expert to talk through all your questions.  Something has caused her foot to deteriorate, and without diagnosing and treating that you are in the dark!


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## Elsbells (25 June 2010)

I'm no expert, but I have taken my flatfooted and 'cannot be done', putty soled SFxID mare barefoot. There are however a lot of milestones before you get there.

She was a competition horse who had been heavily jumped and shod for at least 5 years before I bought her. Her feet were terrible really and could not hold a shoe for longer than a few days, so I had them taken off last summer to allow her to grow some decent horn to nail a shoe to. It wasn't out of choice that I did this, it just seemed to be the only sensible option at the time and I have to say her feet have greatly improved and I also think that she is a lot happier too, which is a plus. 

To start with she couldn't walk on the concrete drive and I had to walk her on the verge to her stable which was shocking, so I simply had to research up on the task ahead. I turned her out 24/7 and brought her in each afternoon to check her, groom and feed some supplements to her. I also walked her in hand on hard level surfaces to toughen her up and slowly proressed to riding her for maybe 20 mins at a time. I also bought her some Renegade boots for her fronts and then we really started to do more as she became more comfortable barefoot.
The only thing she struggles with now are stoney and gravely surfaces such as grit on concrete or large stoney paths and I still toy with the idea of popping shoes back on all the time. On the roads though, she is fantastic, she steps out happily at trot and without her boots! This fact keeps me going and I really don't want to shoe her yet, if at all. Her hooves are like rock, the putty soles and the flares are gone, her hoof cicumferance is larger, the soles have lifted off the ground and she clatters louder than her shod stablemates, which has shocked a few at my yard including my old farrier who asked if she was the same mare! My trimmer tells me that all we need to do this summer is get the internal structures of her feet right and we'll be well away. I ride her every day on different teraine and the more I do with her, the faster her feet grow and the stronger they'll become. She is growing her second lot of full foot now which is beautiful and will be thicker and tighter at the white line. Also her frogs are in prime health.
It is very scarey when you first take off those shoes and you do feel evil and uncareing, but if that's what they need to regain foot health and horn quality and for how ever long is needed, then that is what we have to do.

When I take a wobble and almost call the farrier, I try to content myself with the memory of when I was a kid, all horses then seem to have their shoes removed at the end of the season to rest the feet. 
Now there seems to be no end to the season as we have so much indoors etc, hense a lot never get rested.

My mares feet I believe are having a well earned rest

I wish you all the luck with her and I hope all bodes well for her future for her, that being barefoot, or shod.


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## Bethie (25 June 2010)

little_flea said:



			Bethie - thanks. We haven't had the vet out yet, only found out she was lame less than a week ago and got farrier out asap. He has been shoeing her for as long as we've had her - just over a year. He says that it may be worth doing a biopsy for white line disease but doesn't think it is bacterial - the part of the hoof that looks rubbish will probably last for 2 more shoeings and after that it looks like the horn quality is decent again.

Problem is that we don't have many vets I actually trust round here - I was going to take her to a specialist for a general MOT anyway as she is 11 this year and has show jumped all her life but I can't get an appointment for another few weeks. My farrier says it isn't really worth getting the vet out at this stage as it is pretty obvious to him that all issues are directly related to deterioration of hoof quality which in his opinion is in turn directly related to nutrition. But I will get a second opinion. What other issues in the body are you thinking of?

She is currently in for 6-8 hours during the day (on shavings) as we don't have very good grazing to sustain 24h - and out for the rest. She is pottery on hard ground but can walk and it is not far to the field. Seems fine on grass. She is on bute as well.

Angua 2 - not sure if the supplements work yet, too soon to tell, but on farriers and nutritionalists recommendation we changed the entire diet to one designed for better hooves as the absorption rate is much better than with just an added supplement.
		
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I would be surprised if the foot shape becoming long toed/low heeled and the horse showing indications of pain was a nutritional issue, and would be wary of a farrier saying a horse presenting like this did not need to see a vet.   Yes horn quality is affected by the diet, but it sounds like there are possibly two distinct issues going on with her feet now.   I would want a knowledgeable equine vet to see her within the next few days, before you have the other farrier look at her for preference as it is likely that the vet will want to discuss/instruct the farrier on how to proceed with her care.   If that means travelling her out then that's what you need to do, but have you tried asking on here if anybody can recommend a vet that will cover your area?

Foot quality can show up nutritional issues as you know, also if the foot has been trimmed away from its preferred shape then that stresses the wall and can break down the bonds between the hoof tubules, which generally shows up as drying and cracks in the hoof rather than wet and crumbly which as I said above generally indicates infection.   Your farrier mentioned sectioning a foot, which is a procedure I find  a bit horrific, but is done to get air to the infected area.   I would be trying exposing the infection at the sole level before cutting away the hoof wall by debriding (using a stiff brush, wire brush maybe) to expose as much of the problem area as possible then applying something to kill off the bacteria that are there.   

Lots more I want to say but I'm out for the rest of the day now, will try and get back to you tomorrow if possible but I would suggest you try and sort out a vet's appointment this afternoon for next week.


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## asommerville (25 June 2010)

I totally feel your pain!!! My horse had very very poor quality feet when i bought her and could not hold a shoe for any length of time, she is a TBxID and like your mare is quite big and chunky.  I totally agree with what you are doing with regards to feed supplements however i would also suggest that you got her some cornucresine I swear by it and after a few weeks it made a massive difference to Amber's feet.  I put it on her coronet band every day and now (although she is lame again) her feet are no longer broken and crumbly.  I remember reading somewhere that if a horse has a good shiny coat and is otherwise in good condition then it might be that something needs added to the feet from the outside rather than just supplements as apparanlty it is the same thing that makes the coat and the feet grow and maintain condition?  Might be that i am talking rubbish and picked it up totally wrong but i woudl definitly suggest that you tried the cornucresine.  Good luck!!!


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## asommerville (25 June 2010)

Also can i just say that if your farrier is saying not to get the vet then i would look for a new farrier!!!! It definitley sounds like she needs a vets opinion especially if she is lame?


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

Farrier is not against getting the vet out, of course not - he just thinks that the whole issue is so obviously related to her hoof quality - the heels have collapsed because of this. He seems entirely sure it is a nutritional issue, but of course you could be right that it could be something else. 

I just hate the fact that you can't even trust a highly regarded farrier with huge amounts of experience and qualifications. I never feel sure that I am enlisting the right people - it is an absolute nightmare. 

Will get vet out asap regardless of farriers advice. thank you.


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## amandap (25 June 2010)

Hi I think it' may be time for an holistic look at how diet, management etc. is affecting his feet. If his hoof is too crumbly to nail then I would imagine he needs a time out of shoes to grow stronger feet, which doesn't happen over night. If I were you I'd start learning about how feet work here's a link I always put up for starters... feet are not seperate from the rest of the body so diet etc. has a great effect on them as well as trimming/shoeing.
http://www.hoofrehab.com/

Also some of the horses feet pictured here belong to big horses.
http://www.progressivehorse.co.uk/html/pin-ups.html


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## Angua2 (25 June 2010)

One thing that has just occured to me.... and I may be horribly wrong in my assumption, but I was of the understanding that collapsed heels develop not just occur.


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## amandap (25 June 2010)

May I just add too that a barefoot approach in the case of rotated pedal bone differs from Farriery in that the emphasis is on allowing the sole under the coffin bone (especially at the front of the foot) to thicken and so push the bone up as well as provide more protection as opposed to just lowering the heels or cutting tendons to alter the coffin/pedal bone angle. The foot is encouraged by trim, management and usually dietry changes to remodel itself into a better structure whilst being comfortable etc.
I'm not a professional so this is my basic thinking on how barefoot can be beneficial to get a foot stronger and healthier.


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## amandap (25 June 2010)

Sorry to keep posting but #I'm too slow to edit in time. here's a case study with collapsed heels. http://www.thenaturalhoof.co.uk/18.html


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

I have now spoken to our vet who is an orthopaedic specialist  he says that there is no point in him coming out before the second farrier has taken a look at the horse. Our regular farrier and the farrier that is coming on Monday are by far the best in the area for remedial shoeing in his opinion. He said that he thinks remedial shoeing (ideally with glue-on metal shoe) will be better than leaving barefoot.

As to whether it could be an infection - vet feels that both these farriers are completely qualified to judge whether further action re this needs to be taken as well as whether x-rays may be necessary.

So I will wait until second farrier has been and see what he says.

Thank you for all your advice and comments.


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

Vet suggested looking into Sigafoos shoes (which one of these farriers use) - any experiences?


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## cptrayes (25 June 2010)

"farrier is ....... saying ....... that in his experience very few benefit from it (barefoot)"

If you have quoted your farrier correctly this time, he is talking utter nonsense. I haven't seen one yet that did not benefit from it in terms of hoof quality.

I have "cured" the most collapsed pair of heels you will ever see in your life, after two farriers told me he could not work barefoot, and he evented on his bare heels within months. I can send you a photo if you would like to see his non-existant bars and the bulbs of his heels sat almost on the floor.

Your farrier is, however, almost certainly right when he says it's a nutritional problem, although it does sound as though the nutritional problem has allowed an infection to grab hold in the white line or between the inner and outer hoof wall (it's common in summer to see feet "peel" to the nail holes). 

You may not feel able to address the nutrition, which in your mare's case could quite possibly require removing her from summer grass. If you can't do that then you should carry on with shoes. But if you are prepared to take the time and test a low-sugar, high fibre  diet for your horse and allow her some time to build a stronger foot before you expect too much in the way of work, then I'm sure I won't be alone in assuring you that your mare knows how to grow herself a good set of feet without shoes, if only you can give her the conditions to do that.


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

Thank you. I am not knowledgeable enough to be able to devise a full veterinary, nutritional, management and farriery programme myself, so I have no other choice than to take advise from highly qualified professionals. I can only do as much reading on the subject as I can in order to arm myself with the right questions, and then I think I will have to follow the advise of farriers/vet and see how we go.


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## little_flea (25 June 2010)

cptrayes - the horse is on Healthy Hoof + the accompanying hoof supplement (plus a number of others that are not feet related). She is out around 15-16 h a day and the grazing is pretty poor.


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## cptrayes (25 June 2010)

little flea there are horses which do not do well on commercial prepared supplements made up with man-made chemicals. These horses require supplementation with more bio-available forms of the chemicals, ie as delivered by nature. Brewer's Yeast is great for this. There are others that seem to need huge "overdoses", which is why Farriers Formula is now available in double strength and I know of people feeding double strength at double dose!  There are also horses who cannot take any grazing at all. They are rare, but I have a rehab who is totally grass intolerant and his feet are bendable with my fingers unless he is kept without grass. He has been on the barest of bare paddocks and he still could not manage, shod or barefoot. You don't know if your mare can tolerate 15 hours of grass a day unless you see what happens if you restrict her access to it. What looks "poor" to you may be full of sugar. Short stressed grass on a typical "starvation" paddock, for example, is full of sugar because stressed grass fills itself full of sugar. What people think is poor when horses are on it can actually be growing like topsy but they are eating it before you can see it. Try taking horses off the field altogether and see how "poor" it is after a few days. People happily mow the lawn every week or more often at home but don't allow for their paddock growing at exactly the same rate but being eaten before the growth can show. 

I agree with you that you need to stick with shoes, by the way. With the experts you have advising you, starting from a position where she sounds as if she has very compromised feet, I think it will be too difficult for you to get your mare working happily barefoot . If remedial farriery doesn't work for her, though, you can come back to the idea of a barefoot rehab if you need to and several of us on here will gladly help you find the information that you will need to make a success of it. Good luck.


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## hoofsculpture (26 June 2010)

hi there, i was just reading you,r post on collapsed heels etc, it sounds as though you cant get good advice.   well i work on horses like that all the time, there is no shoe which can help the problem, the reason is that the heel collapsed because if the shoe, and will continue to do so.
 so to cure the problem, you must remove all shoes, and do a remedial trim, this will mean removing all underrun heels damaged quarters and everything else that is crumbled and rotten. 
at this point the horses feet will start to grow healthy horn,except he will be tenderfoot and uncomfortable to walk,   to make him  comfortable to  walk, he will have to have his heels replaced with special material, that will keep him happy yntill he grows new healthy feet, it is quite simple, i you need any advice you can p m me


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## the watcher (26 June 2010)

hoofsculpture.
To say that all shoes are the sole cause of collapsed heels and that barefoot trimming is the ONLY cure is the kind of nonsense that gives people of your ilk a bad name.

There is a place for barefoot horses and even strangely and exotically trained trimmers if that is your bag. There is also a place for fully qualified farriers, often on referral from vets who work to Xrays and have trained for years in remedial work. Surprisingly perhaps, often those farriers are successful in restoring good feet.


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## mrdarcy (26 June 2010)

Remedial farriery only exists because of what shoes do to horses feet. What else do you think caused collapsed heels? The farrier in this case is a poor example of his profession and is one of the ones that gives farriers a bad name - saying that barefoot benefits very few horses is factually wrong and most farriers would disagree with him. More and more farriers I speak to are realising how beneficial barefoot is and one or two recently are telling me that they now see more barefoot than shod horses.

For the horse in this thread until diet is sorted out the feet will never improve. It does sound like she needs to come completely off grass. I'd do blood tests and hair tests to see what minerals she's short of - get her system back to a level playing field and start from there. But until her insides are sorted her feet will never be healthy - whether the shoes stay off or are put back on.


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## hoofsculpture (26 June 2010)

WATCHER  , i knew when i posted my advice that there would be sombody like you, ready to disagree with me, and have no advice to offer.
read my post again, slowly.    i did not mention barefoot trimming, barefoot trimming is where a sound horse is trimmed to work barefoot.
 this case is where the heels have been left too long to carry the weight required, so they fold over under the pressure of the shoe.
 the folded over heel can never correct it,s self untill the heel is trimmed down so that the horse is not walking on his folded over hoof wall, this is nothing to do with barefoot anything.   all collapsed folded over hoof wall must be removed,     this will cause the new growth to  not be folded over, it will grow more healthy ,and must be kept short and flat  untill completly strong and healthy.
now this will render the horse foot sore, from having no heels, stretched d d f t, frog pressure etc, 
     so barefoot is not an option,  his feet must be reformed to a correct heel hight,using a product such as vettec superfast, i work at this every day.   so try to say nothing, untill you have something helpfull to say.


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## little_flea (26 June 2010)

Thanks everyone for your comments. Both farriers involved are according to vets and equine hospitals the best in the county and highly specialised in remedial farriery - I will just have to trust them along with the vet. First farrier is happy to take advise from second farrier and everyone knows of the involvement of the others.

Second remedial farrier coming out day after tomorrow and if he says bacterial infection/get x-rays/vet out/get other nutritionalists advice - then that is what I will do, of course.

I will keep you posted. In the meantime, Maggie is bored as hell due to no work, jealous of the other horses me and my sis (her owners) are riding, she is making as much noise as she possibly can by throwing buckets/leadropes etc etc around... She is qualified for BD Regionals in two classes and lots of other things this summer and is extremely fit - now I only hope she'll be able to return to normal work at some point, sod the competitions ;-( We will do whatever we can to make her well again, no matter what, absolutely adore this horse.


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## asommerville (27 June 2010)

Keep us updated on your baby!! I totally feel your pain,my horse has been lame for 2 months now and despite numerous visits from the vet and farrier we are no further forward I feel like i am gettin nowhere!! keep your chin up - i know how hard it is


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## little_flea (28 June 2010)

Second remedial farrier out today - Maggie is getting fancy new Sigafoos in front on Thursday and the plan is to just return her to work as normal. May be a tiny drop of pedal bone but nothing to worry about for now - the angles of the foot won't be perfect this shoeing but will be rectified gradually but apparently no reason not to work her as normal providing she feels comfortable.

Feel very happy about not nailing into her feet, yet not being barefoot as she could not be worked barefoot as things are now.

No bacterial infection to worry about btw.


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## WellyBaggins (28 June 2010)

Sounds good


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## amandap (29 June 2010)

Fingers crossed.


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