Barefoot Rehab

Question

Bugsy.jpg   QUESTION: My 13-year-old Appendix Quarter Horse named Bugsy was diagnosed with
navicular syndrome last year and I took him barefoot Feb. 1 (using a trimmer
in Pete Ramey's group) hoping to cure his lameness. I was initially worried
about his becoming overly sore without shoes but he seems to have
weathered that without much incident. But when I brought him back to the
trimmer last Friday (March 7) for a second trim, all of a sudden he appeared
to be off at a trot on his front LEFT leg instead of his RIGHT (as he had been
previously--and the right foot was the primary one diagnosed as navicular).
Is this something I should be concerned about? What's going on?!? I'm
attaching a JPEG showing his front feet at various stages over the past 5 or so
weeks in case that's of any help. Bugsy's front right foot is somewhat upright
and to the best of my understanding is in worse shape as the frog and digital
cushion were thus always left far off the ground. Both front heels were
contracted. And the most outstanding feature I can think of regarding his
front left leg is that it paddles when he trots. I don't get the feeling Bugsy's
doing any worse than last week and if I had to say one way or the other I'd
guess he may be even doing a little bit better. But, if so, why would he all of a
sudden be off on his other leg?!? Can you help me understand what's going
on?!? Thanks for whatever insights you can offer!

ANSWER: Hi Evan ... I apologize for the delay in my answer to you. Life sometimes gets in the way of all the FUN things! *GRIN*

The toes look to be long unless that is distortion on the part of the photos. Getting those toes back will be the biggest relief. Also, yes, heels are contracted and what I've found is that most contractions cause Yeast issues in the crack between the bulbs of the heels. That can be very soring. Any suddeness of lameness, of course, *could* be caused by an abscess. One way to tell if it might be that would be to give 1 gm of Bute, if tolerated well by the horse and if there's NO relief from the tenderness then it's USUALLY an abscess that needs to be treated. MOVEMENT is best to help an abscess move its way out and burst. There are a couple of Homeopathic remedies that help to hasten the process and resolve the situation. Hepar sulph to get the abscess to burst and Silicea to resolve it. Please feel free to email to me for further detail as to these remedies if you're interested.

Please go to www.barefoottrim.com and click on "Education". You'll find an article on BALANCE in the Basic Form section of the site. Take a look there to compare your horse's front hooves with the ones depicted there. The 1/3rd:2/3rd ratio of the hoof has been 100% successful for me in remediating these kinds of issues. That allows the hooves to land HEEL first with the caudal 2/3rds of the hoof being the major weight bearing portion of the hoof. I'd really work extra diligently on getting those toes back and getting the hooves into that 1/3:2/3 ratio. You'll find that will help tremendously.

All in all one of the BEST healers is movement ... and more movement. On good, firm clean ground (no gravel, rocks, etc.)

I hope he's doing better and I hope this is helpful to you.

:) -- Gwen

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the info. Since I sent you my question, though, I've learned from a
number of sources it's actually not all that unusual for the lameness in horses
undergoing barefoot rehab for navicular syndrome to switch from one front
leg to the other. And, according to Dr. Tomas Teskey, an Arizona vet and
barefoot advocate, horses that go back and forth with such lameness actually
have BETTER long term recovery results, as he says it seems to even them
out, making them travel similarly left to right over the weeks and months of
rehab. As a result, my concern over Bugsy's situation has switched to two
other areas. First, I'm a big Pete Ramey fan and his article on the importance
of using boots and (especially) pads for navicular cases definitely registered
with me. However, my trimmer provided me with Renegade boots plus frog
pads cut out of foam in a way that doesn't seem quite as individually tailored
and precise as Ramey seems to indicate. And I've since been told Easyboot
Epics with their comfort pad system are a better option for navicular horses.
Meantime, my experience so far with the frog pads my trimmer cut have not
been what I had hoped (although I don't know how much that reflects on the
pads themselves and how much on my expectations). So I remain confused
on how best to proceed here and could use any insights. And, finally, I've
been contemplating moving Bugsy to a barn where he'll have more turnout
but with the options I have right now it's difficult for me to make a choice.
Very simply, I can either leave him where he is--where he's turned out
during the day with 5-6 somewhat playful horses on perhaps no more than
4-5 acres--or move him to a somewhat hilly 12-acre field where he'd be
with at the moment 2 horses that are both old and somewhat disabled (one
partly lame, the other largely blind). I know that's barely an outline of each of
the two places (and no doubt inadequate) but if you have any thoughts on
this subject as well, feel free to let me know. Thanks!

ANSWER: Hi Evan ... for some reason I was never notified of your last post to me and I apologize profusely for not replying! So, I guess, at this time, situations have changed so wanted to know how you made out? How is Bugsy doing?

--Gwen

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It may well be that the strictly barefoot aspect of my horse's navicular rehab
will turn out to be the easy part as so many other things seem to be getting
in the way. For example, in mid April I moved Bugsy to the barn with the 12-
acre turnout I mentioned but he actually only made it to the big field within
the last couple of weeks. You see, he arrived at that barn the same day as a
retired mare whose health turned out to be in serious jeopardy, and since
Bugsy and that mare knew each other from before, they quickly bonded and it
seemed unwise to separate them until the mare was no longer in such
distress. So Bugsy was initially relegated to just a ring, and later also to a
small additional paddock. Similarly, my pad dilemma proved unduly
perplexing as the more barefoot people I asked the more different answers I
got--including those who claim it's best not to use any pads during navicular
rehab. Fortunately, with respect to Bugsy's turnout, it appears while he was
largely confined for roughly a month at least his being somewhat out 24/7
(as opposed to spending much of his time in a stall) paid some dividends.
And, with respect to pads, by trial and error I soon discovered Easycare's
thinner Frog Support Pads helped, and more recently switched over to
Easycare's thicker Frog Pressure Pads. Also, while complications at the new
barn made it more difficult to exercise and ride Bugsy, things have now
gotten somewhat better (a trend I'm hoping will continue). All told, as a
result, last Sunday Bugsy began doing short spurts of trotting while I was
riding him out on the trails, albeit with smaller more contained steps, but
better than anything I've seen in the last year or more, so I'm cautiously
optimistic about things going forward. But I know it can sometimes be two
steps forward, one step back with this sort of rehab, so I'm not sure what to
expect next--in terms of how he'll perform or what other obstacles may yet
be perched to get in the way! (I'll let you know if and when they do!) Thanks
for your interest!

Answer
Well, Evan .. the one constant with horses is the phrase "it depends". *GRIN* Every horse is different and while you're as likely to get as many different answers from various trimmers and farriers as Carter's has pills, your HORSE is the one who is going to tell you what is RIGHT for him! He's the *final* answer. So, listen to 'im!  :)  Good luck and yes, do keep me posted. If you have new photos (recent!) of his hooves I'd be interested in viewing them.

:) -- Gwen