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  Discussion on Heel Sore
Author Message
Member:
Melody12

Posted on Thursday, Dec 1, 2005 - 10:11 pm:

I recently noticed my horse was not moving right and it was a very subtle thing so I hauled him to a Equine Hospital and they found him to be 1-2/5 lame and after blocks to the heel area he showed up lame in the other foot. The diagnosis was heel sore, x-rays showed he needed more support in the heels and to balance the feet, I have a good shoer and the horse is on a 4 week shoeing schedule they found what could be the start of a bone spur on one foot in the cofin joint but they did not think it was enough to be a problem. I was told to give him Isoxsuprine 25 tabs 2 times a day for 20 days then 30 tablets once a day for 30 days. Light exercise. I am concerned he was shod one week ago and seems to be better although I wonder what I should be doing with him for exercise, I try to not lunge and not to ride in small circles but I was wondering if you have a rehab protocal that is conservative and can build them back up slowly to full work. He is a QH that I ride english and western. Thanks.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Dec 2, 2005 - 6:33 am:

Melody I am uncertain what they mean by "heel sore". If is not a diagnosis but a localization that could cover everything from a bruised sole to arthritis of the coffin joint. And there is a lot in between the two. Perhaps a more precise diagnosis would yield a better recommendation but if the horse is now sound just take it easy and stay our of the arena until the isoxsuprine is gone, if the horse is still not 100% sound pasture rest is probably best until off meds and sound. For more on this see the article associated with this forum.
DrO
Member:
Sswiley

Posted on Friday, Dec 2, 2005 - 10:14 am:

Can we assume that since you took x-rays and did not find any bony problems that this is soft tissue irritation/inflamation ? I imagine they found that the structure of his foot predisposed him to heel soreness. I would assume that you are going to have to keep this predisposition in mind permanently. Usually there is not a problem with working them on soft footing. Its the hard uneven footing that really irritates this kind of horse. I had an event horse that was very lame at only 5 and with out much work yet. His foot was balanced so I did not need to change his foot much. We did keep him in tight bar shoes most of the time. Needless to say, an event horse in CA gets a lot of foot pounding. When ever I would be in a position where I thought I was hard on his feet, I would put him on several days of Isoxuprine and asprin. The thinking was to knock out any inflamation because over time, the inflamation tends to stay in the foot(due to lack of circulation) and become chronic, thereby causing bony damage. This was very successful for my horse, I sold him at 11 after 6 years of very rigorous work. He was 100 % sound and had perfectly clean x-rays.
Member:
Sparky

Posted on Friday, Dec 2, 2005 - 12:34 pm:

Melody - can you post picture of the feet so we can see the angles and the shoeing job being done on your horse? I also thought I had a good farrier at one time!
Janet
Member:
Sparky

Posted on Friday, Dec 2, 2005 - 12:43 pm:

Melody - need more support in heels? are his frogs contracted? are his heels back to the widest part of the frog?
Member:
Melody12

Posted on Thursday, Dec 8, 2005 - 11:54 am:

Wow everyone thank you so much for your response. As for my shoer I know he is good I found him through my Vet and he is a national speaker and clinician and was on the United States Farrier Gold Team He has been my shoer for 14 years. when I took him to the vets I tried to explain he was due for shoes and I feel that is why he was out of balance because he grows that way that is why I have kept him on a 4 week schedule I was hoping to prevent this problem he is in a size 2 shoe and has a nice big frog he did have a little bit of an negative angle on one foot but really the x-rays did not show anything other than that. I have owned a horse who had Navicular,sidebone,pedal ostitis and on a good 4 week schedule I showed him until he was 22 and he died of un related problems he stayed sound just keeping his feet balanced. I am really upset by this because I have not done all the things that cause these problems such as: Lunging riding in small circles, riding on hard uneven surfaces, I showed him this past year in Hunter Under Saddle and he did real good and now that he is on a low riding schedule as he knows his job I only have to ride 20-30 minutes in the arena and then we go on a short trail ride or he gets turn out and he also has a stall and large paddock, pasture is not an option as I live in California and board my horse and nice flat pasture is hard to find in my area. I have him on Legend&Adequan once a month as well as MSM and GLC 5500 I am down to 30 Isoxsuprine once a day and the vet has him on tack walk for another 2 weeks and I will have him re x-rayed after the next shoeing to see if we can change anything else. Horses what a bummer!!!
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