Q: Geronimo, my 16-yr-old
thoroughbred has been to hell and back...last year he suffered a tibial fracture
right above the hock....then he had an OCD removed. Basically he has spent more
time in stall rest this past year than anything else. Two months ago he had
abscesses in both front feet....now we have been battling what my vet calls mild
laminitis in all four feet. We did the conventional treatments...Bute,
intravenous DMSO, Banamine, Isoxoprine plus the holistic approach of Co-enzyme
Q-10, echinacea, garlic, milk thistle to support his liver while processing all
these medications, aloe vera juice to protect his digestive system, + MSM,
methionine in the form of Farrier's Formula, chrondoitin sulfate, vitamin C, and
probiotics. He also gets a monthly injection of Legend and is fed 1 qt bran mash
and 1 qt Equine Senior twice a day. For the first four weeks, he alternated
soaking all four feet with hot and cold water and poulticed every night. Now
we're down to just soaking, he is hand walked 15 per day. His radiographs show no
rotation and he moves very soundly. In the beginning we took two insulin tests,
the first revealed he was 1 point above normal, the second two weeks later came
in at 4.6 which was slightly below normal. He gets better then he gets worse
with digital pulses and a very slight heat to his feet. His digital pulses have
never been severely or intensely bounding but they're there, some days better
than others. Some days his feet are cold to the touch, the next day they are
ever so slightly warm...HELP! Have I missed something here....is there something
else I should be doing?....My vet says she wants hand made heart bar shoes on
him the next time he's shod which is this week. A holistic practitioner says I
should be giving him Inositol and Pituitrophen which should correct and
stabilize any imbalances in his blood sugar and/or his pituitary functions. What
should I do about this advice? My conventional vet says he is definitely on the
right track, that he is going in a positive direction. On top of it all, I also
have an equine chiropractor and an equine massage therapist work on him because
his back and hips are now stiff and sore.
I would welcome any advice or dialog with you concerning my horse's condition. I
should let you know that we had started working him again after a year very
slowly on the lunge line prior to this bout of laminitis...and for a horse who
went through a fracture and OCD operation, he was coming along miraculously well
to the disbelief of my vet. He was sound albeit a little stiff from being out of
shape and stallbound but definitely coming back. He was a wonderful jumper
before his injuries. Is there hope to look forward to?
A: From reading your e-mail, I
would say your horse HAS been to hell and back. My advice and dialog is as
follows:
You might want to consider having your vet check his thyroid.
Also, if you haven't already shod this horse, and I hope I am in time to give my
advice, I suggest that he be shod with ADJUSTABLE heart bar shoes, as opposed to
regular heart bar shoes. The farrier should make this decision.
I prefer adjustable hear bar shoes because the amount of support is more
accurately regulated by the turn of an Allen screw. The adjustables also require
resetting less often, thus eliminating additional trauma of hammering nails into
the horse's hoof and not adding more holes in that wall than necessary. If the
horse has an excessive long pastern thereby creating excessive phalangeal
stress, the adjustable heart bar then would have to be reset as often as a
regular heart bar shoe. Even so, it still has the other advantages mentioned
above, over conventional heart bars.
***We offer an information package on
the adjustable heart bar shoe for sale to qualified experienced farriers only.
The package includes instructions for constructing, applying and making the
frequent and necessary adjustments to the shoe as well as many indispensable
hints for insuring the best possible results. Call 541-459-2609 (preferably at 8
PM Oregon time) or send e-mail
message for purchase information.***
Concerning your horse's back and hips, I would highly recommend that you
consider egg bar shoes on the hind feet, extending ¼" behind the bulbs.
This is, of course, assuming that he is not foundering in the hind feet as well
as in the front. Extended egg bars will create a lifting support to the hind end
of the horse and has eliminated a lot of sore backs and hips in my practice.
Good luck with your old guy. If I can be of further assistance, holler.
Sincerely,
Geronimo Bayard
The American Blacksmith
Oakland, Oregon