Low grade laminitis and vet wants Ozzies shoes back on???

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Pencilbeckett

New Member
Mar 12, 2009
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Staffordshire
Hi

I called the vet out cause Ozzy is still foot sore on stony ground. He checked all 4 feet and said there are raised pulses and soreness of the soles in the hind hooves but not the front.

We are on box rest the rest of this week, then the vet wants Ozzies shoes back on on Monday then he is going to come out next Thurs to look again.

I feel so fed up as i really wanted him bare foot. Will re shoeing really solve the problem???
 
Shoes should make him more comfortable but if its a metabolic/dietary issue causing it then it won't fix that part of it. You'd get improvement in comfort but not likely to get improvement in other effects such as growth rings, flare, stretched white lines etc.
 
He's probably thinking in terms of support to the hooves, as if he's only just had them off he wouldn't be used to going around barefoot. It won't cure laminitis, but will probably aid comfort during recovery (I'm guessing that's what your vet is thinking).

If you still want to go barefoot, once he's recovered fully from the laminitis, speak to your farrier and get his advice. Mine's been barefoot for 4 years now. We started off just taking the backs off, and letting him get used to that, and then the fronts came off when he was having some time off work and out 24/7. Took a while, but he did adjust to being barefoot. And when he had his laminitis attack, as he was used to being barefoot, the vet said to get him trimmed but leave unshod (might have been different advice if she's suspected sinking or rotation). So you should still be able to end up barefoot, it just won't be as soon as you'd like.
 
Hmm, Cheeky stayed barefoot all through his laminitis and he was a painful acute case, but recovered very quickly. I'm sure your vet is just thinking about Ozzie's comfort. If you still have questions, why don't you call your vet up as he/she has seen Ozzy in person and would be able to explain further their reasoning - also you can air your own concerns as to what is best for your horse.
 
If you really want to stay shoeless (and for laminitis I would) ask the vet what exactly is he looking to achieve with shoes.

Is he more comfortable standing on a hard surface or a soft one?

Does he have good feet?
 
Has the vet advised anything regarding grazing and diet? How severe is the soreness?

Horses getting a bit footsore without shoes on good grass is something that's really common in this country, especially if the pasture has been fertilised. You can sometimes get on top of it by restricting grass intake, and using hoof boots all round for any ridden work will make a vast difference too.

If the problem is mild then shoes will not only make the horse comfortable but will get rid of the heat and pulses too.

With some horses it's difficult to do enough to get them comfortable enough especially within the confines of the average livery yard. After a few years of struggling I personally came to the conclusion that the least worst course of action for mine was to shoe during the problem period and barefoot over the winter. Perhaps that might be the way to go for now at least? The feet get a chance to recover and strengthen so you're putting a shoe onto the best foot you can.
 
Pencilbeckett said:
Hi

I called the vet out cause Ozzy is still foot sore on stony ground. He checked all 4 feet and said there are raised pulses and soreness of the soles in the hind hooves but not the front.

We are on box rest the rest of this week, then the vet wants Ozzies shoes back on on Monday then he is going to come out next Thurs to look again.

I feel so fed up as i really wanted him bare foot. Will re shoeing really solve the problem???
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I had the same problem! Had my boy's shoes taken off in May and he went lame quite quickly. Unfortunately I couldn't get hold of my trimmer so in the end took my horse to the vet and their farrier fitted glue on aluminium shoes to give his frogs some support and, as his soles were so thin and he had badly bruised feet to take his soles away from the ground. The farrier at the vets have said that there is no reason in the future why my horse shouldn't go barefoot but we need to improve his feet first with diet and supplements and then it would be best to do it when the ground is not so hard.
 
My mare suffers from lgl due to Insulin Resistance. Her diet keeps her fine 99 percent of the time but I keep her barefoot so I can pick up any footiness so I can cut her grass intake pronto. In shoes she would seem fine but the changes would still be going on in her feet and as an owner I wouldnt see the warning signs until it was possibly too late. So in answer to your question, shoes would mask the problem, not cure it !

A change of diet and environment will help with footiness in most cases.
 
I was wondering the same as littlepony. Wouldn't shoes mask the issue :confused: Not only that but can't Lami be bought on even more by concussion which surely nailing on a shoe would be classed as :confused:

Obviously I'm no expert so my musings are just questions.
 
My theory is that vast numbers of horses suffer with LGL type stuff to one degree or another but their owners are none the wiser because the horses are shod. There is some masking going on, but in a mild case shoes also seem to prevent the inflammation from developing because the amount of stimulation the foot gets is reduced. You can get the same effect using hoof boots.

I'm not wholly convinced that an observant owner wouldn't see trouble coming anyway in most cases. Horses in shoes still get hot feet, shortened strides and raised pulses and show footy symptoms over stones if they've got a problem.

Not only that but can't Lami be bought on even more by concussion which surely nailing on a shoe would be classed as
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I don't think the act of nailing a shoe on would be enough to bring on concussive laminitis, although it can be very uncomfortable for a horse suffering with it. A shod foot does suffer a lot more concussion on hard ground though in comparison to a healthy bare hoof. I may be wrong but I don't think you normally get concussive laminitis without some sort of dietary crisis going on in the background anyway.

I'm not sure if it's actually clear whether LGL and full blown lami are one and the same thing, or whether one automatically leads to the other.
 
Don't forget you can glue on shoes and there are the epona shoes which are rubber (ish) material and they can be glued or nailed on.
 
My criollo has gone down with LGL for the second time this year. He was shod on the fronts and went barefoot this Feb. Each time he went LGL it was after my barefoot trimmer had been. My vet said that he was obviously starting to be LGL and after the trim, which will bring the foot/frog in closer contact with the ground and therefore showed the LGL up. First time he was footsore and pottery and reluctant to turn on his hinds and was short striding. No raised pulses or hot feet. He was stabled for a week with soaked hay and seemed to be fine. Second time (last week) he walked as if he had travel boots on, raised pulses, hot feet + short strides. Vet said he needs to lose 25Kilos (he is currently 490k, 15.2hh). He is already on a restricted paddock and just enough hard feed for his supplements. Maybe he is not suitable for barefoot and needs some support in the form of some type of shoe (always booted on fronts for rides) but I worry that I will not see the signs of LGL and he could end up with the full blown version !!
 
That's the thing with this, if you didn't know there was a problem before, there's no reason to suspect there will be one afterwards either. And you'll know far better what you're looking for in terms of danger signs.
 
I'm with the others, shoeing masks the initial pain of LGL.

Kermit was getting it from the ryegrass the barn was planting in the winter, very little I could do about it. It is very high in sugar when it sprouts and grows from Jan-May.

I started using APF a year ago in June and haven't had an abscess or seen signs of LGL since. Even been extensively road hacking barefoot without any issues! :D

It's expensive, but then I look at my vet bills over the year before that and figure it costs about the same as getting shoes put on, which is what my vet recommended.
 
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I would make the point that your vet is a vet, where as I bet every poster here including me isnt.

Dont forget you can get LGL from concussion on stones with a flat soled horse and bruising it isnt just food/weight related. Mine got it when super fit doing a 40 mile race ride over very rough terrian.

I would ask your vet to explain the reason for shoeing - I would guess its the above , but then I would really on the vet rather then on online experts (including me!) if I were you.
 
Which give more support - shoes or boots and pads?
We've been trying Epona shoes all spring and summer in a bid to have a LGL free year. Last year she was sometimes footy over stones even in boots, this year in shoes she sometimes tries to get on grass verge, not happy to trot on hard surfaces, tripping now and again and very sore after a trim and re-shoeing with Eponas. Diet is very grass-restricted and hay is soaked for 8 hrs plus hoof mender, brewers yeast in fast fibre. Farrier coming on Friday and removing Eponas so I guess I'll find out....:rolleyes:
 
How reliable are bloods for establishing metabolic, hormonal inbalances? Am happy to organise tests if they will finalise a means of making her healthier. I've been on to Jackie at Metabolic Horse and slim and sound may be a good supp or Equus Health have a good supp with seaweed, linseed and brewers yeast in it but obviously boosting minerals will only work if her diet is currently not addressing an underlying problem.
 
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