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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
 
Location: London Ontario | I have a 15 yr old rodeo horse who can do anything and everything. Before we got him he was rode hard and put up wet with little maintenance. He had two years off and I have brought him back since the fall of 2016.
I had the vet out in the spring, definitely off front right on the hard lane way(you can really see it on hard ground). Farrier thought it might be his knees as he can be tough to shoe up front. Vet flexed knees, he had full flexion but very little flexion in his ankles. We hoof tested him and was mildly sore.
We blocked his right front foot and still trotted out sore.
We went ahead and injected ankles and have done monthly Polyglycan shots since(#3 will be done next week). I have also started with pour in pads in his front feet as per my farrier with regular shoes still. He was also on Previcoxx 3 days prior to a run but I have recently started him on it daily. I have noticed a huge improvement but he is still not where I would like him to be.
He makes me enough money in the poles, barrels, breakaway or team roping that he deserves it. He is one of those hard running, trash ground liking horses and will work through the pain but I don't feel he(or any horse) should have to. He will have the winters off(Nov- March.)
I would like to combat this more effectively now that I know there is improvement. I am in talks with my farrier now to see what he recommends, we are thinking glue on shoes. My vet and I were also talking last night, we are planning on Xraying to see what changes there are, but where do we go from there? He recommended Osphos and there are varying opinions about it on here. My vet said it could give bones another 5 years of good life. Or would nerving be a better option? Again with him having the winter off, am i best to wait till Mid Feb to give him the Osphos, give him 30 days off and then have him leg up after that? First big runs are the end of April. What has worked for you in the past? |
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 The Worst Seller Ever
Posts: 4138
 
Location: Oklahoma | So did you find where the soreness came from? Did you check the shoulders? If he has been foot sore, then I can almost guarentee he is off in the shoulders as well.
As far as glue ons go... If you can get him to hold a shoe well, I would go for pads or No-Vibes first before the glue ons. They are usually a last resort.
As old as he is I don't think Previcoxx/bute/banamine is going to hurt him.
Edited by clover girl 2017-06-15 9:12 AM
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 Georgia Peach
Posts: 8338
 
Location: Georgia | I would have x-rays done on his feet to determine if there might be some rotation happening. My gelding was on/off lame for several months. We looked at a few different things and everything pointed to his feet. We had x-rays done and it was determined he had very thin soles and a tiny bit of rotation. Made a few lifestyle changes and he has done well. He still gets ouchy in the summertime but we can combat it with soft-rides and a good diet. |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| Make sure the toe is cut off and his shoes are set back underneath him- I had one with chronic foot soreness caused by long toe- three different farriers shod her that way cause I told them she pulled shoes. Long toe was causing pressure on her coffin bone and inflaming the laminae |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 899
Location: Idaho | MC1993 - 2017-06-16 6:51 AM
I have a 15 yr old rodeo horse who can do anything and everything. Before we got him he was rode hard and put up wet with little maintenance. He had two years off and I have brought him back since the fall of 2016.
I had the vet out in the spring, definitely off front right on the hard lane way(you can really see it on hard ground). Farrier thought it might be his knees as he can be tough to shoe up front. Vet flexed knees, he had full flexion but very little flexion in his ankles. We hoof tested him and was mildly sore.
We blocked his right front foot and still trotted out sore.
We went ahead and injected ankles and have done monthly Polyglycan shots since(#3 will be done next week). I have also started with pour in pads in his front feet as per my farrier with regular shoes still. He was also on Previcoxx 3 days prior to a run but I have recently started him on it daily. I have noticed a huge improvement but he is still not where I would like him to be.
He makes me enough money in the poles, barrels, breakaway or team roping that he deserves it. He is one of those hard running, trash ground liking horses and will work through the pain but I don't feel he(or any horse) should have to. He will have the winters off(Nov- March.)
I would like to combat this more effectively now that I know there is improvement. I am in talks with my farrier now to see what he recommends, we are thinking glue on shoes. My vet and I were also talking last night, we are planning on Xraying to see what changes there are, but where do we go from there? He recommended Osphos and there are varying opinions about it on here. My vet said it could give bones another 5 years of good life. Or would nerving be a better option? Again with him having the winter off, am i best to wait till Mid Feb to give him the Osphos, give him 30 days off and then have him leg up after that? First big runs are the end of April. What has worked for you in the past?
I see you have done flexion tests on his knee's and ankles, and are putting all sorts of fancy shoes on his feet.. but I would suggest to Xray his FEET. Sounds like you may be loyal to your farrier but I would get those xrays done to actually see what is going on in there.
Could be navicular. Could be his feet are off balance. Could be he's getting cut too short. He might need to get shoed more often. Could be a lot of reasons.
I used to have a farrier that I had been using for about 17 years.. great guy, wonderful person. We're still very good friends, but I had to cut him loose because when looking back I started to notice that I had similar problems with all of my horses.
Had to get someone new, and 'lo and behold, I didn't have those problems anymore. I had a more balanced foot and a healthier horse. No shame in that. But yeah, I'd be looking at his feet. |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | If you have not done x-rays of the feet, I would do so. It doesn't sound like that his only problem (nerve blocking didn't help) but it's at least something to rule-in or rule-out.
What exactly would you plan on de-nerving? If you are talking the heels, I don't think that would be a good option because the nerve blocking didn't help anyway. And I would not recommend de-nerving anything more than that if you are going to continue to barrel race.
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 Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
Location: Bandera, TX | Last year my 16 year old gelding showed up extremely lame one morning on both front feet. He was miserable.
X-rayed front feet - no rotation. Injected coffin joints. Put him on stall rest on very deep bedding for about 6 weeks. Gave Bute for a few days and also wrapped feet with Magic Cushion every two days. He came back sound.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
Location: London Ontario | His shoulders are tight as per the massage therapist. He is booked in for xrays. We will continue with the pads and regular shoes for now till we figure out his feet. If it IS navicular(which is what I will bet my money on) what would you recommend? Tildren, Osphos, nerving???? We will continue with the previcoxx |
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| This horse is crippled ...
Make him a trail horse and use the money you are spending
on a new horse! |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | I love the PHT bell boots. I keep them on my old horse 24/7. He isn't rough on them so they have lasted a long time. |
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Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | MC1993 - 2017-06-15 11:52 AM His shoulders are tight as per the massage therapist. He is booked in for xrays. We will continue with the pads and regular shoes for now till we figure out his feet. If it IS navicular(which is what I will bet my money on) what would you recommend? Tildren, Osphos, nerving???? We will continue with the previcoxx
That's going to be a question for your vet and farrier.
And again, if he's got knee and shoulder problems, de-nerving is only going to address one small portion of his lameness problems. It is an option, but I know most vets prefer to do injections before going that route. De-nerving doesn't always work and the nerves can re-generate over time, requiring repeated surgeries (which only works so many times before there is too much scar tissue).
"Navicular" is such a broad term. While your x-rays may come back clean, they don't show soft tissue damage, which happens well before any bone changes occur.
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | The gelding that my granddaughter rides was ouchy on his front feet. X-ray showed that he had extremely thin soles. Put him is pour in pads for 6 or 7 months and they were a real pain to keep in. Re x-rayed recently and he had really increased the sole depth and he is ok with just shoes on front now. So happy. |
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 Saint Stacey
| What did you inject with? My daughters mare gets bone sore in her hocks. Tildren injected while tourniquets are on the leg is the only thing that's helped her. If the ankles are that sore, you might need different meds. |
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
Location: Texas | MC1993 - 2017-06-15 11:52 AM His shoulders are tight as per the massage therapist. He is booked in for xrays. We will continue with the pads and regular shoes for now till we figure out his feet. If it IS navicular(which is what I will bet my money on) what would you recommend? Tildren, Osphos, nerving???? We will continue with the previcoxx You might try EquiBone, by TLC Animal Nutrition. I know of a couple of vets who swear by it, that are otherwise not high on supplements.
Edited by Fun2Run 2017-06-16 12:35 PM
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 Ima Cool Kid
Posts: 3496
Location: TN | I had a neurocetmy done to a mare who is 18 years old. she did real good with Tildren for 2 years but the last year it "wore OFF" and we boosted with osphos 1/2 way through the year. I like the Neurectomy so far very satisfied with results(no pain). I tried to get her bred this Spring with out luck so I am legging back up. She feels very good. I am having her 1/2 sister Nerved at the end of this month the Tildren worked last year but I don't want to waist more time and money with yearly or semi annual options She is 15 so If the nerve grows back she will be 20+ and i retire in early 20's.
Good luck I think every horse is different & there are many options to look at. Tildren is "super duper" osphos( used in Europe for dressage horses and eventers, that is infused over a few hours and has amazing systemic results. i like it a lot |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 509
| Buckets of ice and magic cushion will work miracles or get some ice boots. Ice every time you ride you will see a big difference. If you have any race track friends consult with them keep your toe off shoe every four or five weeks watch your footing keep them turned out and moving. Ride enough to keep those old ones fit but not so much your soring them up. |
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Regular
Posts: 53
| I would ask your vet about OsPhos. |
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Sore front feet - what would you do?