My horse with laminitis is SOUND....... 8 week xrays show lots of new hoof growth, and the slight rotation has corrected itself by a little. Vet put him through his paces yesterday and even barefoot on hard ground ( which still amazes me) he is sound and feeling great! Vet wants to leave him barefoot with just a trim for the next 6 weeks , leave him in his cloud boots and start working up to 20min exercise every day. Farrier completely disagrees and said he needs a lighter aluminum shoe now. I put in a call to a local vet who is absolutely the lameness go to guy. He is very booked up and I have never seen him before. Anyway , I begged and asked if he could be willing to take a look at the fresh xrays and tell me his recommendations. I would be HAPPY to pay a fee for this. This vet is the only vet my farrier respects in the area. Lol. So im hoping to get a call back. I just HATE this !!!!! My horse has made such a dramatic return fo soundness and I don't know who to trust. Thanks. 

What opinion did you listen to to get him back to this point---vet or farrier ? Whichever, I would continue listening--it seems to be working.

I trust my Vet and farrier, my Vet wanted my gelding to go barefoot as long as possible and wear his Easy Boots but knew that may not work to long since my gelding would get sore without his front shoes, so he went barefoot for a few more weeks, but since my farrier knows my horse's better then any body and he see's him every 5 weeks for the last 16 years, I went with his gut on this, I would go with what your Farrier is telling you if you have been using this farrier for more then a few years, if hes a new farrier and has only been working on your horse less then a year I would go with what my Vet wants, but this is a hard call if you use more then one Vet and farriers.  We dont use the Aluminum shoes we use the steel rim, they offer more support that they need. 

Since your Vet says to trim every six weeks I would not go longer then 4 to 5 weeks untill you get more time healing time in. But hey everybody has different thoughts, I went with my farrier and dont have a problem, my gelding has Flare ups because of his IR/EMS but thats not my Farriers fault.

I've used the same farrier for years so yes, he knows my horses well. As far as who got him this far, honestly , it was ME. Lol. Farrier just doesn't think vets know as much as they should about feet. I'm going to cross my fingers I can get a consult with the specialist. 

We put alot of Heart and Soul into our horses and we do way to much stressing at times like this. 

And this is what Dr.Huffman has tolded me too, us horsey parents do all the hard work

I sometimes think farriers and vets are natural born enemies

It's rare to find one that agrees with the other, at least in my experience! I've heard the word "idiot" mumbled many a time lol. 

Since it's not really a rush and he's doing really good right now, maybe just wait and see if you can get in with this specialist before making a decision on what to do. Good job on your part getting him sound! I know you worked your butt off taking care of him and researching! Kudos to you! 

I personally, would be the tie breaker, it doesn't make sense to me to leave a laminitic horse without shoes. I know barefoot theorists probably won't agree. 

Farrier would agree with you. He said his soles need to get off the ground  and since he knows my horse knows he has good walls to support a shoe. Vets opinion is he doesn't need nails so his feet can heal. Lol. He will probably just get shoes I just hope it doesn't set his soundness back. Maybe it will make him all that much better and I would wonder why I waited. Thanks for the input. 

According to my farrier after seeing these xrays farrier says his founder is very minimal and shoes are best option. 

Im with you on this one and have really learned the value of a great farrier over the years and when it comes to feet... I go with farrier normally... (it was seldom my farrier and vet didn't agree, BUT there have been times) 

What if they did a glue on shoe? That way he doesn't have the nail but he still has some support under him. I know they can be hard to keep on but if he isnt been used a whole lot it should be ok, I would think. I am by no means an expert on this, but thought it might be worth the try.

Thanks ! I agree now that I'm doing even more reading on this. lol 

I actually asked farrier AND vet about this one. Lol. And this is something they both AGREE on. Lol. It was a NO. Lol

Did they say why they did not want you to use glue on shoes? I had a pony many years ago that had cushings and would founder. This is what my farrier put on the pony--but this was several years ago.

Hahaha, well at least they agreed, I have been lucky, I have never had to deal with laminitis, though I thought for sure after a string of bad farriers, she was going to end crippled for life. Especially after the one sunk nails into the quick on all four feet right before BRN4D finals in 2010. She had blood coming out of all four feet when the onsite farrier pulled her shoes.

I think it had something to do with the climate where I am. It's very hot and dry. I want to say that's what it was. They wouldn't last and we're about 500.00 to put on. Vet felt his cloud boots would offer same protection and farrier said they just wouldn't work. 

I was at the Brn4d finals every year it was In Reno. I miss it. Sorry for your horse! That had to have been absolutely painful and preventable. My horse got it as a reaction to steroid injections. It really makes me think twice about ever using them on any horse again. 

 I think I read this on another post you had made that you had a dream team of Vets and Farriers, did they not work out? 

Looking at your X-rays one foot is worse than  the other but you've e got at least 12 degrees of rotation (assuming that horse had a 3 degree positive Palmar angle to start with), that's pretty significant . The worst thing is that that there's no sole Depth (minimum of 8mm or 1/4" needed) . Going without a shoe will be very uncomfortable and further bruise the coffin bone . Maybe with a frog pad and shoe or a pour in pad and shoe you'd be able to build some sole depth and get the  horse more comfortable.