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Discussion on Low Heel Correction Plan
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Member:
dwinans
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 5, 2007 - 1:11 pm:
Dr O,
I just read this article today after meeting with my vet and farrier yesterday regarding my horse's heel pain and I would like to get your input, if possible.
I have had Remy for 6 years and have fought his low heel, long toe confirmation the whole time. In hindsight we did not do the right thing although we had the right idea. She said that if this had been managed properly for the past 6 years there would not be the damage there is now.
I think the thing we missed was regular radiographs to see what was really going on. We just assumed that because he was not lame he was ok inside - the radiographs taken yesterday show that definitely was not the case.
There is damage to the navicular, pedal osteitis, bone spurs and other things going on now.
We have put him in 7 degree wedge pads with soft impression material. He walked off almost sound after the shoes were put on. I'm keeping a close eye on him because he can be sensitive to anything touching his sole as he has extremely thin soles. My vet said that it is important for sole growth that the frog had pressure - I had never heard that before.
My vet said that it is possible that some healing can take place and he can return to regular work. She said that if the corrective shoeing doesn't work the next step would be injections - and she sounded pretty positive about the injections.
We will continue to take regular xrays every 3 shoeings until we see the improvement we want.
Does this sound like a good plan?
I'm going to upload some radiographs that will give you an idea of what we are dealing with. I hope the thumbnails are large enough for you to view.
I would greatly value any input you can give me.
BTW I absolutely love this article! I'm going to print it and give it to my farrier. It's basically the same thing that he and my vet have said to me but it may have a couple extra insights.
Thanks,
Dawn
Left front
Right front
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Apr 6, 2007 - 6:36 am:
Hello Dawn,
I have moved your post into this new discussion.
Using the radiographs as guides it would appear to me that the left could use around 7 degrees but the right a little less. This assumes the horse was standing square while radiographed.
While radiographs are critical early in the assessment, because your feet do not appear to have any rotation of the coffin bone, you can assess proper balance without radiographs. This and how the foot responds to your work should be your guide to whether you have balanced these feet correctly.
DrO
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Member:
dwinans
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Posted on Friday, Apr 6, 2007 - 11:16 am:
Dr O,
Thanks so much for your response. When you say "let the response of the foot be the guide" that is what we have been doing since 2003 but there still has been damage done in the past 4 years that could have been prevented.
I originally had radiographs done of the left front in 2003. They showed the pedal ostitis and we shod accordingly (6 degree wedges at the time) and he went sound. He was basically sound (with periods of ouchiness before and after shoeings - maybe that was the foot telling me it wasn't balanced?) for 4 years.
Of course, I can't beat myself up for the past 4 years but I think I need to do something different. I now have a more conscientious farrier which I think will help. I really don't want to spend money unnecessarily and I like hearing you say that you think that further radiographs are unneeded, but I think it will be worth the money to keep an eye on them every once in a while.
The farrier put 7 degrees on both feet. In your opinion, can damage be done to the right if it is 1 or 2 degrees too great? Should I speak to my farrier about it?
On a side note, the vet was very concerned with his suspensories after increasing the angle. In hindsight I think she forgot that he had 3 degrees on so he is only being increased 4 degrees as opposed to 7. She has me icing his suspensories daily and wrapping them overnight for the next week. Is this necessary or an over-reaction? I have absolutely NO suspensory experience.
Thanks,
Dawn
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Apr 7, 2007 - 7:35 am:
Radiograph whenever there is confusion about where the coffin bone is. But if you remember the front edge of the bone is is parallel with the front edge of the toe and the principles of ap balance much can be done without radiographs.
Whether it will harm or not is hard to say but why tolerate overcorrection, if it is present?
DrO
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Member:
dwinans
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Posted on Saturday, Apr 7, 2007 - 11:00 am:
Makes complete sense to me.
Thanks for your advice!
Dawn
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Member:
juliem
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 22, 2007 - 4:31 pm:
If this link works, it's a pretty good article about the palmar hoof function and helpful to understand the mechanism of the components. https://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=9198
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Member:
ejar
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 13, 2007 - 8:55 am:
Hey there, Dawn... It's been six months. How are things looking?
Erin
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Member:
dwinans
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Posted on Monday, Oct 15, 2007 - 11:47 am:
Hi Erin,
Thanks for your query. We have been very successful at making him comfortable with the shoeings. He starts getting a little ouchy toward the end of the shoeing cycle but otherwise we are working and jumping.
His feet are looking much better but he is still in the wedge pads. His angles are pretty much the same. I think this is a matter of maintaining and I don't expect to see any great improvement.
Unfortunately, I found out some bad news that my farrier is retiring and moving out of state. I'm pretty upset - he is handing me off to another farrier who he says is good but I don't like not knowing my farrier.
Remy had an MRI last week and I am waiting on those results - it will be interesting to see exactly what is going on in there.
If his MRI qualifies he will be participating in a drug trial. I have another post regarding this under "Tildren study". I have heard really good things about Tildren and hope that he qualifies.
Thanks again for your interest.
Dawn
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