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Questions you always wanted to ask the vet about lameness & hoof problems.
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ABOUT THE VET
Janice H. Young, DVM is an equine practitioner in Phoenix, Arizona, whose practice is limited to lameness and foot problems in horses. Her case load includes referrals from other veterinarians and veterinarian equine hospitals. With her background in therapeutic farriery, she is better able to help the horses with leg problems. She has lectured all around the world to veterinarians, farriers, at veterinary school and horse owner clinics, including twice at the Bain Fallon Conference in Australia, the World Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, The Vet/Farrier Conference in Cambridge, England, the International Congress in Caracas, Venezuela and many others. She has received the International Veterinary Hall of Fame 2000, the Jim Linzy Outstanding Clinician Award in 2002 and the Humanitarian Award from the American Farrier Association. She also headed the American Association of Equine Practitioners Farrier Liaison Board for many years and was one on the committee that constructed the veterinary school curriculum for farrier education at the veterinary school. In the past she has been a American Farrier Association Therapeutic Tester.
QUESTION: Our horse has a puss pocket in the right front hoof, would this product assist in her getting back to health with her hoof/foot?
ANSWER: Usually a routine sole abscess heals right up and the horse gets on down the road. Unless there is a huge hole in the sole, I think the horse would be better before the Hoof Rite would have a chance to do anything. If there was a large opening in the sole, the Hoof Rite could help.
QUESTION: Will this formula help a horse with very thin soles? Also under run heels, he also has the cracking and soft hooves and i was told by my farrier that he has white line. He is to the point we can not nail shoes on him- glue-ons were suggested. I have tried farriers formula. Even at the largest dose I have not seen any noticeable change and that has been almost 3 months now.
ANSWER: There are a lot of issues with your horse's feet.
White line disease can eat out the internal structure of the hoof capsule and cause lots of problems with cracks and weak walls. Is the horse in a lot of moisture? If you send me your address, I can send you an article that I wrote on a paper I presented on White Line Disease for the World Equine Congress in Geneva Switzerland...a bit technical, but I think you will get some practical do's and don'ts out of it.
Blue Stuff a product sold at Brown's Farrier Supply, 480-838-4455, can help whip the White Line Disease. You apply it once a week. Really messy, but it works.
The Hoof Rite will help with wall quality and help to improve the rate of growth of the wall and sole, as well. If the horse is in water, mud or urine, then the soles will stay soft. Soft soles are the result of moisture content and thickness of the soles. Painting them with straight Betadine solution (Walgreen's) can harden up the sole. DO NOT USE TINCTURE OF IODINE!! That causes huge problems.
The Hoof Rite is 100% guaranteed. I would give the horse about 44#s of Hoofrite and that amount of time, to see an improvement.
Glue on shoes are the best way to go when you can not nail the foot.
If the horse is lame, your vet should be seeing it. Sometimes the wall separation can be very extensive, as seen on radiographs, and the horse may not even be lame.
QUESTION: I purchased a 8 year old mare this summer and she was fine when we got her. We had her hooves trimmed and approx 4-5 days later she was lame in both front hooves. We had a vet come and look at her and he thought maybe she had foundered, so he gave her some bute for the pain, and she was a little better but not much. We called another vet and he said exercise her 2 times a day for a mile each time. She seemed to be better after going a while, but she just never came out of it. We then took her to this vet and he could not find anything wrong as far as navicular ,he said she was not foundered and there wasn't any fever .... he did say that the frog on her hooves were VERY hard and that we needed to boot her up and put oil in them and see if that helped. She walks like she is on egg shells , trying to walk on the very front of her feet. The oil hasn't seemed to help any and she walks much better if her hooves are perfectly cleaned out. If she has any thing in them she is limping like crazy. I have tried to research on the web on any thing that would be of help or information but find nothing. I really want to be able to get her well and figure this out, to be able to ride her . I am afraid to have her trimmed again , (which she needs ) but I don't want to go back to square one. thank you in advance for any help or suggestions.
ANSWER: Sounds like you have had a real struggle. Let me suggest a few things after a few comments.
The lameness exam consists of watching the horse move, hoof testers on the feet, flexion tests of the joints and then diagnostic nerve blocks to help localize the area of the pain. Once that is done, then radiographs are taken of the area where the horse blocks, to determine the cause of lameness. If nothing is seen, then an ultrasound examination of the area of pain may be indicated to look for soft tissue problems, of which there are many.
A horse that blocks to the heels only may have navicular, a deep digital tendon tear or sensitive soles (pedal osteitis) and some other rare problems in those areas.
A horse that blocks on the next block, called an abaxial block, may have laminitis or inflammation of the coffin joint, pastern joint or tears in the collateral ligaments.
On radiographs, a lateral view...the diagnosis of laminitis is a measurement of the width of the distance from the hoof wall (marked on the films at the time the rads are taken) and the coffin bone. 18-19mm is normal, more than that is laminitis, period...objective, not subjective opinion.So...getting to your mare...she sounds very sole sensitive from what you described. If she has not had a work up or radiographs, that would be the next step...you have to get a diagnosis to know how to treat it...and what can be done about it.
I would be thinking about pedal osteitis from what you described...which is inflammation around the edge of the coffin bone...that can make them sole sensitive...eggshell like walking on hard and rocky ground and would look much better with her feet cleaned out. If she were laminitic, she would not have survived the 2 mile forced marches...pedal osteitis blocks to the heel block and can be seen on radiographs on the correct view. There are 5 standard radiographic views taken of the feet, without shoes and with the feet VERY clean.
There is a good way to shoe for the pedal oseitis, and I would be happy to respond again, once you have a diagnosis.
QUESTION: Dr. Young, I have a 17 yr old Arab gelding that was recently diagnosed with laminitis. My Vet luckily caught his ailment early and he's not severely affected but I'm trying everything to help him improve quickly (supplements, bute, etc). The Vet had suggested icing his feet for a short time every day (not let him stand in water, just use ice cubes or cold gel-packs). I have tried several things such as spreading ice cubes around his feet or putting ice in a nylon bag (worked for a few minutes but then the ice quickly melted and he stood in water which wasn't good) or trying to wrap bell boots around gel packs. Nothing works very well since he'll move his feet and the gel packs slip out, etc. He's too scared to put his foot in a bucket of ice and I've heard that's painful anyway for a horse. Do you have any recommendations of other tactics that might work? Thank you very much for your help.
ANSWER: we are asking our readers to email their stories, tactics, and suggestions for this problem to us at support@hoofrite.com.
QUESTION: We have an AQHA mare, 22 years old with a club foot. She was shown when younger as a youth horse. She always had shoes on the front; our vet wanted her to go barefoot to try strengthening the hoof. Now she is lame and the sole of the hoof is soft and spongy when pressed with the fingers. We have had her on a hoof supplement for 2 years which does not contain as much d-biotin as yours. Would your supplement help this condition? The soft sole is constantly bruising and abscesses are common.
ANSWER: There are a few things to consider. Some horses just can not go barefoot and just being barefoot makes them lame. There was a big barefoot trend that went through here the last few years and I was very busy with lameness exams. I would tell the people to try the shoes back on first and see if the lameness went away. The majority of them did respond to the shoes. The ones that didn't had the full lameness exam with diagnostic nerve blocks and radiographs. Taking the shoes off can often lead to the feet wearing way too short and the horse getting sole pressure from the ground. That too can make them sore and bruise the soles. Painting the soles with betadine solution (not iodine!!!) will toughen them up in a few days. Club footed hores have a bit of a dropped sole and thin sole to start with and a shoe on would prevent the excessive toe wear that you can see with a barefoot clubfoot.
But I would suggest you get her up off the ground in some shoes. Your farrier may have some comments, as well. If she stays lame, you should get the vet out again. In the mean time some easy boots, ol' macs or some soft bedding should help her be more comfortable.As far as the hoof supplement, Hoof Rite, it improves the quality of the horn and the strength of the horn and increased the rate of growth of the foot. If she is sore from no shoes, sole soreness or any other type of lameness condition, of course, it would not help with that.
QUESTION: Dr. Young, I have a 15 year old ex-barrel racer mare. I took her shoes off last month, trying to get her as natural as possible. She is having a very hard time with this change, walking very gingerly, like she is walking on red hot coals. Would this product help? I am giving her other supplements from tlc animal nutrition. Please, your help would be very appreciated.
ANSWER: My practice consists of lameness and therapeutic shoeing. From that stand point I can tell you that not all horses can go barefoot. Sounds good, but the horse is always the best critic of an idea or theory. They can even become laminitic if left that way. I have seen horses lame for up to a year that the owners insisted on barefeet and Ol' Mac boots and the horses crippled around for that length of time and then they would pay to have me come to tell them to put some plain shoes on and the horses came right again. Sometimes the marketing of some of these ideas is overwhelming and the horse ends up being the victim.
I would suggest you have your vet come and make sure the horse is not becoming laminitic. There may need to be some radiographs taken to rule that out. Could be she just wants shoes back on.
If her feet are short or she has thin soles the hoof supplement could help to get her feet grown out. If she is lame, that needs a diagnosis and treatment and a hoof supplement will not do that.
QUESTION: My horse stepped on a nail about 3 weeks ago; it is not getting any better, even after soaking every day and keeping it wrapped. Now proud fleash is coming out of the nail hole? My blacksmith has not seen anything like this, can you help?
ANSWER: You need to have your vet out right away to check it out and take radiographs.Sometimes the nails go deep to the navicular bone or through the tendon sheath.That is a medical and sometimes a surgical emergency. If the horse is really lame, that could mean some serious problem may exist. Also, the tetanus needs to be boosted and the granulation tissue addressed. Run, do not walk to your phone and talk to your vet.
QUESTION: My 3-year-old Quarter Horse filly sustained a serious injury to her left front foot. The coronet band on the inside quarter of her foot is gone, and the hoof wall on the same portion fell off during treatment. The vet tried to apply an acrylic compound to replace the missing hoof wall but the compound did not adhere -- there was nothing on the back of the hoof for it to stick to. The injury happened 1 month ago, and she has been confined to a stall with her foot wrapped since then. The current plan is to change the wrapping every few days and hope eventually there will be enough hoof to hold the replacement compound. I'm searching for other options at this point. Do you know of any supplements or alternative therapies which have been useful in similar cases? I appreciate any insight you might share.
ANSWER: I would like to give you a little direction, but need to tell you that I have worked on many cases like this, just so you know that.
If you glue a heartbar shoe or are able to nail it and "float" the area of the injury, you can get some good support on the foot and it will grow out all by itself without acrylics, rebuilds or casts. I will try to post some photos on the site for you to see this in some other cases. Also it is good to support the other foot as well with a heartbar, if she is lame, as she will bear too much weight on the good foot and that can become a problem.
Concerns are that the sensative tissue, the corium, or quick is protected from damage by your faithful bandaging and keeping it very clean and dry. If any bone is exposed or the collateral cartilage, that could delay healing and caused some complications and continued drainage or abscessation. If it was hooked on wood or metal, there may be foriegn material in the injured area too.
The Imprint shoes glue on in about 3 minutes. A nail on shoe may be uses and toe nails can be made in the shoe. It is ok to use nails in the toe as long as they are placed correctly. Radiographs need to be taken to make the heartbar shoe correctly. Your veterinarian and farrier will need to work together on this one for sure.\
Topical medications need to be kind to the tissue. Tincture of iodine, turpentine or phenol should not be used. Betadine solution is good until it dries up.
I have seen horses loose up to 1/3 of the hoof and grow it all back and be used again.
A hoof supplement would of course increase the rate of growing the wall to get the wall to grow out as fast as possible.
QUESTION: For approx. the last 2 months I've been treating my horse for thrush. Right front hoof; back part of foot; was a small hole, I could also pry this area open a bit. He had become lame. No swelling, no tenderness when the vet checked him. Vet prescribed an antiobiotic and he also cut away the area at the small hole area to relieve any pressure. The created a clear space to bottom of hoof area. Vet said it looked like the horse might have had a small puncture and some drainage. I've been packing the area with an antiseptic cream prescribed by a vet and also with coppersept. The horse appeared better, then when the antibiotic was stopped, he appeared lame again in about 4 days. The lameness is not severe. I'm having the farrier look at him again on Monday. My horse is 10 years old, quarter horse appendix, is not overridden or underidden. Any ideas?
ANSWER: Probably time to have the vet back out to block the horse to make sure the pain is coming from the "obvious area" and not somewhere else, and then some radiographs.
If an area drains and causes lameness and drains again or if the lameness returns, it would be good to image the area. There may be a something foreign up in the foot or there may be something within the foot that is infected, like the soft tissue or bone...
Thrush doesn't usually go to the extent of invading deeper tissue and rarely causes lameness. Some forms of frog rot will go deep into the digital cushion. If the horse did step on something, that something might still be in the hoof. I have pulled out cactus, wood, palm tree parts, rocks...all sorts of stuff from under the hoof wall. Some items don't show up on radiographs, but most do.
If there is an opening, after the plain films are taken, then some contrast material can be put in the hole to see where that goes and then take another film. Some tracts can really go deep into the foot.
Any betadine or iodine on the foot, may show up on the radiographs, so you want to get all that off first. Tetanus should be current, that is important. Also, clean, dry and wrapped if the foot is open...
These are just some suggestions.
QUESTION: I have just purchased my first horse, he is an 8 yr old Marble Apaloosa Gelding. We have had him now for a month. The first week after getting him we found out that he has seedy toe and founder. Will the hoof rite fix his problems. The founder is quite bad, the farrier seems to guess that the bone has rotated around by about 10 in his front leg. the other legs hooves seem fine. I have been told that I may never get to ride him? What do you think and is the hoofrite available in Australia or is there a similar product?
ANSWER: Laminitis can be quite serious. I would recommend that you have your vet come and take radiographs of the feet, so you won't be guessing about where the coffin bone is in the foot. You can't guess, radiographs are definately needed for prognosis and for shoeing the horse correctly.
Some cases of laminitis come all the way back and can be ridden. Others may stay lame. The best prognosis is to try to figure out what caused the laminitis and get a handle on that. Some are from overfeeding, grain overload, the horse being sick, grass founder, road founder, Cushing's disease, hypothyroid and insulin-resistance...the list goes on and on.
Hoof Rite will help with growing out the feet. The better the new hoof the better the new laminar attachments. This product in some cases of laminits will increase the growth rate at well, to accellerate the healing time. Some cases of laminitis will not grow hoof, because of lack of circulation.
There are lots of medications that could help your horse, depending on the condition. That is where the vet comes in. There are special shoes like heartbar shoes that can be nailed on and glued on that can really help the condition. That is where a professional farrier comes in.
Not sure where you are there, but Dr. Pascoe in Aggie, Queensland and Dr. Pollit at the Uni of Queensland are both good vets to contact. Keith Swan is a farrier there, as well. Then on the west side, in Perth, John Godwin could give you some direction, as well.
QUESTION: We own a 6 year old paint mare who 3 years ago had an entrolith removed at Tufts University and the analysis of it said it was composed of mostly manganese. At the time she was on a supplement for young horses that had a lot of manganese in it. They said not to put her on any supplements. Then a year ago she foundered and we never found out why. We have her on Blue Seal "Vintage, Victory" one scoop morning and night. Today the farrier came to do her feet and said that her hind feet had very thin walls and we ended up putting 4 shoes on instead of 2, she had pulled a front shoe at an event. What would you suggest for a very basic supplement for her feet. Is there one with just d-biotin in it?
ANSWER: There are lots of different supplements out there on the market. There are straight d-biotin supplements, but they take a very long time to kick in, according to a study done over in Europe, up to a year to have full effect. But to answer your question, yes, there are straight d-biotin supplements on the market. 15 mg/day of d-biotin has been proven to be effective in improving the rate of growth of the foot.The nutrient analysis is on the website, www.hoofrite.com and you could print that out and ask your veterinarian what he or she might think of it in regards to your horse's special nutritional needs. There is no added Manganese in the product. It is an alfalfa based product that would be only 1% of the horse's diet for the day.So, I would ask your vet for the ok about which product you should use.
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