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Discussion on Flare and under-run heel
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 4, 2010 - 3:10 pm:
My horse has had a rather long-standing flare on the inside of his left front foot and the inside heel on that side is quite low.
It seems that my farrier left much of the flare intact over a long period of time to give the horse more surface for support.
There has also historically been an excessive amount of hoof wall extending out beyond the flare.
Some weeks ago this structure began breaking away and it seemed to me that my horse was experiencing some discomfort as it was happening slowly and looked like a giant hang nail hanging off the side of the foot.
My Vet arrived to give some vaccinations at a time when this flare and hoof wall was breaking away so I asked him to please address the problem.
He worked on the flare but on the sole over close to the edge there was a bit of sole that was left slightly higher, and within a day I could see a small bruise there so I used my rasp to slightly lower and relieve that small area.
The next time my farrier trimmed I explained about the breakage, my Veterinarian cleaning it up and told him there had been the small bruise, which had disappeared visually and he said not to worry about it and that it would be no problem.
I've continued to ride my horse each week and he has been willing to go but much more content to just walk than usual, though he will go faster if others initiate further speed.
Three days ago, the day after a trail ride, my horse was very reluctant to stand on this foot when I had him on the wash rack to clean him up. I noticed that he also seemed to paddling out somewhat as I walked him out of the barn.
I took him out on the cement surface and he still seemed to turn fine in each direction and didn't act any worse on that surface.
When my Veterinarian arrived for a routine visit that morning I asked him to please check this situation out. On the greater part of the foot the horse did not react to the hoof testers at all but when they were placed in the area where I had seen the bruising (on sole next to where the flare had been removed) the horse reacted as very sore. There also seemed to be some heat present in this portion of the foot.
My Veterinarian noted that the heel on the opposite side had grown out more while the heel nearest on the same side as the flare was very low and under-run and further under than the other heel. In other words, the two heels were really not straight across from each other.
He expressed concern that my horse would soon experience bruising on that heel bulb.
He took the toes back (which were cracked and in his opinion too long) as we talked about the long toe, low heel synDrOme.
He also pointed out the presence of excess bars but felt that if he did what he would normally do with trimming them that the horse would certainly become sore. My horse has not been trimmed the way he himself trims, and while he agrees that my farrier does some wonderous things for a lot of horses, those techniques do not work for all horses in every instance.
He told me to give my horse a gram of Bute each morning and evening for 3 or 4 days.
I should add that the horse seemed to be more comfortable immediately following the things that my Veterinarian did.
Since then I soon saw some bruising on the heel bulb, which became worse the next day.
Because I've seen my horse running around in the pasture I am speculating that while on the Bute he is being less careful about how he sets the foot down? Is he suddenly experiencing bruising on the heel bulb because on the Bute he is compensating less? Is the outside heel growing more because he has been loading that side resulting in more growth while taking the weight off the inner heel results in far less growth?
Also, there is the factor that the large amount of flare had been on the inside of that foot for so long.
As of today I am also seeing new bruising on the the sole and excess bar area in the portion of the sole on the same side where my Vet addressed the flare.
My Veterinarian (one-Vet practice) is so busy that it is hard to talk to him.
I am wondering whether I should continue to give my horse Bute to keep him moving or stop the Bute and allow him to go back to compensating. Being on the Bute has taken the heat out of the previously inflamed area.
As the bruising has appeared and increased on the heel bulb and then appeared on the sole and bar area, the horse's reluctance to stand on the foot has increased again after initially responding more favorably.
Any thoughts on where to go from here or how long this will take to resolve?
My Veterinarian is coming back in 11 days and my thought is to continue to try to address remaining flare, toes, check for unevenness in the heels.
This horse has had this situation happen before where he kept growing a longer heel on the outside, making him uncomfortable. I kept having my farrier come out to keep leveling him up.
My farrier and Veterinarian don't agree about much.
Both have done good things for me and my horses but nobody is right 100% of the time.
I hope that I didn't do the wrong thing by trying to get after this flare situation when the opportunity seemed to present itself.
Are flares ever helpful in allowing a horse to keep on performing?
What is so perplexing is it wasn't too long ago that my farrier was very pleased with how this foot was looking and there is a long past history of problems with this foot. He has kept my horse going pretty well but I've had a nagging feeling that this flare and heel situation was perhaps a bit precarious.
Did I cause more harm by having my Vet try to help my horse with this or was it just a matter of time before this would become a bigger problem?
While my horse has been moving well under saddle I have been worried that he has not been entirely comfortable. He is so stoic and has such a huge heart that it takes a lot to slow him down.
Also, after having been very dry here for a long while, we finally began having rains much more frequently probably resulting in some softening of the soles, although my land drains quite well.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 4, 2010 - 3:44 pm:
Vicki sometimes I wonder if we live parallel lives  .
I am/ was having the same problem with Hanks LF, but his is on the outside hoofwall. I didn't quite know how to approach it since his hoof wall was chipping badly there too, peeling up, so ignored it until today, because ignoring wasn't working out . The flare AND the chip was getting worse, It has been very dry here recently.
I rasped the flare from the top and beveled from the bottom and tried to smooth the cracked hoof wall, GREAT improvement and he walked off much better.
I was real tempted to bute Hank also, but decided since the ground was so hard it was a good idea not too so he would take care of himself and he did! So I guess if your horse has inflammation and heat, bute would probably help, but I would limit his steps a bit while on it, or protect the hoof.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 4, 2010 - 10:16 pm:
Diane,
We surely have had a lot of similar difficulties at times!
The Bute seems to have helped a lot but I hope he doesn't end up with bruising that is too bad or that could potentially turn into an abscess.
It had been 12 hours since Lance had his last Bute and I decided to go ahead and give him another dose after I fed tonight since my Vet had said for 3 or 4 days.
After I gave it tonight I tried to look at that foot but the lighting was not good enough in his stall to see how the bruising now looked. I should have taken him out into a better lit area but the other horses had taken off and there were fireworks shooting up all around us plus mosquitoes biting me (I sprayed the horses though) now that we've finally had a few rains this week. Lance was relatively calm but was looking all around depending upon where the noises were coming from and he particularly didn't like the rockets that made the weird whistling sounds.
If the beautiful way that he ran out of the barn and down into the pasture when I turned him out is any indication of pain level, he must be doing pretty good.
He was willing with just a bit of urging to stand on the foot for me in his stall but the surface there is much more forgiving than on my wash rack.
It will be interesting to see how the foot looks in the morning.
Thanks for your input!
Let me know how it goes for Hank. It sounds like you did a good job working on the flare.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2010 - 9:44 am:
Don't ya hate it how we try to fix one area and another area starts giving us trouble?
What I would do if he were my horse is keep him on a soft surface with limited movement. Whenever I have a horse with questionable soreness I make my round pen about the 3rd of it's normal size and the patient is on pure sand right behind the barn. Wet sand if it's dry and the ground is hard.
I would give him Bute for about 3 days then slowly wean him off that and keep an eye on his movement. Also check and see if there is a stronger pulse under his fetlock joint or any heat at the coronet band or the bulbs.
Whenever we make a change to the hoof structure there is always a chance of soreness IMO.
I recently took off some sole on Cody's one hind hoof. There had been a flare there forever, and I swear no bar to address. The sole was actually higher than the outer wall and seemed to be callusing. I don't think it made him sore, but it scared me to do that, and I still don't know why that darn flare won't go away? A flare can never be a good thing as it's a sign of separation and that we don't want!
Can you post some pictures? I'd love to see what you are describing as it may help me or others in the future.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2010 - 12:08 pm:
Thanks for the good advice, Angie.
I confess that I am kind a technological dummy and cannot get pictures posted anywhere or even send them to friends.
It would take someone working with me several times, going through the entire process.
When I led Lance out of the barn this morning I could see that he is still paddling out somewhat on the left front but I don't think it is as bad.
The left front sole and bar area looked a lot better as the previously blood red spots of yesterday are gone today. The bruising on the heel bulb looks much better though not quite gone.
The hoof wall where the flare was removed has now grown out a bit past the sole.
Though he would give me the opposite foot this morning in his stall he didn't want to give it to me on the cement for anything, but as he was out on the wash rack suddenly he was pawing with the right front (almost like he was shortening and beveling it himself) so I grabbed it and told him "Look, you're standing on your other foot now anyway. Let me have this foot." He did pretty well for me after that! He also spent some time pawing with the left front.
I beveled all of his toes and the crack that had been in the right front almost looks like it is going away. The left front has continued to crack.
Wouldn't you know that this morning there is evidence of a patch of red bruising near the left rear inside heel on that sole (between one and 2 square inches). Near the area of bruising the hoof wall has has broken out at the quarters (deeper than is good) in an attempt to relieve that area.
I gave him a half gram of Bute and will keep a close watch on him.
No doubt they ran around pretty good last night with all of the fireworks. Had I kept him in and away from the others during that excitement he would not have been happy!
You, Diane, Sara and others plus the wealth of information on this site have given me courage to address and bevel the toes and if I keep at it, this should be a good thing.
Now I need to learn how to handle the flares and relieve the quarters and have decided to continue to study, learn and try to keep on top of their feet on a regular basis. This is going to take some serious studying but I believe that I can learn to read the feet and hopefully learn to respond correctly with what is needed. It helps to watch videos though they work so fast on some of them. Reading how to do it seems kind of overwhelming and confusing.
Using caution, perhaps I won't mess anything up too badly. I need to do this for my horses' health and well-being.
Thanks again so much for your help.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2010 - 12:55 pm:
Vicki, surprisingly it is pretty hard to sore them up unless you do something drastic. That was why I was scared to touch Hanks hooves myself I thought one mistake would lame him up, while I stay on the conservative side mostly, I sawed that flare right off Hank yesterday, and he seemed no worse and a little better...and it looked 100 times better. Educating yourself can do nothing but help and it is kind of self satisfying to see improvement, even tho it may be slow
As far as pictures, have you tried web resizer, very simple. I use picasso, it is very simple also, if you want a tutorial let me know. It took me days to figure it out, but got it down pretty good now. Now I have to master my new camera...that is slow going! My son gave it to me with no instructions (one of his hand me downs) I took pics of Hanks hoof after I removed the flare, but they didn't turn out very good, will see if I can get some today.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2010 - 3:24 pm:
Diane,
Just curious, can you re-size pics in Picaso without out using Pixresizer?
Vicki,
Regarding studying hoof trimming; I've been thinking on starting a discussion on the different ideas out there. Just to help keep us all confused, !
It should make for an interesting discussion I hope. So many contradictions it seems; funny our horses are as sound as they are.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2010 - 3:36 pm:
I'm sorry it is Picasa not picaso Yes it is very easy to resize with it. When you go to export to desktop it brings up the resizer and when it hits the desktop it is the right size, I use paint.net for drawing which also resizes VERY easily.
Confused isn't the word for hoof theories!
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2010 - 4:35 pm:
Some of it is very confusing, Angie. You seem to have a pretty good comprehension overall.
I'm glad Hank seems to be doing well, Diane. Thanks for the encouragement. You ladies do give me courage that I can do this.
Now when it comes to working on the picture thing . . . I don't even know where to begin or speak the language at all.
Some of my friends and my daughter do pretty well.
Maybe sometime this year but it may have to take a backseat to a few other priorities for a bit.
Thanks for the offer of help.
I do appreciate it very much.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 6, 2010 - 10:02 am:
Well, after reducing the Bute, which should have been totally out of his system this morning, Lance was sound walking downhill and uphill on my long cement driveway.
In fact, he was thinking about trotting on it.
He did toe in going uphill on his right front foot where he has flare (not as much as he has had removed on the left front inside) on the outside.
Today I will see how he does on no Bute and will skip riding him this week, allowing him to go as he wishes turned out (but with barn access) on my hilly farm.
The left front is looking much better all the way around.
I put some Betadine solution on the bottoms of his feet yesterday to help counteract effects of the rains that we have had recently and am ordering some Keratex today.
There is still evidence of some bruising on the left hind.
I'm not seeing unusual heat or inflammation in his feet presently.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 10, 2010 - 3:01 pm:
Lance seems to be doing pretty well now.
I can no longer see any bruising on the heel bulbs and the configuration of the heels looks better.
The hoof wall has come back very nicely but there is still some flare in that same area where it has historically been.
I may dare to try to take him for a trail ride in a few days.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2010 - 12:45 pm:
My Vet checked Lance's feet with the hoof testers today and there was no reaction whatsoever.
He's sound all around again, thankfully.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2010 - 10:24 pm:
SO glad to hear that Vicki, was a long haul Sam is doing very well also, so we both lucked out sounds like... Hope Lance continues to be trouble free
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2010 - 10:27 pm:
LOL sorry Vicki I got Lance and Perry mixed up. Getting as bad as Sara W mixing me and Angie up . Been one of those weeks I tell ya... Glad Lance is doing well too tho!!!!
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Friday, Jul 16, 2010 - 12:03 pm:
Thanks, Diane.
Both Perry and Lance are doing great these days.
Now if I can just keep the weight off Perry and figure out what to do when acorn season arrives again . . .
Glad that Sam is doing well too.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Friday, Jul 16, 2010 - 9:01 pm:
Good for you girls! Glad to hear everybody is out of the woods.
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 - 4:55 pm:
Thanks, Vicki.
It is a relief to have things going okay again with all of my boys!
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