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  Discussion on Packing foot with contracted heels
Author Message
Member:
dustee

Posted on Monday, Jul 27, 2009 - 8:42 pm:

Wow!! I need some help. My 11 year old QH mare has a LF clubby foot. I have had, for over a year, a difficult time finding a blacksmith in this area who knows his work well. I have found a young guy who has been blacksmithing for three years, but does work with other good farriers, and is continuing his education. He seems to be doing a good job, but my mare's feet have gotten bad. We had about a month of HEAVY rains here, and the feet never seemed to dry out. Then her LF heels began to contract. My biggest concern right now is her heels. He was at the barn today where I keep her and reset front shoes and trimmed in behind.......Now, my question....he said to pack her LF foot with moist clay for about 20-30 minutes, to moisten the frog and give support to the frog for a while each day.
Does this make sense? What kind of clay? How do you keep it in? Does that short a time actually help support the frog? Where would I get the clay? Would styrofoam pads for evening in the stall work?
What I had been doing was - painting the bottoms of all feet with betadyne after cleaning. Using Reducine on coronet band with toothbrush, working it into the hair line carefully to stimulate growth.
Her frog is not hitting the ground. Love her - she is sound through all this mess. Also, with the excessive moisture in her feet, she got an abscess RR, which has blown out and I am packing that with sugardyne. Any ideas?
If the frog does not hit the ground at all, that would continue the ugly cycle of contraction? Thanks for all your input!!Dustee
Member:
paul303

Posted on Monday, Jul 27, 2009 - 10:33 pm:

Mmmm, I'll be interested to hear the thoughts of others, also.
My own thought is: I'd hesitate to add artificial moisture to the feet if all you've had is wet conditions.

Does your farrier leave the back nails out of the front shoes? When I had a contracted heels problem years ago, that's what they did.

I have two horses with foot/navicular problems, now. They are shod in front with degree pads. The pads are rim pads that go right across the frog, so that there is always pressure on the frog. Most of the time I have the sole filled in with equithane ( a silicon type material that conforms to the sole and fills in around the frog). Between the rim pad and the equithane, there is constant contact with the frog and heels.

If your LF is clubby, that is probably the main causative factor with the contracted heel, but if that heel has been OK so far, and the heel contraction is a recent occurrence, you might need to investigate things further with a vet. Your farrier might need to adjust his shoeing a bit.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 28, 2009 - 7:48 am:

Hello dustylin,
Almost all horses with a clubby foot have a narrowed quarter to heel foot and some contraction though it can mild and not leave you with a slit for a sulcus. If I understand your post you are seeing remarkable changes in the past month. If this is true you must have some contraction of the hoof wall distally or how else would contraction happen so quickly? If this is actually happening I would consider allowing the horse to go barefoot for a trimming cycle or two, this should help keep spread the foot back out.

Some good photos of the hooves (one from the front, one from the side) while standing on the ground and the sole with the hoof held up might help us. Be sure the lighting is from behind the photographer and a flash might help.
DrO
Member:
dustee

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 29, 2009 - 7:00 am:

I took photos last night, and got them into my computer - - and now I have to find out how to re-size them for shipment!!My computer only goes down to 640 pixels wide, and you need 600. I did read your article on uploading images. It will take me a while to figure this out!! Thanks for asking for pic, though.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 29, 2009 - 6:54 pm:

Hello dustylin,
I don't understand "my computer can only go down to 640 pixels". It does not matter what your computers resolution is. It is the resolution of the image that needs to be adjusted and this done with the articles recommended software independently of your computers screen resolution.
DrO
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