Beckie’s Equine Letter
News, Case Studies, Questions & Answers
And a Lesson of the Month in every Issue
July 2005 -- Issue 3
News for the Month
Hi there, hope you’re all well. I’d like to thank you for all your feedback on my newsletter. One of my favourite comments was “It’s a perfect cup of tea length read.” (Thank you Jackie Carpenter)
Well this last month has been busy. All of you are taking advantage of this nice weather and wearing the shoes out faster than I can put them on, so as a result I’ve been staying out of trouble. I did find time to go to a talk by Andy (one of the Arundel vets) on Punctured Soles which was very good. We were discussing in what circumstances we should pull nails out or leave them in. I’ll be going over some of the things we covered in this issues “Lesson of the Month”. We are lucky that in this area there is such a good working relationship between Farriers and Vets. It’s so essential as in many situations it’s a joint effort to fix some of your horse’s problems.
In my last newsletter I invited you to try taking off a shoe so you’d know how to do it in an emergency. A few brave soles put themselves forward and did a really good job. Whether they could walk the next day I’m still unsure but they put on a brave face!
I had my first school work experience student out with me for a week which was good fun. For those of you that met Rose thank you for your patience whilst I was determined to get her stuck in. Also Victoria King one of my customers joined me for a day to see if this was possibly the job for her. I don’t think I put her off and well done Victoria for being so determined.
My Negative Sole Plain study is coming on well. I’ve got 8 horses in the study that I’m making changes with and am already seeing some really exciting results. I’ll keep you posted on their progress.
In this months issue I’ve treated you to a special “Expert Interview”. I’ve been lucky enough to pick the brains of Mark Murrell one of the Vets from the Anvil Practice on a specialist topic of his--Navicular Disease. Hope you enjoy!
Whilst you had the hot spell over here I was lucky enough to be exploring the island of Fuerteventura. I saw a couple of horses. Felt sorry for them to be honest, it was far too hot and barren. And no chance of getting laminitis, there was nothing green in sight!
Finally a Big Happy Birthday goes out to Brenda with Dougal the donkey who has just reached 70. Many Happy Returns.
Lesson of the Month
Puncture Wounds of the Foot
You might remember in the last issue I briefly showed on my diagram of the foot where the danger zone is located. This is the worst area that you could get a puncture. I’ve shown this again on a separate sheet for this issue, along with a cross section of the foot so you can see the vital structures that would be affected.
Puncture wounds can be grouped into two basic categories: a) Wounds that have an object sticking out, and b) Wounds that don’t.
If your horse stands on a nail and you find it in the foot should you pull it out? This can be tricky. On the one hand you obviously don’t want them to continue standing on it and pushing it in further. However, if you remove it what damage will you cause? How far has it gone in, and what structures are involved?
This month's short lesson should help.
Towards the end of May, Andy (one of the vets from Arundel) gave a group of us Farriers a presentation about puncture wounds. It was good to clarify what action they want us to take in an emergency to help them with the follow on treatment.
General Tips
If you find a nail in the foot the first thing you should do is call the vet. I know feet are a Farrier’s specialist area, but the new legislations state that if sensitive structures are affected it is classed a veterinarian job. If the nail is obviously not in a dangerous area the vet will probably remove it there and then, and poulticing may be your only action. But if it is near the danger zone an x-ray will need to be taken to obtain how far in and where the nail has gone.
To prevent the nail from going in further whilst travelling or even just to allow the horse to stand, you can use padding around the edges of the foot, and lots of bandaging to raise the affected area off the ground.
If your horse is very lame and has evidence of a puncture but no object is visible, mark around this area with a permanent marker making sure it can be found easily again. Sometimes the object could have got broken off inside. An x-ray will need to be taken to ensure there is nothing remaining in the foot.
Summary
If you suspect your horse has trodden on a nail or sharp object:
1. Call the vet ASAP
2. Don’t remove the nail, but build up the foot with bandages around the area if there at risk of pushing it in further.
3. If you can’t see the nail but can see an entry hole, mark this clearly as it’s easy to forget exactly where it is.
4. Fast treatment and diagnosis via x-ray is essential to avoid infection.
Case Study
Mandy Turrell--Buddy
History. Buddy is a 17:2, 11 year old Irish Draft. He was hunted hard with his previous owners and has had some what of a lighter work load since he’s been with Mandy for the last two years, although not all by choice.
Buddy wasn’t blessed with the best conformation. He is exceptionally pigeon toed (his toes turn in) to the extent it looks like he’s going to trip himself up. Buddy also shattered one of his splint bones and broke the cannon bone on a hind leg in May 2004, after a bad kick. He then spent a whole year out of work recovering. He does however appear to have made a full recovery.
Problem. His main problem now is with both front feet. We noticed him getting worse whilst being shod. When taking off one front shoe he wouldn’t want to stand on it till the shoe was put back on--there was obviously a lot of pain there. He was very pottery at walk and began to land more and more toe first (a sound horse should land heel first). The pain was clearly coming from the back of the foot, so Buddy was compensating by landing on the front.
Diagnosis. After a thorough lameness work-up, nerve blocks and x-rays done by Mark Murrell at Anvil Vets, we were able to pinpoint the fact he had Navicular Disease.
This meant that the Navicular bone had deteriorated to quite an extent and started laying down new bone, causing him an incredible amount of discomfort.
Treatment. Mark put him on some medication called Navilox. Buddy also had bute everyday.
I’ve been able to make him a lot more comfortable by fitting a shoe with a hard plate under to protect the foot from excessive loading. It also stabilises the foot and prevents expansion in the back of the foot, therefore reducing pain.
Under the pad he’s got medicated hoof packing which keeps the foot clean, dry and encourages growth. It also has analgesic properties which reduces pain.
To encourage Buddy to land heel first I have been using special shoes--the Equine Digital Support System (EDSS). These have a set of adjustable rails that act like high heels, allowing me to adjust the angle of the foot. They come in three different heights so I can change them easily for optimal comfort. These shoes have made a really big difference.
Results. Buddy’s making great progress. He’s off the Navilox, only has his heels raised slightly and is rearing to go when being ridden (just walking at this stage).
It’s great that with the modern shoeing systems we can easily help horses like Buddy.
Questions & Answers
Q: My pony’s feet keep cracking around the old nail holes. Is there anything that actually works that I can put on?
Carol Stanley
A: This is a problem for a lot of horses coming into the summer. Their feet find it very hard to deal with the varying water content in the ground. They also tend to stamp a lot because of the flies which contributes to the feet breaking up. One thing that I’ve found helps is using Keratex hoof hardener. It is in a liquid form and can be used over the wall and sole. For best results use it once a day for the first week. Once every other day for the second week. Then two to three times a week or as needed after that. It is also best to paint it on from the height of the nail holes and below.
To find out more about Keratex products their website is www.keratex.net
Q: My horse always slips on the roads, what can I do? Amy Newton
A: I can fit Road Studs or Road Nails onto the shoe. These have a hard tungsten pin in the centre, which doesn’t wear down. As the shoe wears the pin stands proud gripping to the road. It doesn’t look like much but does the job.
Feedback
“My horse Apollo is young (only 5) and hadn’t ever had shoes on before. Beckie started him off in traditional shoes but due to his lack of co-ordination (because of his age) he was pulling front shoes off left right and centre. Beckie was returning to the yard practically every week to replace the same front shoe. We put over-reach boots on him and tried smaller shoes, but the problem continued. Then we put Natural Balance fronts on him, with the thought that if the breakover was shortened his feet would get away quicker and therefore he wouldn’t tread them off so easily with his hinds. This helped to some extent; he still did pull the same shoe off but only occasionally. We then went one step further and put Natural Balance hinds on as well, and he hasn’t lost a shoe since!” Aimee Noon
This confirms how important it is to treat all four feet, which is also especially important with lame horses. Sometimes I get asked to just shoe the lame end of the horse, with the regular Farrier doing the rest. This never produces best results simply because of the knock on effect from one area to another.
The only way to really solve problems is to work on the horse as a whole.
Handouts that went with this Newsletter
Danger Zone Diagram
Foot Diagram
Interview with Mark Murrell - Navicular
