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  Discussion on Shoes with trailers for hind PSD
Author Message
New Member:
kerrief

Posted on Saturday, Apr 4, 2009 - 10:50 pm:

Hello,
Has anyone used shoes with trailers for hind proximal suspensory desmitis? What are the pros and cons?

Thank You
Member:
mitch316

Posted on Sunday, Apr 5, 2009 - 1:30 am:

Kerrie, I am not sure what you mean by trailers, but usually any tendon or ligament injury or disease requires complete stall rest for a certain length of time, with a slow and patient restart of exercise. This article explains all about suspensory desmitis; proximal desmitis is toward the bottom, but the whole article is very helpful. Hope this helps.

HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Lower Limb » Suspensory Desmitis, Strain, & Sprain
Member:
stevens

Posted on Sunday, Apr 5, 2009 - 9:46 am:

Kerrie, I've used shoes with trailers to help support a superficial flexor tendon injury.

Jesse: by trailers, we mean shoes that extend beyond the heels of the horse. If you've seen the sliders put on reining horses, you'll get the idea.

I think the theory is that they provide additional heel support that I would think would reduce the flexion of the tendon in certain conditions.

The only con I can think of, other than increased cost, is that they may catch on something. If it were a front leg you might have to worry about the horse stepping on the trailer with his back feet but you should be OK with them on the back; I was.

Good luck.
Member:
dres

Posted on Sunday, Apr 5, 2009 - 10:17 am:

My farrier calls it a heel extension.. I started with my filly that severed her DDFT... to give her the support she needed after her 'special' shoes.. I also use it on a horse that has sore hocks...the extension gives them some added support .. they are not trailers .. the shoes is just a little bit longer then the norm to support the back of the horses hoof.. These cost me no more then the usual shoe and frankly an uneducated eye would not even notice..

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Apr 5, 2009 - 10:24 am:

I have tried this without much success and there is a reason. While heel extensions do support a sagging deep digital flexor, it does this by throwing extra force onto the SDF and the suspensory. In cases where the DDF is working fine heel extensions or egg bars are not going to make much change in the biomechanics overall. That said I think are knowledge of this is incomplete enough I might still try it again if I felt the horse was rocking back on the heels of his hoof.
DrO
Member:
jjrichar

Posted on Sunday, Apr 5, 2009 - 11:35 am:

I am not familiar with the term 'trailers' but I have used heel extensions in the sense that my farrier extended the shoes out past the heels to provide more support. My mare had gotten way down on her heels in the back and it was causing all sorts of problems with her hocks, etc. I switched farriers when I realized he was the one doing it. My new farrier extended the heels of the shoes out to provide extra support until she grew enough of her own heel. It seemed to work well for this scenario
New Member:
kerrief

Posted on Sunday, Apr 5, 2009 - 9:48 pm:

Hello all,

Thank you all for your responses. My mare has multiple problems- and our hope is that giving the rear additional support, she may heal faster, be more comfortable, start using her rear end to stop throwing her weight to the forehand. My mare would rock back on her hind to get off her front, which resulted in stressed out/strained branches of her suspensories on all four legs.

In addition to hind PSD (this is a secondary condition), primary issue- Pedal Osteitis both front legs (lateral and medial wings lite up on bone scan).

Tx plan included shock wave for hind PSD, IRAP for front suspensories, and Tildren (limb profusion) for front feet. She responded well to treatment, but still requires more support- hence the shoeing protocol.

Whew...I'm surprised I was able to summarize all this in a few paragraphs!
New Member:
kerrief

Posted on Sunday, Apr 5, 2009 - 10:08 pm:

Follow up comment...
Just wanted to clarify my statement, "start using her rear end to stop throwing her weight to the forehand. My mare would rock back on her hind to get off her front." I omitted to say, she rocks back and forth, putting excess weight on the front and then when the front get more sore than the rear, the weight goes back.

She gives wandering lameness a whole new meaning!
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