|
|
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 371
 
| I have a mare that has the start of mechanical or stress founder. She has a very arthritic knee(left) that she has had for about 7 years. She is on previcox daily for it and limps but can get around ok. The arthritis is so advanced that it has deformed her lower leg and cannon bone so that it bows. Her foot is also smaller than the other due to atrophy. I bred her last year with vets ok. She has been a brood mare for most of her life (14yrs). She did well until Decemberish. I live in Wisconsin and the ground kept on thawing and re-freezing causing the ground to be very uneven. She abscessed on her good leg(right foot). In beginning of March ground started softening up and she was moving as good as she did the past summer even being heavy in foal. she Foaled end of April. Now for the last 3-4 weeks she has been severely lame on right front. Had vet look and he dug out another abscess and thought she might be starting to founder. Vet stated if we do not get her feeling better I may have to put her down. :( Farrier came out and put a shoe on left front for support of that leg. He found the start of the white line stretching. We where unable to put a shoe on right foot for support due to mare is basically standing on her sole. I have a abscess kit thing that has a wrap with Velcro and a foam pad that I put on her and she is a little more comfortable.
Does anyone have any ideas to help get her more comfortable? I thought about soft rides but I am in nursing school and don't have $200+ to get them for her. The founder is from the stress on that leg and the abscess's that happened this winter. I believe she would not be having a problem if she had not abscessed. She is keeping weight especially with a 6 week old foal, talks to me every day when I come out to feed, and is bright eyed. I know she isn't ready to give up. |
|
| |
|
  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
 
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I don't know :( Soft rides may help, but regardless of what you put on that foot for support, she is still going to be over weight bearing on it. If she would lay down more she may help herself, but good luck talking her into that.  |
|
| |
|
Good Ole Boys just Fine with Me
Posts: 2869
 
Location: SE Missouri | Oh man... It's probably worth the soft rides if you want to get the foal through weaning with the mare! I went down this road with my old mare. The soft rides made her life a lot better with her last foal. Otherwise try to make some with the foam insulation boards but just know you will be making them weekly if not daily depending on the weather, turn out, etc. Do you have her on sand? That will help some. She really needs the support on the good leg, the left isn't really benefiting and now you've got her weight shifedt to the good side with just one shoe on (not that it should make a huge difference but just think if you only had one shoe on)..
Good luck with your mare. We said goodbye to our lovely gritty broodie before she started really going downhill and the sparkle was just starting to dim in her eyes.
I bet yours is just as gritty! I'd sell something and try to scrap up the money or look for used ones. I really feel that they gave our mare a LOT of support and comfort. She worked them pretty hard but she wore them all the time (I took them off often to check her feet) and I think she wore them for about 6months in the pasture. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 371
| abrooks - 2015-06-08 9:32 PM
Oh man... It's probably worth the soft rides if you want to get the foal through weaning with the mare! I went down this road with my old mare. The soft rides made her life a lot better with her last foal. Otherwise try to make some with the foam insulation boards but just know you will be making them weekly if not daily depending on the weather, turn out, etc. Do you have her on sand? That will help some. She really needs the support on the good leg, the left isn't really benefiting and now you've got her weight shifedt to the good side with just one shoe on (not that it should make a huge difference but just think if you only had one shoe on)..
Good luck with your mare. We said goodbye to our lovely gritty broodie before she started really going downhill and the sparkle was just starting to dim in her eyes.
I bet yours is just as gritty! I'd sell something and try to scrap up the money or look for used ones. I really feel that they gave our mare a LOT of support and comfort. She worked them pretty hard but she wore them all the time (I took them off often to check her feet) and I think she wore them for about 6months in the pasture.
I do have a foam insert right now. We have black dirt-it sucks. She does lay down in the evenings. I have their dry lot attached to her stall and she stands in there a lot. It drives me crazy. She does lay down in the evening when it is cooler.
The shoe on the left foot is set so that on the outside of the foot there is slight overhand to try to give more support on the outside of the foot since it turns in so much. Even with the start of founder on the right she still is mostly weight bearing on that leg. We wanted to put a shoe on the right also but at this time there is no hoof wall to nail it to, just sole. Farrier is back in 4 weeks and we will see if we can put one on then. I do have photos I can e-mail someone photos(if they will post them for me) of the left foot and knee so others can see what I am talking about. I don't know how to post them here.
Does anyone have experience with easy boots? I see that they have inserts also. I do understand that they are not as good as the soft rides but....
She is very gritty and loving. I don't know if she will ever give up. when I got her she was with a bunch of other horses 200+ lbs under weight and on no pain management. When I got her I would put her in the yard to eat grass and groom her. If I tried to brush her at all she would stop eating and her eyes would roll in back of her head because she is enjoying the attention so much. lol |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 371
| abrooks - 2015-06-08 9:32 PM
Oh man... It's probably worth the soft rides if you want to get the foal through weaning with the mare! I went down this road with my old mare. The soft rides made her life a lot better with her last foal. Otherwise try to make some with the foam insulation boards but just know you will be making them weekly if not daily depending on the weather, turn out, etc. Do you have her on sand? That will help some. She really needs the support on the good leg, the left isn't really benefiting and now you've got her weight shifedt to the good side with just one shoe on (not that it should make a huge difference but just think if you only had one shoe on)..
Good luck with your mare. We said goodbye to our lovely gritty broodie before she started really going downhill and the sparkle was just starting to dim in her eyes.
I bet yours is just as gritty! I'd sell something and try to scrap up the money or look for used ones. I really feel that they gave our mare a LOT of support and comfort. She worked them pretty hard but she wore them all the time (I took them off often to check her feet) and I think she wore them for about 6months in the pasture.
I do have a foam insert right now. We have black dirt-it sucks. She does lay down in the evenings. I have their dry lot attached to her stall and she stands in there a lot. It drives me crazy. She does lay down in the evening when it is cooler.
edit to add I would need 2 different sizes of soft rides due to her feet being different sizes. The left is very atrophied and the right is big and kinda flat from holding all her weight all the time.
The shoe on the left foot is set so that on the outside of the foot there is slight overhand to try to give more support on the outside of the foot since it turns in so much. Even with the start of founder on the right she still is mostly weight bearing on that leg. We wanted to put a shoe on the right also but at this time there is no hoof wall to nail it to, just sole. Farrier is back in 4 weeks and we will see if we can put one on then. I do have photos I can e-mail someone photos(if they will post them for me) of the left foot and knee so others can see what I am talking about. I don't know how to post them here.
Does anyone have experience with easy boots? I see that they have inserts also. I do understand that they are not as good as the soft rides but....
She is very gritty and loving. I don't know if she will ever give up. when I got her she was with a bunch of other horses 200+ lbs under weight and on no pain management. When I got her I would put her in the yard to eat grass and groom her. If I tried to brush her at all she would stop eating and her eyes would roll in back of her head because she is enjoying the attention so much. lol
Edited by abdittmer1154 2015-06-08 10:07 PM
|
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 371
| Also I would need two different sizes of soft rides because her feet are not the same size. Her left is very atrophied and I would say a size if not two smaller than the right one |
|
| |
|
 Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102
Location: Nebraska | scour the tack pages on fb. You might be able to find some soft rides on there. Maybe even a person that only has one due to the other being damaged or something! |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 371
| anyone have info about the easy rx boots? It looked like you could buy them individually? |
|
| |
|
Good Ole Boys just Fine with Me
Posts: 2869
Location: SE Missouri | Have you priced sand? It might be cheaper than the soft rides to get a truck load. |
|
| |
|
 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Prayers for her and you----the ones that have that heart and won't give up show us the true colors of our equine partners. |
|
| |
|
Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
| abdittmer1154 - 2015-06-09 7:33 AM anyone have info about the easy rx boots? It looked like you could buy them individually? Hey! I am so sorry to hear about Pebbles! I wanted to let you know that my sister bought a 10 year old thoroughbred last fall. Any ways 3 weeks ago she showed up lame. I took her into the vet when I took Dude in for her check up and after an X ray I found out my sister's horse had foundered. She has 10 deg rotation in her front right foot. We are not sure why or how she ended up foundering, especially in just one foot. My vet thinks it maybe from past trauma and it does not help this foot is a club foot. Anyways.... he recommend my sister get soft rides with the purple and blue insert desinged for founder horses. Her horse has been living in them for the last few weeks. He hopes that since the insert is designed to be firmer in the heel and softer in the toe that it will encourage sole growth and heel growth to help decrease the rotation. She is very, very comfortable in them. The farrier comes out tomorrow so we will see.
About the easy boot rx. I think they are a good idea since they are a little cheaper. Those are the boots I have for Amigo and when she was at the vet last summer for her laminitis they said they were are a great boot. The soft rides you can get in different sizes even though they come in pairs. My sister had to get a size 3 and a size 5.
Edited by WetSaddleBlankets 2015-06-09 11:57 PM
|
|
| |
|
 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Easy boot and soft soles. Or 2 hoof socks for $26 and add styrofoam. I think Jeffers had them. |
|
| |
|
Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | You can go to easy boot.com for the r x boot |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 371
| cow pie - 2015-06-10 10:13 PM
Easy boot and soft soles. Or 2 hoof socks for $26 and add styrofoam. I think Jeffers had them.
It's funny you suggested the soft soles since I went online list night and ordered the easy boots with the soft inserts. Now to just wait for the darn things. Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions. I am also looking at prices to haul in some sand. Keeps the prayers coming that I can get her feeling better |
|
| |
|
 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | I would be searching online for used soft rides. We have a 20YO broodmare who we have barefoot. After ALL the rain we have had in Texas, her feet got soft and she broke off a lot of foot. She was bilaterally grade 4 lame. Not good. Vet thought laminitis. Radiographs showed she hadn't rotated but had pretty much no sole in her feet. Soft rides make a night and day difference.
Also- I'm sorry if I missed this if you already said it.. what pain meds are you using? If you are using previcox I suggest switching to Bute. Yes, bute is not as easy on their system as previcox but it is a bit stronger and in her case, you have to get her pain controlled. |
|
| |
Folks on-line