Results from appointment with Dr Cox - foot specialist. (As best as I can relay them...)
We only looked at the front feet because they are causing the most pain right now (and we have X-rays already). Once the front feet improve, we will evaluate again.
The attached pictures show:
Front/back view of the hoof
1. Medial/lateral hoof/coffin bone imbalance.
Side view of the hoof
2. An excessively high coffin bone palmar angle.
3. Coffin bone resorption at the tip.
4. Lack of solar concavity.
Problems #1,2 and 4 can definitely be improved with more appropriate hoof care. Problem #3 can often be halted when 1,2 and 4 are taken care of.
Problem 1: Have farrier trim to correct medial/lateral imbalance.
Problems 2,3,4: Use a 3 degree wedge with the thick portion at the toe to reduce the pressure(pain) at the top of the sole where the coffin bone has very little cushioning. This should help with coffin bone inflammation which leads to the coffin bone resorption. Essentially this acts as her hoof wall while it regrows. And continue with 1 gram 2x/day to reduce said inflammation along with soft bedding.
The farrier for the horse we trailered met us for the appointments and received specific advice from Dr Cox on how to proceed with trimming and shoeing.
I believe the new farrier I used in LA was responsible for trimming the walls level to the sole (why??). And possible trimming the toe too short. I had never seen her soles that flat, almost convex looking in SF. However, for the past 9 months, we were trying to get the heels off the ground more since she has a tendency to have a very low heel. She didn't seem to have a problem in SF but maybe 9 months was still too fast to raise the heel...
Poor Vikki had to be off the bute for the examination and was really sore by the end of it. So I loaded her up on 2 grams of bute before hopping in the trailer for the ride home. By the time we got back to the ranch, she was much more comfortable = )
We only looked at the front feet because they are causing the most pain right now (and we have X-rays already). Once the front feet improve, we will evaluate again.
The attached pictures show:
Front/back view of the hoof
1. Medial/lateral hoof/coffin bone imbalance.
Side view of the hoof
2. An excessively high coffin bone palmar angle.
3. Coffin bone resorption at the tip.
4. Lack of solar concavity.
Problems #1,2 and 4 can definitely be improved with more appropriate hoof care. Problem #3 can often be halted when 1,2 and 4 are taken care of.
Problem 1: Have farrier trim to correct medial/lateral imbalance.
Problems 2,3,4: Use a 3 degree wedge with the thick portion at the toe to reduce the pressure(pain) at the top of the sole where the coffin bone has very little cushioning. This should help with coffin bone inflammation which leads to the coffin bone resorption. Essentially this acts as her hoof wall while it regrows. And continue with 1 gram 2x/day to reduce said inflammation along with soft bedding.
The farrier for the horse we trailered met us for the appointments and received specific advice from Dr Cox on how to proceed with trimming and shoeing.
I believe the new farrier I used in LA was responsible for trimming the walls level to the sole (why??). And possible trimming the toe too short. I had never seen her soles that flat, almost convex looking in SF. However, for the past 9 months, we were trying to get the heels off the ground more since she has a tendency to have a very low heel. She didn't seem to have a problem in SF but maybe 9 months was still too fast to raise the heel...
Poor Vikki had to be off the bute for the examination and was really sore by the end of it. So I loaded her up on 2 grams of bute before hopping in the trailer for the ride home. By the time we got back to the ranch, she was much more comfortable = )
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