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  Discussion on Pedal osteitis
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Member:
Sparky

Posted on Monday, Jun 30, 2003 - 6:55 pm:

Dr. O - I just had my geldings front feet exrayed because of being slightley lame in the front end. Here is some history - May 2002 was kicked in rear leg and broke splint bone - had surgery and removed - suffered numerous infections - stall bound for 5 months and rehabed sound - Nov/Dec. Started slightly off in front end in Feb 03 - not really noticable - just felt a little off - unfortunately during all the stall rest and living at the vet's he had 3-4 different farriers and there was not a lot of attention to the rest of his feet - my fault! - they were done on time - I was not really happy with my farrier and have switched in the last 3 months and we are trying to shorten his toes and get him some more heel - he is underslung - his conformation is not the best in his front legs - anyway he kept acting off and was getting a little worse - he is very flat soled - he hoof tests really well though with no flinching - the vets comments on longing are - Hard surface sore and Soft surface Better - both ways - the xray results are as follows - Pedal osteitis (tow curl) - flat sole - long toe - needs frequent shoeing - shoe with long heels and ground inner surface of shoes - the vet trimmed him on the front according to the xray so my farrier would not go to short or long - we went .8 i think instead of .6 you can see the lines he drew and we trimmed on the second line- I was also told that he would not really get any arch to the sole of his foot - anyway after looking up pedal osteitis I am not really sure of the diagnosis for the future of his feet - I was told that he would always probably be "ouchy" but could protect his feet with proper shoeing and maybe have to try pads later. I would like your opinion as I know you go barefoot and use old macs - I do have some 4point trimmers in the area and my farrier is more than willing to work with me. My farrier is coming on Wed to ?? shoe or not to shoe? It seems that everyone has a different opinion and offers advise - reason for the exrays! Thanks Janet Schmidt - yes Sparky is the one that also had sarcoids and is now losing hair on his face - which you said looked like more of a shedding pattern - my vet agreed - boy have we had quite a year!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 1, 2003 - 9:30 am:

Considering the horse is currently lame and sensitive on hard ground I suggest you get him sound with shoes on, unless you are willing to contemplate proloned stall rest while the sole develops. I know there those of you who will argue that it should be the other way around but by doing so you create a diagnostic dilemma if the horse remains lame, this guy may have navicular synDrOme but bruising might confound us. Once healthier, and yes the foot will get much healthier even with shoes, you can attempt barefoot.

These feet are terrible and suffer from too low a heel, too long a toe, and thin soles. While we can technically call the remodeling at the toe "pedal osteitis" this is secondary to the poor trimming and not of much consequence other than to show that this is a long standing problem. Quite frankly there is no reason much of this cannot be corrected in a single trim and shoe and I cannot understand why it would be this way after 3 months of correction.

I would use a aluminum wedge shoe to correct the low heels and not only remove the deformed belled out toe but also roll it and rocker the shoe. The inside of the shoe whould be well bevelled to prevent contact with the sole. Ovnicek's New Hope shoes would be great for this horse but a skilled farrier can design something with a wedged aluminum shoe and a grinder.
DrO
Member:
Sparky

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 2, 2003 - 10:04 pm:

Dr. O - here are Sparky's feet after being shod today - we did not use aluminum but did really bevel the inside edge for no contact with the sole. He will be reshoe in 5 weeks for further correction. I think getting the exrays was an important part in the toe reduction as we could see exactly where the toe had to be. We measured it to keep the proper distance. He trotted out much better and it was really hard to tell if he was off or not. Thanks for the advise. My farrier was saying that she was told at a recent clinic with Bob Marshall that they do not want to use eggbar shoes anymore for this type of problem or with laminitis. Have you heard anything on this? and that we should -short shoe- him on the heel - we did not short shoe at this point as my vet recommended bringing the shoe right to the end of where the heel should be and we decided to do it this way for a few shoeings then see what they look like. Thanks Janet
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jul 3, 2003 - 7:14 am:

If the horse is standing square then the heel is a little low still but otherwise this is a great improvement.
DrO
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